LOSS OF THE TAHITI.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 50, Issue 267, 25 August 1930, Page 6

LOSS OF THE TAHITI.

THE VESSEL’S FINAL PLUNGE. LAST SALUTE BY THE VENTURA. (United Press Association —Copyright.) SUVA, August 23. Mr John Menzies, a passenger on. the Ventura, states: ' The Ventura was 60 miles west of Pago Pago when she was ordered to assist the Tahiti. Averaging 17 knots, she arrived at the Tahiti at 10 o clock oh Sunday morning in fine weather. She lay close-in and found the iafaiti was throwing dense black smoke from the funnel. All the pumps were working hard, also 40-gallon buckets worked by winches were lifting water from No. 3 hold at the rate of two buckets a minute. , , ' „ When the Tahiti sighted the Ventura all the passengers and crew were ‘aboard the lifeboats ready to board the Ventura. , Half an hour later the Tahiti showed signs of sinking astern, the vessel being awash. She took a list to port, the water reaching the deck-house. The stern was now well down, and the bow was lifting in the air. There weie loud noises of. falling machinery and gear, and the water reaching the boilers sent up dense volumes of black smoke and steam. The funnel crumpled to pieces and crashed mto the sea. The foremost c-racked in several pieces in the air and toppled forward and kept the vessel from sinking too rapidly. The boilers burst and there was a- big column of steam and smoke and ashes. „ , . .The Tahiti started her final plunge into the depths in a calm sea. \\ rtn hastening speed l she gracefully dropped out of sight leaving in her wake a tremendous vortex caused bv suction, and the surface of the sea was strewn with small heaps of burning cinders and other objects. In the midst of the seething waters there was a big patch of a whitish-looking substance, then the swirl subsided and there was a calm sea again. There was v little visible of the spot where the liner had taken her final plunge. , , x As the bow disappeared the Ventura blew two whistles as a token of farewell, and the crew and passengers cheered their farewells. The captain gazed regretfully at the vessel he had commandied for some time. It was a sad sight to witness the loss of an ocean liner in a calm sea. The Ventura was lying 500 yards off. Then she circled once close in round the spot which marked the Tahiti’s grave, and then turned north on the 690 miles voyage to Pago, Pago, arriving after a 44 hours’ run on Monday at noon. When the shaft broke in the early hours the passengers were mustered ✓ and kept in the saloon. On the position becoming, serious all were mustered many times by surprise calls to the ship’s boats, which was a wise precaution on the part of the captain. Consequently there was ho panic. The passengers saved only their personal cabin luggage. They speak in glowing terms of the efficiency of the officers and crew of the Tahiti, and also of the comforts aboard the Ventura on the voyage to Pago Pago. There were no signs of panic as the wrecked people boarded tne Ventura. At Pago Pago the gave a complimentary dinner to the captain, officers and crew of the Tahiti. From whgi Mr Menzies gathered, it is supposed that when the tail shaft broke it knocked holes in the shaft tunnel, and in all probability carried away some plates. The doors, though closed at the end of the shaft tunnel, did not prevent the water getting through to the en-gine-room. while the men were pluckily working in the water up to their waists, until finally they were forced to abandon the position. A fortunate circumstance is that the shaft broke hr calm weather, otherwise there would have been a great loss of life. Signs of strain showed on the passengers’ faces after a strenuous period of anxiety. -