A STORM AT SEA.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3963, 14 November 1891, Page 2

A STORM AT SEA.

Terrible Soenes at til Benveaue Disaster.

Fatal Capsize of a Lifeboat.

Suppose! loss ofaSTew Zealand trader.

London, November 12

A lifeboat, while proceeding to the wreck of the ship Benvenue, which was wrecked at Sandgate, capsized, and several of the occupants were drowned.

Seven of those on board the ill* fated ship, including the captain and his wife have been drowned.

The Benvenue lies 800 yards from the shore, which was lined by thousands, watching the remaining twenty one of the crew who had Bought sheltor in the rigging, but unable to render any assistance. The Dungeness lifeboat capsized, and five of its crew were drowned.

Later,

The 21 of the crew of the ship Benvenue, who took to the rigging, were rescued after having been 16 hours in their perilous position. A number of fishing smacks hailing from Lowestoft, Suffolk, bave been wrecked during the gales, and 12 lives are lost. A French vessel has bpen wrecked at Hythe, Kent, and throe of the crew drowned. It is believed that the Advance (sio) from New Ze land, has been wrecked at Hastings, Sussex. Many accidents occurred in the streets of London owing to the furious gale, London, November 12.

The Benvenue was being towed down the Channel when the hawser broke, and she drifted ashore. The Dovar and Sandgate lifeboats made repeated efforts to save the crew, and many attempts were made to throw a Hue over the ship. The rocket apparatus and field guns were both tried, but all endeavours failed.

The exertions of the rescuers were successful in the end, and the Sandgate lifeboat took the men off, but not till the captain and four others bad been drowned.

One man lost his life in attempting to reach the shore with a line round hts waist.

It is the Pflyinger, a Bremen barque, and not tho Advance, that has been wrecked at Hastings. The erewv and passengers were saved. There bave been wrecks and loss of lite at all the Channel ports, and along the East coasts of Scotland and England. Many minor casualties have occurred inland.

London, November 12.

The gale was the fiercest and most extensive that has been experienced for years. The reports which have come in from the coastal districts tell ot crews having to cling for hours to wrecks before help arrived. Telegrams from the Contiuent are blocked, through the lines being broken by the violence of the storms.