THE RANGATIRA

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 95, 3 February 1936, Page 6

THE RANGATIRA

WORK OF STEWARDS. REASSURING THE PASSENGERS. HEARTRENDING^CIRCUMSTANCES DAYLIGHT AND NEW LAND. SEA TOO ROUGH FOR BOATS. (Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. Accounts given by some passengeis and members of the ship’s a <r ree that prior to the mishap toe t 1 of the Rangatira could not be> called rough one, in spite of the busk sout erly wind that raked the decks from stern to bow all the way from L>ttel tW One steward said: “YTe felt a shock at ten past' six, while serving tea to the second-class passengers. There weie three distinct bumps, enough to wake people and make them curious as to what had happened, but not enough alarm them. The swell then seemed to lift her off the obstruction Our ciders were to let the passengers know we had hit something, and to tell them to pu on their lifebelts, and to keep them calm. The last part of our task uas not a difficult one, as there was nothing in the nature of panic, though most people were alarmed at the possibility of having to abandon the ship. Bieakfast was made available for the Passengers, but hardly any of them wanted it, and were content, with cups, of tea and slices of bread and buttei. After going astern the Rangatira, the steward said, for a while was broadside on to the heavy seas, which continually swept the decks. Still astern she swung in toward Fenearrow, apparently to get her bearings, and aitei some more manoeuvring started loi the harbour, still stern first, A passenger said: It was daylight, of course, and that reassured the people a lot. We did not see the land, but we knew we could not be far oil and that also acted as a cheerful tonic, but the most helpful of all, as far as I was concerned at any rate, was the fact that the electric light did not fail. I thought that if lights were still burning there could not be much wrong with the ship. It was lucky the damage, whatever it was, was no worse, for in the sea running in the Strait not half the lifeboats would have got away had it been necessary to leave the ship. It would have been absolutely impossible to launch boats on tlie windward side, so great was the fury of the waves and there would inevitably have been casualties in the dropping of the boats on the sheltered side, for even there the sea was strong and bump;. Then there was the additional danger of landing on a rocky coast.” _ Another passenger,- after declaring that the ship had pitched and' rolled all night, and he had not slept, said: “An old ‘chappie’ down below, who said he had been travelling on ships for years, assured me that it lie Rangatira bad only shipped a sea, and he went on reading his Edgar Wallace. Then the stewards came and told us to put on our lifebelts, and get out on deck. The old chap disappeared in a' cloud of smoke.”

In a description of the scenes afterwards, this passenger mentioned buying about 8s worth of rum for women passengers. “From the deck,” he said, “we could see a huge rock sticking out of the sea 50 yards away. It was nearly an hour before we got into the harbour, and were told to take our lifebelts off.” A retired sea captain, with much practical experience of the New Zealand coast, ventured an opinion that the Rangatira ran on fo the obstruction by making a faster trip from the South than had been supposed. There was always a set of about 1) to two knots up the East Coast of the South Island, and the wind all night had possibly increased the rate of set beyond calculations.

FAIRLY EXTENSIVE DAMAGE. FORTUNATELY GOING SLOW. MAORI TO TAKE UP RUNNING. 1 "*■ “ WELLINGTON, This Day. It is evident that the damage to the Rangatira is fairly extensive, said Mr Mattiiewson (general manager of the Union Steam Ship Company.) Divers are inspecting the Rangatira this morning, and when the examination is completed an attempt will be made to clear the forward part of water, ready for docking. The Maori has been hastily recommissioned, and will leave at 7.45, the usual hour, this evening. She will, however, dock at Lyttelton to-morrow for cleaning and painting, leaving the dock at 10 p.m. and departing from Lyttelton at 11 p.m. Suitable train arrangements have been made to connect from Christchurch. The Maori will arrive here at 11 n.m. on Wednesday. No cargo will bo carried cither on the way down or on the way back, mails, passengers and luggage only being taken. The Post Office reports that none of the Rangatira’s mail is wet. They were carried aft, and were never threatened. It is considered in shipping circles that the fact that the Rangatira was brought safely to berth reflects great credit on the master and those associated with him. Control of a 6152-ton ship moving stern foremost in a heavy following sea with the screws partially out of the water and the bow well down is no simple matter, but all the difficulties besetting the ship were safely overcome by those in charge. Opinion on the waterfront .is that the vessel was moving dj’ad slowly at the time of the impact, otherwise it is probable she would have been so damaged that she would not have reached port.