TEMPESTUOUS VOYAGE.

Taranaki Daily News, 31 August 1920, Page 5

TEMPESTUOUS VOYAGE.

NGAKUTA IN A GALE. >; DAMAGE AND CASUALTIES j STORY OF THE VOYAGE. | ' After a tempestuous voyage, ; the Blackball Coal Company's steamer kuta, which left Greymouth at past eight on Wednesday night, arrived at Wellington at 11.30 p.m. on Saturday. As the vessel *waa two dayi Aver- ' - " due on Saturday, a great deal of an&ety i was felt as to her safety. During the voyage a good deal of damage .'was done to the Ngakuta, and three of the; crew were injured. To a Wellington Times immediately after .the arrival, the Mcond officer* Mr. W. Carey, gave a short but informative story ~of the exeeedugfy rough passage. "Left Greymottth on Wednesday night at about 8.90," hefeaid, "and on getting out a bit, we ran into . t moderate nor'-wester, which infltawd Ito a gale when we got near Cap* SVral- ' wind. The ship Btarted to plunfe'into i i the heavy head seas, and we then elbwed , 1 down and eventually hove to. Weftther * became worse and worse, and, rf, time, turned to a living gale, with aMtfn--' tainoUß seas, which swept the Ngikuta." Remained hove to all night, and Mlly in the morning the wind changed to milter- . ly, and blew worse wi-'i heavy raiq and violent squalls. The wind again shifted, this time to a sou'-west gale. Ship plunged right down into the treoA of the sea, and at 11 h.nr. on Vtmy we shipped an enormous sea fore and; alt, which swept the lower bridge deok. CHIEF OFFICER AND SEAMAN ; INJURED. '• * S ''The same big wavo carried a hMVJT . safe along the deck, and it struck' the .. chief officer, Mr. A. R. Pryde, and It Ma- ; man named Sharp,, jamming them ■~£ against the after rails. Both were gen to be badly injured by being Mb f crushed by the meat safe, which nashls < through the rails and fell below oi to the hatch coverings. All hands on dejek at the time got to work and heaved the safe overboard, for if it had gone through the hatch top—well, that woald . * have been the end of us. The chief V officer, when picked up, had a large deep wound on the head, and was injured'on :.<) the shoulders. Sharp, the seaman, was £ badly bruised about the right groin, and j sustained a broken left leg. They were promptly attended to" by the officer* and stewards, and taken below under grea,t difficulties. Sharp, poor fellow; was then t .suffering great pain, but n few hours afterwards he was made comfortable, and felt a little easier. At 4 a.m. the wind and sea increased further, and at' D.30 wo were able to turn round and head the shi)) to the wind. MISHAP TO WIRELESS OPERATOR. ' "It was about this time that theiWireless operator, Mr. S. Hargrove, ,waa injured. A big wave over the ship caught • him as be was walking on the deck, and swept him along the deck, hurtlrighls leg. This caused him to be uncotyootis for 24 hours, and we were then toaWo to send out any radio messages.' lbs water was simply rolling over on Us, and the next big sea carried away the bridge ladder. Then came a quick »uccession of big seas which broke over the how and stern, water streaming down into the cabins and mess-room. The ,J weather then moderated slightly, and We . f * were able to continue our voyage a# toj j ", Wellington, but not until we had dxjltaft ■ 30 miles out of our course. It WW s terrible trip—the worst I hare ever experienced—and I never wish to havfc „ other one like it." . . ■■■. SECOND ENGINEER'S STORY. Mr. J. J. Flaherty, the second engineer of the 'Ngakuta, who was also ' interviewed by the Times reporter, Mid: "It w.ns a terrible trip. I have .been on the ship five years and 1 have never before experienced such a rough run from Greymouth. At any minute we all expected that the Ngakuta would not sur- • , vive, but she weathered it all right, ~ ,■ and I am jolly glad to be in port again. Our wireless man being insensible for r twenty-four hours, we were unable to get into communication with the than, '» hut at 9.30 a.m. to-day (Saturday) Mr, Bargrove had recovered sufficiently to send the following radio message: "Ngakuta due 11 p.m.; have doctor and ao|ou- . lance ready; chief officer and MMMB ■ badly injured.'" • • J ENGINES RACING INCESSANTLY "During the time that the fejtg KM ' caught 'Us," continued the second engineer, "the engines raced inoesMßUy, and the firemen had difficulty in getting to their quarters. They stuck to ilMir i post wen during the anxious time, and never once failed us. Their meas-wom was constantly awash, and it waeiflpte the greatest difficulty they were fts|e to have their meals. The stewards also wbrked wonderfully well and helped os to srender first aid to the injured sen. The chief officer, Mr. Pryde, WW delirious for a few hours, while the tea- ■» man, Sharp, who was badly hurt, Bttf« fered great pain. r LUCKY, TO COME THROUGH IT. "To tell you the truth, wo were lneky to come through its a)l safely. The ship would get down in the trough of & peat wave, with the next one as high ae the funnel. If we had shipped a few more I don't think we would have been tare now. It was a terrible trip. Rtont the time we left Greymouth on Wedqeeftty* , Captain Dowell was never off the br&fep> and only had three hours sleep >ft»rv the weather had moderated. We tape v y greatly handicapped without the serum of the chief officer, seaman Sharp, aad the wireless officer. Careful watch" had to be kept on the hatch coverings. Jftmr wedges on the No. 4 hatch came aw*y, biit were replaced. Had we shipped a few big seas on our broadside, it would have meant the end of things, SO the ship had to be kept head on the whole time. Even on voyages to Sydney we have never had such a rough spin as we had on litis trip. It usually takes «s twentv-six hours to reach Wellington from Gre.vmouth, but in this ease it occupied three days and three hours."