CORVETTE SUNK BY MINE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 67, Issue 287, 16 September 1947, Page 3

CORVETTE SUNK BY MINE

Injured Arrive at Cairns

SURVIVORS TELL STORY OF DISASTER

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter— Copyright). ,■ SYDNEY, Sept. 15

After a 600-mile dash, the sloop Swan arrived at Cairns today with 26 members of the crew of the corvette Warrnambool who were injured when she was sunk by a mine off the ' North Queensland coast. When the men (were)* (parried to' five waiting, ambulances to be taken to Cairns Hospital all but two were conscious.

An unofficial report received at Canberra stating that three of the injured had died could not be confirmed. The survivors described liow the corvette was suddenly lost in a cloud of smoke and spray. When it cleared it revealed that most of the vessel’s how was blown away. According to Lieu-tenant-Commander A. R. Strang, of the Swan, which is the flagship of the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla, the 1 Warrnambool sank in 90 minutes. The Swan was leading the Warrnambool, Mildura and Katoomba to the minefield which had just been opened. He saw the Warrnambool suddenly enveloped in spray, and when it cleared her stern was rising into the air. \ The survivors said that most of the injured men were having supper in the messroom forward of the bridge almost beside the spot where the mine lxit. The Swan lost one of lier sweeps on the reef and the Warrnambool moved in behind her for shelter. The mine narrowly missed the Swan but touched the Wamiambool’s bow. A signalman who is reported missing is said to have been among the group who jumped overboard when the blast occurred.,

Inquiry Ordered

An immediate inquiry is to be held. , Commander A. J. Travis is suffering from a broken arm and collarbone and severe shock.

A Canberra report says that danger pay to naval ratings engaged in minesweeping which was discontinued when the new pay code was introduced may be restored retrospectively. The Minister of the Navy, Mr W. J. Riordan, is examining the position., The Navy earlier asked all doctors in Cairns to report to the hospital this morning and issued a general appeat for blood donors. Ambulances were brought in from, nearby towns to carry the wounded, and a Navy Dakota stood by to fly some cases to Brisbane. Though the accident happened on Saturday afternoon, news of the disaster was not released until last night, when the Minister of the Navy made a statement in Canberra. The vessel was a member of the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla, which is working on the clearing of the minefield, originally extending from Cape York inside the barrier reef to a roint just south of Townsville. The field was laid by the Navy during the war as a line of defence against the Japanese drive south toward Australia.. According to a Navy Board announcement. this is the only accident suffered by the Royal Australian Navy minesweepers since they began ridding Australian and New Guinea waters of mines laid during the war. Other ships sweeping in the area where the Warrnambool sank were the flotilla leader Swan, the corvettes Mildura and Katoomba and two launches.

Many Mines Destroyed

The /Warrnambool, of 672 tons, was built in Australia and commissioned in 1941. She was one of 11 ships of a flotilla commanded by Captain R. V. Whatley. The flotilla spent from January till May on its first mission to northern waters before returning to Sjdney for a refit and shore leave. During that period it destroyed more than 900 mines. It sailed from Sydney again on August 4 to clear the northern section of the Great Barrier Reef. The first sweep in that area was ordered when questions were asked in Parliament after a fishing vessel had been blown up 60 miles from Townsville and three fishermen killed. Since then mines have been reported adrift in the area and on February 24 the Australian freighter Mundalla narrowly avoided a mine which was one of six drifting at the entrance to Mourilyan Harbour. The mine struck by the Warrnambool was of the contact type.

A report that three of the injured members of the Warrnambool’s crew had died was officially denied to-night. All the injured men were reported to be out of danger. >

BRAVERY OF STOKERS STUCK TO THEIR POST (Rec. 12.10 p.m.) SYDNEY, This Day. Four of the 26 men injured when the corvette Warrnambool struck a mine on Saturday afternoon are still unconscious, and three are on the danger list.

The deathroll is officially placed at three. Hope is being abandoned for a rating who was blown off the bridge by the explosion.

A rumour that others had died was probably caused by the fact that the bodies of the two men killed in the accident were brought to Cairns with the wounded by the sloop Swan. An official explanation of the disaster ie that the ships were moving so that one of the sweeps operated by the Swan was protecting the Warrnambool which w r as sweeping astern of her. This sweep caught on a reef, and the Warrnambool swung in behind the Swan to seek the protection of the other sweep from mines ahead. As she turned, the mine, which would normally have been swept by the Swan hit her on the starboard side under the water just aft of the bridge. Heroes of_ the disaster were two stokers who remained at their posts and assured that the boilers did not explode. The mine tore a hole in the ship’s side, and she began to list almost at once. The steam valves and condenser blew out, and with the steering

gear locked, the Warrnambool turned helplessly in the minefield, her siren howling with a jammed control. In the boiler room the explosion threw Leading Stoker E. Clark and Stoker J. Mcßride, both of Melbourne, into the bilges. In spite of the scalding steam and oil gushing from a fractured pipe, they stayed at /ieir post until they had shut off the boiler sprays.

The ship’s doctor sain that by doing so they saved the lives of all who survived the mine.