COLLISION BETWEEN THE S.S. MURRAY AND CUTTER PHOENIX.

Colonist, Volume XXVI, Issue 3709, 10 September 1883, Page 3

COLLISION BETWEEN THE S.S. MURRAY AND CUTTER PHOENIX.

OFFICIAL ENQUIEY. | Oh Saturday last an enquiry was held before Mr 0. Curtis, E.M, Captain Currie, of the barque Seatoller, and Captain Palmer, touching the collision which oacurred just outside the inner .harbor at Nelson on the evening of the 28th Auj ust, between the steamer Mavray and the cutter' Phoenix.' The euquiry was held at the instance of Mr Heaps, Collect?? of Customs, who. r stated in his information that, bo far as he had ascertained, tha aooident was caused by want of care on the part of Captain Scott, of the Murlay, andMr Paul, his second officer. Mr Pitt appeared to watch ths proceedings on behalf of Captain Scott, and Mr Heaps said ha proposed to conduct the case on behalf of the Customs. . r ; Court said its would be; necessary for necessary for Captain Scott and Mr Paul to place their certificates in the poiseasion of the. Court.... „ „,.. Mr Paul'said hia certificate had been sent to the Nalaon Custom House, but had been I lost. Mr Pitfc undertook that the certificates should be placed in the hands of the CourtMr Heaps said that the present proceedings arose out of a report made by Westrupp, who stated that his vessel was run into by the Murray, which was leaving harbor, and that he had lost his bowsprit and cutwater. He (Mr Heaps) said it was evident that a proper look out on board the steamer had not been kept, and the captain of the Murray failed to slacken'! speed. either before or after tHe accident, and he also omitted to report \ the accident at'the'Customs."' He called r— " John Westrupp;, who deposed: lam the master-ofthai cutter Phoenix.''.; On the 23th August I was off the Boulder Bank at a little after M in the evening. "We were .heading about E.S.E. iuto .tbe.Boulder Bank at that time, and w* had the mainsail, jib, and staysail on her, the' wind- being" very light. Thert wa« sufficient vrinc} to ketpi steerage way on. We were about half a mile from the Boulder Bank,andbetween.the Magazine and the Boat .Channel. Tha jide'lhad been olibing more than an, hour. A steamer came out of the harbor,^ and?bore down.on;us, and I distinguished; that it..\yas. the Murray. I hallowed out, and she' 'starboarded her helm and showed a green.li^ht^and was going clear. AH at once she shoved her h)lm aport and kept right on. I then saw her red' light; I started hallowing again, and when ,I,,«aw there was.no chance, I called to the boy' to get into tne dingy; which was towing behind, but before I could run after him the steamer was on us and carried away the gibbootn and thecutvr ater. I got into the dingy after the vesgel was struck, and expected the vessel to sink under my feet. I could not undo tha painter.. Our cargo consisted of nine yards of gravel for the City Council. The vessel showed no signs of,leaking after she was struck. After the oollision I went rcnnd the forepart in the; dingy, and struck a match to examine the damage done. I then sent the boy to try tha pump, and he found no water. We than got in the jib and let go the anchor. If the veisel had leaked she would have gone down at once and taken us with her. If the steamer had struck the bows tha cutter would have gone down straight, she waa low encu^i in the water as it was. I did not see that the steamer slackened off Kpoad at all. She was ant of tight in no time. No one spoke to us from the steamer. Cross-examined by Mr Pitt: About b'alf an hour before the Murray cans up the E>nnedy i passed betweem us and the Bank. When Ui-> Murray came up we were a little nearer the : Bank. It the ate->mer had kept her course s after the starboarded she would have kept i astern of us. There was plenty of ro>m, ! The Phoenix might be 40 years old, but shwas made new .about four yeara ago. Her 1 old part was of teak. The bowsprit was pu< in her about three weeks back ; it was a pan of a gaff. The guy was good, although i. wiia a piece of old rigging. The steamer must hare strnok the bowsprit about four feet from the end, and the cutwater was struok by the bluff of the steamer's bows. - If she had atruoK 1 the bow of In* boat I iheuld aol bt her*

