Ships and the Sea

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 83, 4 October 1930, Page 28

Ships and the Sea

(By Athol L. Kirk.)

UNION COMPANY SHIPS

THOSE OF OTHER DAYS

CLOSE OF THEIR CAREERS

Two aitides have been published in "The Post" recently dealing with for mer members of the Union Slcain Ship Company's fleet, and how their respec tive careers came to an end, and the third and last of the scries is given below. Atua (3444 tons): Built in 1906. In 1926 she was sold with the Kavua to , the Khedivial Steamship Company. Squall (369 tons): Built in 1904. In 1912 she was sold to Richardson and Co., and on Ist February, 1916, she was wrocked near East Cape. ' ■ Kaiapoi cx-Holywood (2003 tons): Built in 1906. In January, 1930, she was sold to Eastern buyeis. Waihora (4638 tons): Built in 1907. In 1928 she was sold to Japanese buyeis who renamed her the Waihora Maru. Koromiko (2479 tons): Built in 1907. Sho was also sold in 1928 to Eastern buyers. Kaitangata, ex-Ladywood (200 a - tons): Built-in 1907. In January, 1930, ' she was sold to Eastern buyers, but unliko other ships sold East her sale did not follow a long period of idle- -■ uess. Maitai, ex-Niovera (3393 tons): Built in 1892. In December, 1916, she Btranded on Avarua Beef, Earotonga. , She was soon smashed up, and her two big cylinders can still bo seen lying on the reef at low water. Waitemata I. (5432 tons): Built in 1908. She was torpedoed and sunk in , the Mediterranean on 14th July, 1918, while in the Imperial Government service. Paloona, ex-Zealandia (2798 tons): Built -in" 1899. In 1908 she was bought by the Union Company from the Hud-dart-Parker Company, and named Paloona. After her withdrawal from the Melbourne service she went into an- !* chorage at Port Chalmers. In 1929 she was dismantled and sunk at the Otago Heads. Aorangi (4268 tons): Built in 1883. After the Moana supereoded tho Aorangi in the Vancouver trado the Aorangi was not used a great deal,- and sh'o was out of commission at Sydney ■ when the war broke out. The Commonwealth Government bought her in 1915 and used her as a storeship. She 1 accompanied a contingent to England, - and was then taken over by the Imperial Government. Sho was sunk in Holm-Sound in the Orkneys to block tlio entrance to Scapa Flow. Sho was raised after the war, and is now used as a hulk. Tahiti, ox-Port Kingston (7585 tons): Built in 1904. She foundered 460 miles from Earotonga while engaged in tho San Francisco' Mail service on 18th August; 1930. Karamu (934 tons): Built in 1912. In September, 1925, she foundered off the TaSinahian coast. Kauri, ex-Hnrmony (2833 tons): Built in 11905. In 1928, after being laid up at Lytteltoii, she was sold to Eastern buyers. The:'next four vessels were bought together in 1912:— Limerick, cx-Eippinghnin Grange I (6827 tons): Built in 1898. She was torpedoed by a German submarino on 28th May, 1917. Roscommon, ex-Oswestry Grange 1 (7381 tons): Built in 1902. She was torpedoed on 21st August, 1917. Tyrone, ox-Dray ton Grnngo (6664 tons): Built an 1901. On 29th September, 1913, ,the Tyrone ran ashore at Otago Heads and soon went .to pieces. Westmeath, ex-Everton Grango (8096 tons): Built in 1903. On 18th July, 1917, she was torpedoed, but managed to reach a French port. In 1925 she was