WRECK AT THE GILBERTS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 252, 21 October 1908, Page 5

WRECK AT THE GILBERTS.

BARQUE FXTESHXKE LOST. A SUBMERGED SHOAL. SYDNEY, October 20. The crew of the British barque Fifej shire reached Sydney to-day by the Island > steamer Muniara, the barque having been wrecked, near the island of Tabeteuea. in the Gilbert Group. ] The Fifeshire left Newcastle for Portland, Oregon, on August 2, with a cargo of 2000 tons of coal. On the afternoon of August 21, in fine weather, while bowling along -with a fair wind, the barque ! struck a submerged shoal t o the leeward of Tabeteuea with such force that she was carried over on to a second shoal, j where she remained bumping heavily. I The crew, 24 an told, launched the j boats, and reached the island of Tebarabate, -where they were kindly treated by tfle natives, and thence conveyed, to Tarawa, where they boarded the Muniara. ' The latest report is that the Fifeshire is lying firmly on the reef with an even J keel and all masts standing. There is ; apparently no hope of saving her. i The disaster was attributed to a strong J southerly current. j The Fifeshire -was insured in a Home i office for £6000. The wreck and cargo have- been sold for £5 to a Sydney firm of Chinese Island traders. The captain attribates the wreck to striking an uncharted shoaL, unknown to masters of vessels trading in the Islands. The Fifeshire, an iron barque of 1358 tons register, was built in 1885 by Messrs. Russell and Co., of Glasgow. . j She left Newcastle on August 3, under the command of Captain Nichol. I