SUNK BY A DERELICT.

Waikato Argus, Volume IV, Issue 281, 30 April 1898, Page 1 (Supplement)

SUNK BY A DERELICT.

THE LOSS OF THE VEENDAM IN iMID-OCEAN. Peruai's the worse of all the terrors of ocean navigation ia that of striking a submerged derelict, the number of which on or about tho graat trade routes is always somewhat considerable. Such a fa'.e befel the fine trans- Atlantic steamer Veendatn in February, the total loss of the vessel being notified in these columns by cable. Tho following is a resume of tho Captain's account of the strange fate of liis ship and the precaution he took to prevent her causing a similar catastrophe to t-ome other vessel. The Veendein left Rotterdam on February 3rd, in ray command, with a general valued at about £BO,OOO, nine cabin passengers, 118 steerage passengers, and a crew of 85 men. We were bound for New York. From the time wo left the English Channel, on the 4th, we had rough weather. The wind blew strong from the north-west, kicking up a high westerly and west-north-westerly sea. The Veendana rolled some, but she was a steady sea-boat, and it was mere play for her to ride out such weather. On February 6th practically the same conditions prevailed. A few minutes after five o'clock I noticed a few scattered signs of wreckage. There was very little daylight.left, and I could uol make out distinctly the character of tho wreckage. It did not seem t > amount to mush, otherwise the course of the steamer would have been alterea to keep clear »f it At seventeen minutes past five o'clock tho steamer struck something heavy ; the next instmt there was a grinding noise under the stern, as if some giant hand were tearing it open. Then the shaft began to race, and we knew it was broken. The engines were stopped at once. We were then in latitude 41'35 north and longitude 20'01 west. First Engineer Lichtenbelt started to crawl through tho tunnel which is built around the shaft. This tunnel was of sheet-iron, about five feet high and three and a half feet wide. The shaft which ran through it was about 20 inches in diameter. Lichtenbelt did not get moro than three feet down the tunnel when a floor of water washed him back, almost drowning him before he could get out. We then know it was impossible to repair the break ; also that a large hole had been worn in tho stern near the. shaft-hole, which in tho Veendam was about lift below the water-line. I can only account for this hole by the belief that the stem of the steamer struck a submerged dereliot. The screw was probably to rn out with part of the shaft, making a big hole in the stern, allowing the water to rush in in tremendous quantities. The instant I learned that the vessel was making water I orderad the steam pumps to be started. I also ordered the crew to go to work at the hand pumps. Iu ten minutes I saw that the wator was making faster thau we could pump it out. Then I knew that the vessel was in a dangerous position. I ordered blue tire to be burned as a signal of distress. We were right in the lino]of tran-sAtlantic traffic. The flare of blue fire and tho shooting of rockets frightened the women but the novelty of it all interested the children, particularly the very young ones, who did not koow any better. On the whole the passengers behaved splendidly ; of course there were hysterical women who oried and wept, and a few of the men were almost as bad, but I put the3t latter into the hole where the work of passing the buckets was the hardest. In their fright they worked with a frenzy that was very good for them. At eleven o'clock the water in tho engine and boiler rooms was within a few inches of the fires.

At half-past one o'clock the look-out called out the webome news that the lights of a large steamer were observed bearing about cast from south of us. I ordered a whole bunch of rockets to be set off, and the next instant saw that the steamer had altered her course and was boaring down directly for us. In a fow minutes the stranger was abeam of ns, about one-fourth of a mile to windward. I signalled that we were in and asked to have our passengers and crew taken off. In a few minutes a boat came within hailing distance. I learned that the stranger wus the St. Louis, and that CaptatQ Randal would send more boats if 'signalled for them. I ordered that only the children should go in the first boat, In ten minutes the boat full of crying children was starting on its way to the St. Louis. The boats oame thick and fast after that—three from the St. Louis and one of our own which had been lowered Eleven trips in all were made by the four boats, The last boatload, consisting of officers of the Verndam and a few of the crew, left at fifty-three minutes past four a.m. —three hours after the first boatload had left. Just before I left the ship I piled up a lot of furniture in the saloon, poured oil over it and the surrounding woodwork, and set fire to it. I wanted to destroy lhe vessel, so she would not be a menace to navigation. There were 17 feet of water in the hold when I left. The ship was burning fiercely when I last saw her and I think sho must have gone to tho bottom before daylight.