An Unusual Turn

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 14, 18 October 1929, Page 9

An Unusual Turn

2YA Rises to the Occasion NOVEL feature of 2YA’s evening. programme on October 16 was a broadcast interview. The appearance of the Kosmos in Wellington harbour one morning recently excited’ much comment among the residents because of her, unique lines." Accompanying her were seven 250-ton "chasers," which appeared ‘mere cockleshells when moored alongside the factoryship. ‘This whaling fleet-left Wellington on October 12 to proceed to the Ross Sea in time for the whaling season. Realising the tremendous interest that .would be aroused by this visit,

the management of the station arranged .for Captain Anderson ‘of ‘the "Kosmos" to talk over the air for a.few minutes on the activities of the unique fleet. In intreducing. the speaker at approximately 9 am., the announcer recounted incidents in his visit during that afternoon, but it became evident that the:speaker, probably:fearing his English, could not‘proceed. The announcer rose to the occasion and proceeded to interview Captain Anderson, who replied very fully and in surprisingly good English to the speaker. The. question asked were of very great interest, and during the interview some interesting information was brought to light. toon The, Kosmos, a large steamer, was built recently to. supply a demand for an efficient "floating factory" for whaling purposes. The seven chasers were built .at the same time to act as

seouts, and to pursue and dispatch the whales encountered. ‘The whales killed are towed to the stern of the mothership, where they are hoisted on board by specially built winches, to be cut up and melted down. The operation of hauling them on board occupies 15 minutes. The Kosmos earries 23,000 tons of oil for fuel, enough to last her until her return to port. Condensers for distilling sea-water are installed, and these.are indispensable, as 200 tons of fresh water are used every day. The harpoons carried by the chasers are mounted in the bow, and are fired from a gun mounted on a swivel. They explode on strikng the whale, thus killing it outright or: wounding it badly. The tremendous power of these sea monsters is exemplified by the statement that a wounded whale will often drag a chaser some distance, regardless of reversed engines. _ Blue whales are often 100 feet in length, and weigh roughly one ton per foot. An efficient wireless installation which provides for the transmission of both telephony and’ telegraphy, is carried by the Kosmos and her fleet of chasers, and is chiefly used for communication between them. A Gipsy Moth seaplane is also carried on the deck of the Kosmos, and this is used to aid the chasers in their task of "spotting" whales. The bow of .the Kosmos is specially built to withstand the tremendous strain of ice-breaking. They have on board some "huskies," which they will endeavour to deliver to the Byrd Expedition in the Antarctica. . After the conclusion of this interesting talk, Mr. Drummond asked if the speaker would care to speak to any of his countrymen who might be listeningin. This request was acceded to, and the subsequent greetings in Norwegian sounded quite interesting, if a little unintelligible.