THE ANAZI.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 116, 17 May 1924, Page 17

THE ANAZI.

AN EVENTFUL PASSAGE. STRANDED OUTSIDE OF RANGITOTO. (By HENItY BRETT.) XC. IA sliori article on tiie Anazi was printed on May :;. Unfortunately, the main portion of the story was acciden- j tally omitted. Jt is now published in' full. | The Anazi. a small composite barque j of 4US tons, formerly owned by Mr. •/. ' Fleming, of London, was purchased by ! Shaw, Savill Co. She made her first j appearance at Auckland on March 1, | 1874. .She was a slow sailer, her fastest I passage being made in 111 days to Port j Chalmers, and her longest run' 12li days to Auckland. When entering the Hauraki Gulf in 1874 the barque went, ashore early on th e morning of March 1 at a bay about three miles beyond Takapuna, Auckland. Full details of the disaster were published at the time, and the following interesting account was supplied to the "Auckland Star" by Mr. Burley, one of the passengers. He stated: — "We passed Tiritiri about 7 p.m. on the night of April 30. Instead of making for Pangitoto Beef, the captain stood towards the Lake shore, stating he intended working the ship about all night, as he considered he knew all about the harbour. About 1..30 the ship gave three bumps—she was about eighty yards from the shore. Messrs. Burley and Wood next morning swain ashore. They had difficulty in doing this, as the captain refused to allow anyone to leave, and refused to hoist any signal of distress, although urged to do so by tbe passengers. After Messrs. Wood aud Burley left the ship the rest of the passengers and crew got ready to leave, but the captain refused to allow them, and high words ensued, the crew threatening to lash him to the mast if be still offered resistance. Upon being persuaded by the chief officer he withdrew his objection, and the passengers were landed. When the pilot. Captain Bursress. who had been out all night in a boat looking for the vessel, reached the scene the vessel was lying broadside on a sandy beach between rooks. Xo effort had been made to secure her with anchors after she struck, and she had altered her position' considerably, becoming firmly embedded in the sand. There was no I immediate danger of her breaking np, and the Thames steamer, tbe Golden Crown, was chartered and endeavoured to tow her off at high water. She reached the wreck at 4 a.m., but this attempt proved unsuccessful. Another effort was made at high tide the same evening, fifteen tons of salt having been thrown overboard to lighten her. The whole strength of the four boilers of the Golden Crown were used, but though moving the Anazi slightly, it was found that more cargo would have to be removed. To the surprise of everyone, next morning signals showed 'Anazi afloat.' but at 11 o'clock another signal told that the Anazi had taken tbe ground again. The barque was, however, successfully floated again at high water and hauled off to her anchors about seventy fathoms out into deep water." Another passenger stated it had been a dreadful voyage. Provisions were short for a month, except for the captain and his friends. The captain's dreadful cruelty to the steward, who was in illhealth, caused him to commit suicide, and his conduct was outrageous to the second mate at the time of the disaster. The mate was, on duty at the time of I the stranding, and had done his best to rouse the drunken captain, but bad failed in the attempt. The men on board had to protect the second mate from the fury of the captain on his discovery of the state of things. The conduct of the first mate was also most reprehensible. Though rockets and guns were on board he would not allow a signal of distress to be made, though the vessel was being knocked against the beach most unmercifully. When the passeugers- de-

cided (o go away in the boat (they had previously sent bottles ashore containing statements of the case), the captain, ', who had forbidden them to go, endeavoured io Cut the ropes, and he had to 1 be bound until tne boat was lowered, and then the passengers were afraid he I would fire at them, as he had his pistol at hand. Captain Holman. who had previously visited Auckland as an ofiieer on the Ida Zeigler, was in command. The barque had on board twelve passengers and a cargo valued at £47,000. including a valuable plant for the Kaponga fluid Mining Co., Coromandcl. Finding of the Court. An inquiry into the stranding of the , barque was held on March 2. and the j following decision given by the nautical I assessors: — '"The Court is of the opinion that the barque Anazi was stranded in conse- | quence of the mismanagement of the j master. Captain Holman. whilst labour- ' iug under the influence of liquor. The i Court is also of opinion that tbe chief ! mate, Mr. Wise, has been guilty of ; gross neglect of duty and showed an j utter disregard for the safety of the ship from the time she was laid to until > she stranded. The Court is further of; opinion that the second mate. Mr. -Marsack, "as extremely culpable in not at once reporting to the chief mate the fact that he believed the captain to be under the influence of liquor. The fifth section of the Inquiry Into Wrecks Act, 18Cl», prohibits the Court from cancelling , or suspending the certificates of tiie j officers unless it be proved that the ship j was 'seriously damaged,' the act of - stranding being rntirely ignored. The evidence shows that the stranding of the Anazi caused her to lose 12ft of her

