FOUNDERED IN A GALE.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 August 1921, Page 9

FOUNDERED IN A GALE.

LOSS OF THE FITZROY',

SEAMAN’S LONG SWIM

“ALMOST LIKE FICTION.”

“I sounds like -fiction,” said counsel when the Marine Court in Sydney was listening to the story of the foundering of the Fitzroy on the north coast of Australia. The vessel sank off Cape Hawke on June 26 last.

The opening statement supplied by the Navigation Department to the Court pet out that:

“The disaster was accompanied by deplorable loss of life, 31* persons out of 35 on hoard being drowned, including the master and all officers. Of the four survivors, three of them were able seamen, and they would be able to supply a graphic, account of everything that transpired.

“The Fitzroy started out from Coff’s Harbor at 3.41 J p.m. on Saturday, June 25. .She was. laden with an assorted cargo, mostly, consisting of timber. There was two hatches. The main forward hatch was filled exclusively with hardwood logs and some sawn timber. In the after hold there were 80 sleepers at the bottom, and above them 618 boxes of butter and sundry goods. There were 70 head of cattle on deck, mainly on the starboard side in the well deck, and 10 hardwood logs on the port side. “On the .Saturday night the wind and sea gradually increased. At midnight the weather was boisterous. At daybreak on Sunday morning, the 26th, the wind had increased to a strong gale, accompanied by very high seas. The weather chart shows that in that locality there was a cyclonic disturbance which lasted some days, and then passed away to the north-east. Up till about 6.30 a.m. on Sunday the vessel had made satisfactory headway, and was apparently in no danger, but a little later she dipped her nose deeply into the sea and took on board a large quantity of water. The immediate effect of this was that the whole of the cattle on the starboard side were washed down on top of the logs on the port side—and probably by some means water got down below at that time. The vessel took a list to port, which gradually increased. The master and second mate were on the bridge, and Olaf Johannsen, who seems to have been a kind of boatswain on board, was told by the master to get the engineer to pump the water out of tho ballast tank on the port side.

WATER POURING IN. “Either on that occasion or when down there soon afterwards, Johannsen was surprised to find that the water was pouring into the vessel, apparently coining from an open ash shoot on the port side, and flowing thence down an alley-way into the engine room and stokehold. lie also observed that it was carrying along pieces of bedding which must have come from one of the adjoining bunks, indicating that a port hole had been smashed in.

“Orders were then given t to try and jettison the logs on the port side, but when they went to use the winch they found that there vyas no steam available. They succeeded in levering over the top log, but the others were immovable. The list increased, and the vessel got lower and lower in the water. The master had made some effort ‘to turn her round, but the fires were failing. “SPEEDILY DROWNED.”

“Eventually the engineer announced that he could do no more, and the position became hopeless. The master gave orders for the boats to be got in readiness, but it was not advisable to launch them, as they would in all probability be overturned or smashed. The master thought it would be better to let them float off the vessel as she sank.

“At about 8 o’clock the vessel capsized, and two of the boats with people in them floated off, but one immediatelycapsized, and the other with a few people in it, though water-logged, eventually reached the shore. Other persons preferred not to get into the boats, but to wait and be cast into the sea as the vessel sank. The boat that was first capsized with the engineer and another on it was not seen again.

“The seaman, Jensen, who was in the second boat, says that most of the people were speedily drowned, and two others taken into the boat in a moribund condition succumbed as they reached the shore. JOHANNSEN’S GREAT FEAT. “The wonderful man, Johannsen,” said Mr. Curtis, one of the counsel appearing in the case, “when he could no longer be of use about the vessel, set out by himself for the shore, using a lifebelt and a lifebuoy. After being buffeted (ibout all day long he eventually reached the coast, having swum about 14 miles, and finished up with a walk of another nine miles. “It is quite plain from the evidence available/' added Mr. Curtis, “that the ship was in good order, and was an excellent seaworthy vessel, having been built only nine years ago, and surveyed here two months ago. The witnesses had plenty of lifebelts available.” Olaf Johannsen, a man of athletic build, between 30 and 40 years of age, described the events that led up to the vessel turning over. Mr. Curtis: You were in Ihe water all that day (Sunday)? Johannsen: Yes. Mr. Curtis: And you swam about 14 miles —well, we know by the map that you must have done so. Judge Scholes (with surprise): Fourteen miles! Mr. Curtis: .Sounds, almost like fiction. After further evidence had been given, Mr. Sullivan suggested for the* consideration of tho Court that the ’presence of the deck cargo had reduced the efficiency of the bulwark scuppers. 'l'he Court found that the vessel shipped a heavy sea at about 6.30 a.in., which shifted the deck cargo. She then took a heavy list to port. .She capsized and foundered at about 7.15 a.m. Everything possible was done to preserve the ship and the lives of the passengers and crew. The evidence did not show that there was any misconduct or error of judgment on the part of the captain or officers. The Court expressed its sincere sympathy with the relatives of those who were lost.