BATTLE WITH ICE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 285, 14 September 1935, Page 3

BATTLE WITH ICE

— SAILORS’ TERRIBLE ORDEAL. Their ship crushed by ice, 22 feet of water in the hold, and the pumps failing to work, the captain collapsing with cold. . . . These were some of the experiences of 30 British seamen on hoard tire tramp steamer Tower Bridge in their battle with death among ice-

bergs, told by members of the crew on the ship’s arrival at Halifax recently. The Tower Bridge was on her way to Montreal when she was holed by ice. “How we ever reached port I do not know,” said Mr S. A. Bromage, the chief officer, in an interview. “We left

B'lyth in ballast for St. Jolin’s. A feu days out we ran into a gale, which increased in force until it became a. huirioane. Shipping was disorganised and several vessels went down. W& survived the storm, and then we encountered ice. “The ice got thicker and thicker, and began to press in the plates against the frames inside, causing deep corrugation. The cold was intense. “The skipper collapsed, and for days he lingered between lit© and death. Eventually the holds gave in, and water poured through to the second

hold. . “The men sent out an G. 0.5., and am ice patrol ship 300 miles away replied that the liner Newfoundland was 30 miles away. I took charge of a party of men, and we went down into the hold to repair the suction pipes by

putting cement boxes around them, said Mr Bromage. “All night we worked in swirling water while the ship rolled and! ground among the iceflows. Eventually we stopped the inflow of water and wirelessed the Newfoundland that we were all right. J . “Finally, GO hours after entering the ice field, we got into clear water ao-ain. For five move days we limped through high seas and fog until we reached Halifax.”