VOYAGE IN A CAPSIZED SHIP.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIV, Issue 146, 20 June 1903, Page 5 (Supplement)

VOYAGE IN A CAPSIZED SHIP.

RESCUE AFTER TWELVE DAYS'

CAPTIVITY.

The escape from death of Captain Engellandt, of the German Iron sailing vessel Erndte, as reported from Dantzic last month, will hardly find Its equal in the annals of life-saving.

The Erndte left Memel with a cargo of timber on April 16. During the next two days the vessel was exposed to a very rough sea, which kept the crew of four men at work day and night. On April 18, just as the captain had retired to his cabin, the storm suddenly became so violent that the vessel capsized.

The crew were swept away and drowned, and the captain was imprisoned In the ship's hull, the batches having been closed tightly by the sudden pressure of the water. The wreck drifted along, keel uppermost, until April 30, when it was sight* ed by the Norwegian steamship Aurora off the fishing village of Bixhoeft. The steamship immediately proceeded to secure the wreck, and while thus engaged the crew: heard repeated knocks from the Inside against the Iron bottom.

They also noticed a noise" resembling a human voice crying "Help." A hole was drilled la the iron plates, and this was hardly accomplished when a human finger appeared in the op.enlng. Then Captain Engellandt . announced himself to the astonished sailors as safe and sound within the ship's hull. He said he had food enough for three days, but during the last twenty-four hours had been compelled to drink sea water because the tanks were empty.

The Norwegian steamship's artificers were not prepared to make the hole in the Iron bottom large enough to permit of the imprisoned man's liberation, and therefore the wreck was towed to Dantzic, where It arrived on Saturday. Here the yessel was raised, and thus ended Captain Engellandt's captivity, which lasted twelve weary days and eleven nights.

The hardy seaman is none the worse for the fatigues he underwent. During the day he worked hard to make his presence inside the vessel known to passing ships, but at night he slept peacefully. with the water, underneath and iron roof above.

Many times he has had to tell the story of his miraculous adventure to thousands of visitors from the neighbourhood of Dantzic, who journeyed to congratulate the captain and view the wreck, which was suspended from a huge iron derrick.