false keel, but otherwise she does not appear to have been injured. The question therefore to be considered is, does the loss of 12ft of false keel constitute serious damage' as contemplated by the 15th section of the Act, under which these proceedings arc instituted? Upon tbat point no evidence whatever was iflered. The nautical assessors of the .otirt are of the opinion that it 'docs not.' and therefore the Court has no power to deal with the case under th« Inquiry Into Wrecks Act. 1869." On the application of .Mr. Brookficl., his Worship said Captain Holman must pay costs. He had had a narrow escape, aud he hoped it would prove a salutary lesson to him through life. Alarm of Fire. The voyage of the Anazi appears to have been eventful with misfortunes. SShe left Deal on Xoveiuber 4. and on the 14th of the same month a lire broke out in tbe storeroom, and as four tons of gunpowder were included in the cargo great anxiety was felt. Passengers and crew exerted themselves to the utmost to extinguish it (with totally inadequate appliances), and were ultimately successful. Nothing of an eventful nature occurred on any of the other passages. Captain Hill, who made six voyages in the Anazi, subsequently commanded the Himalaya, visiting alternately Auckland, Wellington, aud Dunedin.

THE SAINT VINCENT. CAST AWAY IN FALLISER BAY. TWO SAVED OUT OF 22. A ship that came to a sad end on the New Zealand coast, with much loss of life, was the Saint Vincent, a vessel of 532 tons, built in Sunderland by Pile in 1563. i The Saint Vincent first came to Xow j Zealand two years after she was I launched, her port of call being Port. Chalmers. She sailed from Glasgow on December 10. 1864. under the command uf Captain Morrison. Light winds, gales, and bad weather were met on both sides of the Equator, and the voyage occupied 101 days, the ship anchoring in Port Chalmers on March 22, 1865. Four years later the Saint Vincent, under Captain James Barrow, arrived at Wellington after a tedious passage of J2O days, Wellington being reached on January 1, 1869. After landing passengers she sailed on February 13 for Lyttelton, but never reached her destination. The story of this disastrous passage was told by the chief officer, Mr. Stringer, who was saved from the fate that overtook every soul on board except himself and the sailmaker. The Saint Vincent left with a favourabh wind, but out in the Strait a southerh came up and developed into a gale thai carried away several sails. The shij was carried considerably out of liei course, and the following evening at abou' 6 p.m. she found herself close to land which was eventually made out to bt Palliser Bay. She tried to weather th< point and get back to Wellington, bul she laboured heavily, and that night ai ten o'clock she struck the land. All hands were trying to clear the lifeboat wher a tremendous sea threw the vessel almost on her beam ends, smashed the lifeboat, and washed the bosun overboard. The anchors had been let go, but the cables parted, and the doomed vessel vru

swept broadside on to the rocks, where she soon became a total wreck. The crew- hung on in the main and inizzcn chains until three o'clock next morning, when the chief officer and the sailmaker were swept away. Mr. .Stringer did not know how he got ashore, but he was washed up in an unconscious condition. When he came to himself he saw the ship, or what remained of her. about half-a-niilc off the beach. He thought he was the only one saved, but on going to the house of a Mr. McKenzie he found the sailmaker, and they were the only two survivors out of twenty-two. The beach was strewn with wreckage for over two miles. A few years after the loss of the ! St. Vincent at Palliser Bay, another I ship bearing the same name wa3 , launched for the Black Ball Company, : and made several very fast runs Ito Adelaide and Melbourne, on one occasion doing the passage from London Ito the former port in 79 days, which for ■. a vessel of S.'IU tons was in those days a, i very tine performance. In the early days a few merchantmen j used to carry midshipmen somewhat on the same lines as a man-o'-war, and for two years Constable T. H. H. Beddek, I now in charge of the Birkenhead district, ' Auckland, served in the .Saint Vincent as one of these 'middies," under Captain Barrett, who sailed the ship to Australia. during many years. lam indebted to Constable Beddek for tbe photograph that appears with this article. Neither of the torementioned ships must be confused with a ship of the ! same name that carried troops in the I time of the Crimean war, and in which Captain Rose, so well known throughout New Zealand, served his apprenticeship. (To be continued Next Saturday.) .

lUCKLANO. Sailed. ! Arrived. j Captain. Days. V'OV. 3. '73 )ct. 29, '7i uly 27, '79 jep. s, '81 Mar. 1, '7i Holman Feb. 10, '75 Hill Nov. 21,'70 Hill Jan. IS,'82 Hill 117 114 117 12S TO PORT CHALMERS. une IT, '7G Oct. 6, '76 Hill 111 TO NELSON. Aug. 22 Aug. 20 j Dec. 14,'73 I Holman j Dec. 27, '80 I Hill 113 1.0 TO BLUFF. iuly Oct. 21 Hill 108