STEAMER RONA.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 160, 8 July 1922, Page 3

STEAMER RONA.

i SHOCKINGLY DAMAGED. » .STEM CRUSHED LIKE EGG-SHELL. i I The fearful force "with which the , ; steamer Rona was misguidedly driven on Flat Rock was illustrated by her battered appearance when she was I Placed in dry dock at Devonport to-day. jThe ill-used steamer's stem below the I water line has been crushed in literally ! like an egg-shell as far back as the ' . break of the forecastle head, a distance ot some fifty feet, and her crumpled ! plates are split in several places. It seems astounding that a vessel should sustain so terrible an injury and remain afloat. Xot only is the stem stove in; the Rona sustained other severe injuries j caused by striking on an alleged unchar- | ted reef when hauled off Flat Rock. I There is a large, deep dent in her boti torn underneath the bridge, with three .! . fo " r otncr indentations between . amidships and stern on the port side, , I the largest being about 50 feet from her •; rudder, whilst her port bilge-keel is 5 crushed flat against her bottom eide for : a distance of about 120 feet, showing . that she scraped sideways against the ' j rocks coming off for half the length of ! the ship. Had it not been for the protection of this tremendously strong bilge-keel, it 'seems evident that the Ttona's plates on the port side must have been badly crushed and pierced 1 and the ship sunk. The work of repair j will take many months. I AYlien seen 'by a '"Star" reporter, the mate was apparently resentful of the ■ newspaper man's presence. He refused permission to interview the captain, declared that there was no information Ito give the Press, and seemed angrily i shocked at the suggestion that a photograph of the injuries sustained by the ship when he was in charge of the liridse -should be taken for publication. '"The captain has other things to think about. He does not want to see you— he told mc so." he informed the reporter. The Court of Marine Inquiry will be opened on Wednesday next at 10.30 a.m. Mr. Selwvn Mays will appear for the Marine Department, and Mr. Meredith for Captain Alan Wallis. The witnesses to be called by the Marine Department are Captain "Wallis, the mate, the helmsman, and the man on the look-out at the time of the inexplicable accident.