By Mr Heaps: The steamer nercr whistled and no tign was made. I repopted thi occurrence because I thought I was compellec to do bo. By Captain Currie : There was Tory littlf wind when the Murray oatne out. I eau't saj whether our helm was put hard down. I would be no good to put the helm hard down for there wbs no wind. Captain Ourrie : I understood you te say thai there was a light .air, and she had stferage way on. If you had put your helm hard down you would havo brought your .vessel's head-to the wind, and if tho steamer had" then struck'V'w&ulii haWbeaitfa pacing blow. Witness: If we had put the helm hard down, and hauled the main sheet to the wind, it would have don* no good. Captain Currie : As the vessels are placed on the chart; there could, have been no collision if you bad put your helm hard down, and hauled your main sheet to the wind. S»muel Westrupp deposed:! was seaman on board the Prteiix, On the evening of the 28th August, a little after 1, the cultrr was heading towards the Boulder Bank, About half a,mile.distant between the boot channel, and the magazine.' (After corroborating his father's evidence at to the amount of wind, and to the Murray changing her oourse, said I did not'alter our helm r 'for it was no usa, the vessel'would not have done anything, for tbero was not time. After the steamer carried away our bowsprit the bluff1 of her bowsprit caught the stern of the cutter. I was standing at the tiller, and the foroo of the collision knocked me down.. The steamer did not slacken speed at all, or'make any signal—she went straight on. They did not ask us what damage was done. Cross-examined: Tho steamer was 150 yards off when she showad her green lights and when eho was 40 yards away she showed her red. • 4. I Captain Scott deposed : I am master of the 5.9 Murray. We left the wharf at Nelson about 7 o'clock on the evening mentioned. When-j first saw the cutter'a light wo were olose down on top of her. I was in charge of the steamer. It was the seoond mate's watch ..■•—my t/atchi We ;ihad~ a look»out on the bridge*; ' the second' mate was keeping a look-out. It was his duty to report vessels ahead,I'except when I was on the bri Ige, I was on the bridge, but saw no light till I heard '-someone singing out fMy eyesight is sometimes bad at night. . I was quite sober, and so Was nay second officer. At that time the cutter was only forty yards distant. I thought there wai no danger. I put the helm hard down aport, and saw the cutter's green light. I Bitw she was becalmed, and thought I could clear her h fc'er by going round her bows than by going round her stern. I touched the end of hr jibboom, but I thought we had cleared it. I felt no shock, and beard no noise, so I went on, not knowing we had heen in collision at all. I looted over the side, and thought we bad gone clear. I afterwards learnt from the second mate that we had carried away her bowsprit. I made no report to the Customs, for 1 did not think it neoessavy. ; Cross-examined: The cutter's light appeared bright enough. Her sails were hanging loose, and I could lee them as we passed. I could just nee her jib and staysail, and I thought we were clear. I never gave the order beforehand to starboard. I have examined the cutter's bowsprit, and it is more. like a carrot than anything else. If it had been a sound one we should have heard it snap, or it is likely we should merely have, slewed the cutter on striking it. The damage to the bowsprit is only 355. .By Captain Palmer: After we had passed, the second mate told me her bowsprit had gone. He said he saw it alongside. Samuel Westrupp, re-called : We put our lights out w.hen we saw the first steamer coming. By -Mr Pitt: We only put oar light* out when we sea a steamer coming, and when we are going out of harbor. We all put our lights out when we get out to sea. It ia no use burninglights when : we are going tb theMoutere. , ' William Trayers Paul deposed: lam second mate of the Murray, and hold, a first mate's certificate, No. 104, Western Australia. , I was on the 'pert side of the .bridge; when the steamerleft.the harbor. As we got out,of inner harbor I saw the cutter's lights right ahead. I did not report it for I thought the captain saw it, as he was on the bridge and could see as .well ail. -He did not alter her course till, they shouted.. The first order I got was .hard .aporti and I assisted the man at the wtieeltb put the helm hard aport. The pteamer answered direotly. I thought the cutter; was further off than she was. I'should not;have. altered our course befere the captain did, fort'thought she was then 2(j() yards, but she waß not. About a minute and a half after we ported, the collision took place. The bluff of bur bows struck the cut'te'B bowsprit. After we had gone by the captain asked whether we touched, -and I said I thought we had taken the boom out of her. We did not offer assistance,'for we did not think any was needed, the damage was so small. I saw someone forward on the cutter as we passed. I heard them shouting as we.passed, bufcil should not say they wereicries of alarm. Cross-examined by Mr Pitt: I;should Bay the cutter's bowsprit struck, the bluff-of our bo.vs,;so .that our head would be quite, clear of the cutter- I did not know, there had been a collision till;I saw;the bowsprit gone.: I don't think we could have done more than we did. The night was dark, and, we: were in narrow: water. If we had slowed, the, engines the steamer would not have answered her helm so soon. ; . ;, ' John M-'Carthy,:' an A.B. ©n board the Murray, and was at the wheel at the time of the collision, .gate Bimilar;eYidence to that of the captain. He did not see the cutter's lights till the captain did, and did not know they had touched.her till he left;the wheel. Mr Pitt then addressed the Court at some length. He expressed ran opinion that that formal enquiry was wholly Unnecessary, He contended that the collision was not due to any negligente. There Ayas-a. good look-out, and directly Westrupp called out Captain Scott put his helm hard aport. Nodoubt had the engines been stopped, the steamer would have cat the boat down, as she would no have answered her helm so speedily. He looked on the collision as of a moat trifling i character, and in answer to the charge that he did not stand by, Captain Scott said ho did not know that any damage had been done to the cutter. As to the charge that the captain did not report the case to the Customs, ' Captain Scott said he did not think that necessary". Indeed, he looked npon the thing as one of those little mishaps which frequently occur within harbors, where one vessel puts her bowsprit1 or. anchor through the - bulwarks of another,1 and he said it was evident that had Westrupp put his helm down, and,hauled his,, niainsuil to the wind he.would have, avoided the) collision. i • .<-% ; After an interval Mr Curtis said the Court had.unanimously agreed .that the seoond mate! deserves snvere censure for negleetitig io report the cutter's lights to the captain' That t! c captain was'to blame for not' stopping' the' engiue« when he was hailed by the cutter and saw her 1 ght, in addition to porting His he tn That tho captain also des arre3 con.ure for not s*opping Iho engines as soon as he bera<ne sware of the accident in order to renripr asistanco if required. The certificates of L'jptein and the second ma'e would 'o< returned, but they wonlci have-to -p<iy the costs of the enquiry, ttfO'thirds (6 be Loin by the captain and one third-fey the serond nvite. The costs amounted to'£B 4*. :-'.