NAIRNSHIRE'S ROUGH TRIP.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 300, 16 December 1912, Page 7

NAIRNSHIRE'S ROUGH TRIP.

_ ACB0 SS THE INDIAN OCEAN. DECKS SWEPT BY SEAS. FITTINGS MUCH DAMAGED. _. Federal-Shire steamer Nairnshire, Jl came into port on Saturday after- . from Liverpool, via < apetown and flobU * et a Particularly severe Sanson the voyage across the In- • Ocean between the two last-named *t* On November If. when nine days the Cape. =he fell in with a SJent north-westerly wind, which soon to the f"rce ot a cvrtone. the sea mountains hitrh. the gale graduClncreased in violence during that Lv and the «» night a -heavy sea ~k the vessel on the port quarter, Seine * lifeboat. The Nairnshire heavlrv laden, having- over 8.000 tons Tcar"o "on board, besides more than fftv passengers The wind soon rose to -; ee d which was e?tima,ted at SO miles * hour and heavy green seas began to £Lb i n upon the -*hip from practically rarv direction, causing havoc among her as rhev swept over the decks. Son the fore-deck, containing two Suable horses, were smashed, and the arijnal? were only rescued with diffiItv In t" e meantime members of the •r'were kept stationed at the bows, Stffng streams of oil upon the -traters. STEERAGE DELAYED. Ib c-he eartv hours -cl the morning, two torr seas broke over the e-texn, one wrecking the binnacle, eta-unehions, and other deck fittings, while the second slashed the companion dixire. with the t'na-t »he steerage quarters were flooded to a considerable depth, with the MBoft that as (the steamer rolled heavily, cabin doors and partitions were smash(j by the eweshing water, and everygj movable carried away. The steerage passengers were rescued from their flooded quarters with all the ©peed possible in spite of many difficulties, and jgfced jn ithe first saloon. Other seas cane aboard the next morning, finding 30 entrance into some of the officers' cabas, and tearing away a big ventilator aft The doors were washed ai'BT, wind pipes bent, and a portion of tie lower bridge smashed in. _ A good j>3,l of water got into the engine-room, but the engineers amd greasers kept -to t£eir posts, and there was no breakdown. Water also got into the stokeWd, putting out -three of the fires' and t&roiring a stoker against a bulkhead, but steam w-as kept up, and by night tie storm had largely subsided, and everyone felt the greatest possible reJjei "after the trying onieal thr-oogii TPaieh officers, crew, and passengers had passed, Much appreciation was expressed by the passengers at the display of seamanship grt*en by Captain Forder, and at Hobart an address was presented to him. signed by all the passengers on board the vesseL The crew are stated to have behaved exceßerrfcly, many of titem braving •undoubtediy grave dangers to assist 4he steerage passengers and repair 'the damage done by the seas. As the Nairnshire lies at the Railway wharf she does not present, at first view, mch an appearance of wreck as might at first be anticipated. Temporary repairs are visible in various places, and it is easy to see where marry of the deck fittings ought to be, <but are not. Her paint" shows marks received during heT buffeting, but the crew are already busily at work with pots and brushes. Permanent repairs, with the exception of tlose which are urgently needed, will not be carried out here, but after the vessel's return Home.