LAST VOYAGES OF THE WAIRUNA AND MATUNGA.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 March 1918, Page 2

LAST VOYAGES OF THE WAIRUNA AND MATUNGA.

PREVIOUS THEORIES AS TO THE DISAPPEARANCE. The Wairuna left Auckland for San Francisco on May 30, 1917. She had on board 4600 tons of New Zealand | cargo, 2700 tons having been loaded at and the balance at Dunedin, Lyttelton and Wellington. The Auckland portion' of the cargo consisted of 7380 packages of gum, 735 casks of pelts, 447 packages of eoeoa, 140 tons of copra, 125 tons of flax, and sundries. She. was a vessel of 3947 tons gross, and was built at Newcastle on Tyne in 1004. Before'being purchased by the Union Company she belonged to the Bucknall line, and was known as the Matoppo. She was 3Goft long, with a 47.5 ft beam and 20.7 ft depth. She was a good class of vessel of her type, an excellent sea boat; 'and very consisten-t in her speed which was 10 to 11 knots. The career of the Vessel had not been uneventful. Some /ears ago she collided with and sank »he scow Moonah in Auckland Harbor, and shortly afterwards collided with a steamer in Sydney Harbor, both vessels being damaged. Her most serious accident occurred at Sydney over two years ago. She had finished discharging a cargo of benzine, when fumes in the 'Jiold ignited and as the result of the explosion siv men were killed and six others injured. The vessel's articles were signed in Australia, and consequently many of the crew came from there. Very few of them are known in New Zealand. When she left Auckland on her fateful voyage, the Wairuna had on board the following crew:—Master, H. C. Saunder; officers, srst R. McKenzic, second T. E. Dees, third L. lbister; chief engineer, A. S. Currie, second R. McCaughey. thircl J, E. Bish, fourth W. J. Campbell; chief steward, J. E. Coleman; wireless operator, R. Alexander; boatswain, A. McI.eod■ A.B.'s, T. W. Muir, J. B. Evans, I P Jones, P. Kenny, L, Lloyd, A. Quin, H. McDonald, J. Donnelly, R, Ball, T. Murphy. F. C. Ross; greasers, J. franklin, A. Daniels, R. W. Holcjen; firemen, S. Littlemore, W. Lellan, P. Olsen, 33. Johansen, W, Murray, J. Baird, G. Curtis, A. Patterson, R. C. Mathews; trimmers, S. Gillard, J. Tonsbery, W. Doherty; assistant stewards, J. W. Carroll, C. Hickling, A. Thompson; chief cook, B. Donovan; assistant cook, E. J. Claridge. The following joined the vessel at Auckland:—Messrs. McCaughey, Campbell, Donovan, Rees, Ball, Murphy, Ross, Thompson, Holden, Murray, Curtis, iPatterson, and Mathews.

The finding of the Court Inquiry appointed to investigate the loss of the Wairuna was that there was not suffi cient evidence to make a definite finding as to the cause of loss. Taking thu evidence as a whole the Court thought it improbable that the Wairuna was lost by any of the ordinary perils of the sea. There remained two other causes due to enemy action The Court thought it highly probable the loss was caused, either through the operations of a raider or through the placing of a timed bomb on board the vessel before she left port, and of the two the latter was considered more probable. The Matunga was a vessel of IMS tons gross, and was built in 1910. She was owned by Messrs Burns, Philip, and Co., Ltd., of Sydney. She left Sydney for Rabaul early in August, 1917, carrying her usual general cargo, a number of civilian passengers, and a small detachment of soldiers. 'When word reached Australia that she was overdue vessels wero despatched by the owners and also the Australian Government, to search for the vessel- It was reported afterwards that wreckage had ■been found which belonged to the vessel. The only person on board who wrs known in Auckland is Captain McBride, the chief officer, who was formerly in the Union Company. His wife resides at Grey Lynn. Among the vessels sunk by the raider, the following steamers were of British ownership:—Jumna, 4152 tons, owned by the Mercantile Steamship Company, London; Wordsworth, 3509 tons, owned by the Shakespear Shipping Company, London; Dee, 1871 tons, owned by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. The following are American vessels: Winslow, four-mas;ed schooner, 507 tons, owned by\ G. E. Billings, of San Francisco; Beluga, wooden steamer, SOS tons, owned by the Pacific Steam Whaling Company, of San Francisco; Encore, four-masted barquentine, 651 tons' owned by tlie Simpson. Lumber Company, of San Francisco. The -Hitachi Maru' was a steamer of 6557 tons, owned by the Nippon Tvaisha Company of Tokio, and i the Ignotz Mendi a steamer of 464S tons, registered at Bilbao, Spain.