OFF CAPE REINGA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 June 1938, Page 8

OFF CAPE REINGA

BRITISH SHIP NARROWLY ESCAPES DISASTER BADLY BUFFETED IN LIGHT TRIM HOLD FLOODED TO GIVE CONTROL (By Telegraph—Press Association.) AUCKLAND, This Day. At the mercy of mountainous seas, off Cape Reinga, on.the extreme north of New Zealand, the British steamer Llangollen narrowly escaped disaster on a rocky coast at dusk on Saturday. Only brought under control after the hold had been deliberately flooded, the ’ Llangollen, with her bunkers depleted, put back to Auckland, where she arrived early last evening. “For half an hour the vessel took charge of herself,” said Captain David Williams to an interviewer. He added: “A light trim made the vessel unmanageable, but after broaching off twice, she was put' about and ran to shelter, and survived a severe buffeting without structural damage, and none of her company was injured. The Llangollen left Auckland on Friday morning, after discharging sugar .from Sourabaya, en route to Port Kembla, to bunker before loading for Europe. She made a fair passage to North Cape, but after rounding the Cape huge seas and westerly winds of gale force were encountered. She was drawing only about twelve feet by the stern and nine feet by the head. An officer said the light trim made the vessel like a butter box in a storm, and she was spun off her course twice. The officers were scanning the shore > for a sandy stretch of beach, and only masterly seamanship saved the vessel from disaster. The crew were flung about,, and the officers on the bridge had difficulty in keeping their footing. An officer off watch was struck by falling furniture in a cabin, and was splashed with the contents of an ink bottle. Officers, the crew and stewards worked together in preparing to flood the hold as a desperate attempt to give the racing screw a grip on the wafer. The manoeuvre was successful, but the captain then doubted whether the coal supply would allow a safe margin for the Tasman crossing. The captain paid a tribute to the officers, the engineers, and the crew. The Llangollen is still anchored in mid-harbour, and will berth at the Queen’s Wharf about noon. She will load coal and probably will sail tomorrow morning.