sold to Italian buyers. Karno (1236 tons): Built in 1913. The Kamo was recently sold to Eastorn buyers, and was delivered this month. Waimarino, ex-Wyndotfce, ex-Lady Roberts (4204 tons): In 1926 she was bought by the company of Chun Young San, of Shanghai. Waiheino, ex-Canada Cape (4283 tons): Built in 1904. The Waihomo was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean in March, 1918. Kokiri, cx-Laudordalo (1240 tons): Built in 1911 and purchased by the Union Company in Juno, 1915, together with others of tho Maoriland S.S. Co.'s fleet. She was sold to a Manilla buyer in September, 1927. Karu, ex-Holmdale, cx-Forgantin (267 tons) i. Built in 1901. lv 1924 she was sold to a Sydney firm. On 28th February, 1926, she foundered near Capo Maria Van Diemen. Waikawa-L, ex-Maritime, ex-Schlci sien (5677"t0n5): Built in 1907. Purchased by the Union Company in 1915, and while on Imperial Government service was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel on 19th October, 1917. Avenger (14,744 tons): Built in 1915. Sho was named tho Aotea-Roa, but was taken over by the Royal Navy to act as an armed cruiser and renamed the Avenger. -On 14lh June, 1917, sho was torpedoed in-tlio North Sea. Loitrim (9540 tons): Built in 1915. Sho was sold in 1927 and renamed the Narbada, under which name sho is now running in the East Indies-New Zealand service, under charter to the Union Company. Waitotara, ex-Dartmoro (4717 tons): Built'in 1907. After a very short career the Waitotara caught fire in tho South' Pacific on 14th June, 1917, and was eventually abandoned. ATmagh (12,269 tons): Built in 1917. In 1923 she ran. ashore at the entrance to the Morsey at Liverpool, and was broken >up by the sea. Orowaiti (6684 tons): Built in 1921 as the company's oil tanker, and during a thick fog she was totally wrecked on the Californian Coast on 12th August, 1924. Konini (1420'-tons): Built hi 1924. While' on her maiden voyage to New Zealand she was strandod near Bluff, and was eventually abandoned. Melbourne (3 739 tons): Built in 1892. She was purchased by the Union Company from the Tasmanian Government for breaking up purposes in 1925. She was lator converted into a hulk, sold to a firm at Noumea, 'and left Sydney for that port in tow on 2nd May, 1925. Yolla (80 tons): Built in 1890. She was purchased from Tasmanian owners in 1898; and lost fourteen days later by being wrecked off Sandy Cape, Tasmania. Kakapo 1., ex-Clarenco (1093 tons): Built about 1900. In 1900 sho was purchased by the Union Company, and went ashoro at Chapman's Bay, south of .Capo Town, on 25th May, 1900, on her voyage from Home. Unsuccessful attempts were niado to refloat her, and she was abandoned. Hauroto (1988 tons): Built in 1882 for the Union Company. In December, 1912, while tho ship was ont of commission at Auckland, fire broke out on board, causing extensive damage, which was repaired when the ship was sold to Eastern buyers in April, 1915. Warrimoo-(3528 tons): Built in 1892. In 1916 sho was sold to tho Chinese firm of Kiam Aih and Co. According to a newspaper report published somo time after her foundering, she was carrying Chinese labour from Cochin China to Marseilles when she met her end. She left Bizerta (Tunis), under French eaaorfc on 18th May, 1918, During tho

