LOSS OF THE S.S. MANAKAU

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 205, 9 May 1912, Page 6

LOSS OF THE S.S. MANAKAU

MAGISTERIAL INQUIRY. OFFICERS AND CREW EXONERATED. A magisterial inquiry into the stranding and subsequent total loss of the small steamer Manakau while entering the bar at Waitara on the evening of March 12 last, was held at New Plymouth yesterday. Mr. A. Crooke, S.M., presided, and the assessors were Captains G. Holford and Thompson. Mr. J. 11. Hempton, Collector of Customs at New Plymouth, conducted the case for the Marine Department. John Oscar Berg, master of the s.s. Manakau at the time of her mishap, said that he left Mokau for Waitara on March 12, and approached the Waitara bar about C.20 p.m. It was then sufficiently light to see anything. He had conversed with the pilot over the telephone that day from Mokau and the arrangement between them was that if witness were too late a green light was to be exhibited on the flagstaff,""to keep him out. in case he entered tile harbor in darkness. "When he approached the bar lie could see the beacons. The weather was squally and the wipd nor'-nor'-wost, having a force of about fifteen mile 9an hour. There was not a heavy sea running. The tide was 2 hours 15 minutes after high water (at 4.5 p.m.) After he took the bar he steered entirely by the three beacons. Coming from the bar. he steered in a line with the flagstaff and the beacon. Whr- i approaching the spit end, he found h'- 'id lost the back beacon, a sudden squ ' having obscured it. The sliap then struck on the starboard side of the channel. To Mr. Ilempton: He did not take any soundings on the bar. Tt was usual to take soundings, but even if shipmasters did, they could not avoid coming in all the same. Mr. Hempton: When you found you could not pick up the beacon, could you not have gone astern? Witness replied that he had not time, between his discovery and the mishap, which occurred within half a minute after. After striking, witness went astern on his engines. There was too much sea for him to put out an anchor in making the channel. The closed the Collector's examination. THE CAUSE OF THE WRECK.

To the Court: There was no signal, such as at any other bar harbor, to tell him to come in during the day-time. Under the weather conditions he thought it prudent to take the bar, as he had done so on many occasions. He did not see the squall making up prior to taking the bar. It was essential for him to enter the river, despite the weather. He could have staved at sea, but there was 110 necessity. It was simply the back beacon becoming so suddenly obscured > that caused the accident. On the next i tide the disabled vessel started to "tumble" a %ood deal, and commenced to make water. The cargo was taken out of the vessel the second <lay after she struck. He finally abandoned the vessel four days after her stranding. The manakau was then not capable of floating. As long as there were no signals against him he would come over the bar at any time during the day. Captain Holford: -Had you remained out that night and taken the next tide would the ship have still been intact? Witness: Possibly. To Captain Thompson: He had crossed that bar a few thousand times. In the course of towing lighters over the bar he worked under all weather conditions. He had many times come in under the same conditions as the last time. THE PILOT'S EVIDENCE. The next witness examined was John Wm. Laing, pilot and signalman at the port of Waitara. On the day of the Manukau's mishap he was close by at | the back beacon. He had previously j arranged with Captain Berg that day, that lie would show a green light if he' (the captain) could not work the port. If there were a signal on the flagstaff Berg was to understand that he could take the bar. The depth of water in the channel at the time of the stranding should have been 7ft 6in. The channel was approximately 40ft in width. The weather was very squally. There was a heavy squall about the time the Manukau took ground, which had the effect of hiding the beacons. The distance from the bar to the river proper was nearly a quarter of a mile. The draught of the vessel was fift Oin. and at the place Where she struck there was about 6ft of water. But for the beacons being obscured, the ship would not have taken ground. " QUITE PRUDENT." Captain Holford: Ilad you been in comBiand of the Manukau would you, in view l of the squally weather, have taken the bar at the time? Witness: Trading over that bar as often as Captain Berg has, I think I should have done so. It was quite prudent for the master to enter the channel. Further examined, witness said Captain Berg was a most careful man. The sea affected a vessel's steering at any r time in the channel. It would take a vessel like the Manukau fully three minutes to cross the bar and enter the river. _ Another witness, Hugh A. Calder, engineer on the Manakau, said the vessel 1 was going slow when crossing the bar. At the time she took ground she was steaming at the rate of about three knots an hour. When the vessel struck first, he received orders to go full speed astern. Henry W T m. Jones, who was an A.B, on i the Manukau, gave evidence which was corroborative of tlmt of his master. According to Arthur W. Ogle, one of the owners of the Manakau, the vessel was uninsured. Her registered tonnage was 45 tons net and (i!) gross. The taking of evidence was concluded about 12.30 p.m., and the Court then adjourned till 2.30 o'clock, when its decision was announced, THE VERDICT. The Court found, said Mr. Cro'oke, that the Manakau was wrecked owing to a thick squall suddenly obliterating the back beacon on the second course, as the ship was entering the Waitara river. No blame was, he added, attachable to : the master or any members of the crew, and the captain and engineer would accordingly have their certificates returned to them. No order was made as to costs.