SUNK BY MINE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 December 1940, Page 5

SUNK BY MINE

STEAMER OFF N.S.W. COAST WITH LOSS OF SEVEN LIVES SECOND VESSEL DAMAGED. :N SOUTH AUSTRALIAN WATERS. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) SYDNEY, December 8. Presumed to have struck a mine, a coastal cargo vessel was sunk off the New South Wales coast on Thursday aft'ernoon. Seven men are believed lost.

A second victim, a British overseas cargo vessel, was mined in South Australian waters late last night, but was reported today to be still afloat. Two powerful tugs and a ketch have gone from a' South Australian port to the vessel’s assistance, and naval authorities are also rushing immediate assistance to clear waters in the vicinity of danger. The Minister of the Navy, Mr. Hughes, admitted in the House of Representatives that the first of these two losses, which occurred off the New South Wales coast, might have been due to a mine. If that was so it must be assumed that-the mine was laid by an enemy raider. Survivors of the ship sunk off the New South Wales coast had no doubt that their vessel was mined. One of them, the chief engineer, Stuart Kennedy, 49, said that an explosion blew away a large portion of the ship, which sank in three minutes.' Seven of the crew of 20 are missing, and are believed to have been killed or drowned.

STEAMER OFF N.S.W. COAST

But for the alertness of the pilot of a Royal Australian Air Force plane, all 20 members of the crew might have been lost. He had just taken off from a base on the New South Wales coast for a flight seaward when he noticed smoke several miles out to sea. He flew straight to it, saw considerable wreckage on the surface, and alighted. The water was considerably rougher that he had anticipated, and because of this and the extent of the wreckage which threatened to pierce the hull of the amphibian, he was unable to approache close enough to a piece of wreckable to which he saw 13 men clinging to pick them up. The pilot was about to return to his base to obtain help when he saw a ship, communicated with it by signal lamp, informed it of the position of the wreckage, and directed it to the scene. The rescuing ship was another small coastal boat, and and she brought the survivors to Sydney late last night. The cargo of the sunken vessel included considerable quantity of plywood, which provided admirable rafts for the crew to cling to. About 50 pigs had been carried as deck cargo, and these also sought positions on the rafts and had to be kicked off by the men.

“I was having a cup of tea when the explosion occurred,” said Chief Engineer Kennedy. “There was no chance to get a boat away. I scrambled out of the messroom and the next thing I knew I was in the water. The ship just went from under me. I scrambled on some plywood and saw other men on plywood too. I didn’t see any of the men who were lost after the explosion.” The missing men are: W. Bysantson, master; C. Chapman, mate: A. McAllister, third engineer; E. Carlson, N. Hulton, and E. Hallett, greasers; and W. Gorry, seaman. All lived in Sydney suburbs. Captain Bysantson was in his cabin when the explosion occurred. The third engineer and the greasers were in the engine-room. Four of the 13 survivors were taken to hospital after they had been landed in Sydney. The day after the sinking precautionary measures against raiders and mines were announced in Parliament. These include the patrolling and sweeping of waters in the area where the coaster was sunk; a decision to equip with mine-cutting apparatus, and “measures similar to the closing of the ports of Sydney and Newcastle last week.”