night one of the destroyors ran ahead of the convoy, which was doing fifteen knots, and for some- reasons stopped dead. The Warrimoo came on blindly and, striking her on .the quarter, turned her over and emptied all her depth charges overboard. Theso immediately exploded and blew the bottom out of the Warrimoo, which sank -in twenty minutes. There were 1700 persons on board, but only one life was -lost, and a post-mortem gave shock as the cause of-death. , • ' One ship which I - think should be added to this list is the- Willochra, which was under charter-from the Adelaide S.S. Company to the Union Com pany for many yoars. The Willochra (7784 tons) was built in 1913, and in 1919 was sold to the- Bermuda and West Indies S.S. Company, and re named the Fort Victoria. ■ Two mistakes that occurred in tinfirst list published have been pointed out to me. The Ohau foundered in 1899, not in 1890, and theMonowai was scuttled at Whareongaonga, ■ not Waikokopu. • I would like to acknowledge my indebtedness to members of the Union Company's staff for their helpful and valuable co-operation in compiling the information. I wis,h also to thank the harbourmaster, Captain Dawson, and members of the Harbour Board staff, for assistance in- supplying information regarding the various wrecks .on the New Zealand coast. A Veteran Sailor. Sixty-four years at sea is the record of Quartermaster John Miller, of ,the Orient Royal Mail liner Ormonde, which reached Sydney recently from London, states the "Sydney Morning HeraJd." His first visit to Australia was in the famous clipper, Cutty, Sark, in the 'eighties. Born at Chelsea in 1553, Miller 'went to sea at tho age of thirteen in tho China tea clipper Lammermuir, under Captain W. Stuart. He served under the same,master in the clipper Tweed, which,' on .one occasion, sailed from London to Port Chalmers (N. 55.) in.69 days, with immigrants and general cargo. Unable to obtain a homeward cargo in the Dominion, Captain Stuart made for Sydney in ballast, secured payable consignments, and returned to London, via the Horn, in 69 days. The Cutty Sark was launched in 1869, and made a number of fast trips to China for tea cargoes. On tho third voyage to the East, in 1872, Miller was a member of the crew. On that occasion she sailed from Shanghai to Portland in 120 days. Later Miller made two ' trips to Australia in the famous vessel. On ono occasion the Cutty Sark reached the entrance to Port Phillip in 53 days from London. Bad weather, however, prevented her from reaching her berth at Williamstown for ten days, and even then her time was only ono day longer than the record of 62 days established by the famous Aberdeen cliper' Thermopylae. Miller has been with tho Orient Company for many years. He first servod on the old Lusitania, a barque-rigged steamer purchased by .the company for tho Australian service. He also spent some time on" the Austral, but was not a member of tho crew when tho vessel sank in Sydney Harbour. Other Orient liners on which ho served woro the Ophir and the Oi'muz. Shipwrecked 'on only one occasion, Miller was on the three-masted schooner .Reward, a Melbourne-owned vessel, when, she ran ashore on the Kiduappors, off1 the New Zealand coast. . The Reward broke in halves, and foundered within a very short time, and Miller was one of two survivors. "Wo were both for'ard," he said, recounting the incident, "and jumped- overboard, plunging into water up to our shoulders. • We waded ashore, and watched the ship disappear before our eyes. Wo were helpless to assist the, rest of tho crew.''. Miller bears a slight resemblance to tho King, and is known to his comrades as "King George.'' Ho has, on several occasions, tried work ashore, but has always returned to the sea. "I could never findanything better to do," he said. . City of' Osaka at Cape Town. The City of Osaka (Ellcrmau and Bucknall) arrived from Australia, via Durban, at Cape Town recently, after an extremely rough passage round the coast, states the "Capo Times." Captain A. Thomson'said that strong headwinds were met with after passing Cape St. Francis, which blew with gale foice when off Capo Agulhas, a high, confused sea being raised .which made, i*- necessary for ihe vessel to be "hovo to" for four hours. Tho docks were- continually swept fore and aft by the seas which boko on board, but no damlage was done to fittings. The captain pointed out that tho vessel was deep-loaded, having in her I holds about 3000 tons of lead, besides 'a big tonnage of wheat and flour, and such a deadweight, is not the .best cargo* to have in a' ship when a heavy soa is running. Two stowaways were discovered in the City of Osaka after leaving, Fremantle, and are being taken to Europe h. tho 'ship. Captain Thomson said that about 50 stowaways tried to board his vessel in Fremantle, including four girls, which he said, showed tho fearful state of unemployment in Australia. The City of Osaka was at Wellington in May. The vessel, was wrecked on a reef 15 miles north of Aberdeen on 24th September. She loaded at Port Pirie and Fremantle for tho United Kingdom and Continent,' but' as she had called at various ports and was bound.from Newcastle-on-Tyne to New York at the time of the mishap, it can bo' surmised that the- -Australian cargo had been discharged. A call for assistance was answered by tho destroyer Walker and the life-saving corps, who brought the Lascar and Japanese crew ashoro. Captain W. H. Smith, with his officers and white members of the crew, remained aboard to maintain pumping operations, but as the ship later developed a sharp list they also went ashoro. The City of Osaka was built in 1923 by W. Gray & Co., Ltd., Suu&erland, and was owned by Ellerman Lines, Ltd.- She was previously known as the Colorado and was of. 6614 tons gross register.