THE ANAZI.

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

THE ANAZI.

AN EVENTFUL PASSAGE. STRANDED OUTSIDE Or RANGITOTO. (By HJENJJY bl.liTT.) XC. IA short article on the Anazi was primed on May :!. Unfortunately, the j main portion of the story was accidcu- i tally omitted. Jt i_ ,„„'»• published in ' full.) j The Anazi. a small composite barque I of 408 tons, Formerly owned by Mr. ./. Fleming, of London, was purchased by , .Shaw, Savill Co. t. he made ber first j appearance at Auckland on March 1, 1574. ."She was a slow sailer, her fastest , passage being made in 111 days to Port I Chalmers, and her longest run 120 days to Auckland. When entering the Hatiraki Gulf in 1574 the barque went ashore early on the 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 P.cef, the captain stood towards the Lake shore, stating he intended working the ship about all night, as be considered he knew all aliout the harbour. About 12.30 the ship gave I three bumps —she was about eighty yards from the shore. Messrs. Burley and Wood next morning swam 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 lo do so by j the passengers. After Messrs. Wood; and Burley left the ship the rest of the passengers and crew got ready to leave, but the captain refused to allow them, I and high words ensued, the crew threatening to lash him to the mast if he still offered resistance. Upon being persuaded by the chief officer he withdrew his objection, and the passengers were landed. When the pilot. Captain Burgess, who had been out. all night in a boat looking for the vessel, reached the scene tbe vessel was lying broadside on a sandy beach between rocks. Xo effort had been made to secure ber witli anchors after she struck, and she had altered her position ' considerably, becoming firmly embedded in the sand. There was no immediate danger of her breaking up, and the Thames steamer, the 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 tho 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 the 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 staled 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 waa 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 the stranding, and had done his best to | rouse the drunken captain, but had failed in tbe attempt. The men on board bad 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 passengers- dc-

cided to go away in the boat (they had previously sent bottles ashore containing statements of the easel, the captain, who had forbidden them to go, endeavoured to cut the ropes, and he had to be bound until the boat was lowered, and then the passengers were afraid he would fire at them, as he had his pistol at hand. Captain Holman. who had previously visited Auckland as an officer 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 Gold Mining Co., Coromandel. Finding of the Court. An inquiry into the stranding of the I barque was held on March '2. ami the ; following decision given by the nautical i assessors: — ''The Court is of tbe opinion that the j barque Anazi was stranded in consequence of the mismanagement of the j master. Captain Holman. whilst labouring under the influence of liquor. The j Court is also of opinion that the chief i mate, Mr. Wise, has been guilty of j 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. Tbe Court is further of; opinion that the second mate. Mr. Marsack, was extremely culpable in not at once reporting lo the chief male tbe fact that he believed the captain to be under the influence of liquor. Tbe liftb section of the Inquiry Into Wrecks Act, j 1309, prohibits the Court from camelling ', or suspending the certificates of the j officers unless it be proved that the ship was 'seriously damaged,' the act of stranding being entirely ignored. The j exidence shows that the stranding of ' the Ajiazi caused her to lose 13ft of her i

false keel, but otherwise she does not appear to have been injured. The question therefore to be considered is, docs the loss of 12ft of false keel constitute •serious damage' as contemplated by the loth section of the Act. under which these proceedings are instituted? Upon that point no evidence whatever was offered. The nautical assessors of the Court arc 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 Air. Brookficld, his Worship said Captain Holman must pay costs. He bad had a narrow escape, and he hoped it would prove a salutary lesson to him through life. Alarm of Fire. Tbe voyage of the Anazi appears to have been eventful with misfortunes. She left Deal on November 4. and on the 14th of the same month a lire broke out in the 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 BAT. TWO SAVED OUT OF 22. A ship that came to a sad end on the New Zealand roast, with much loss of life, was the Saint Vincent, a vessel of ~>'A)> tons, built in Sunderland by Pile in 18G3. The Saint Vincent first came to New Zealand two years after she was launched, her port of call being Port. Chalmers. She sailed from Glasgow on December 10. 1864. under the command of 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 fort Chalmers on Jlarch 22, 1805. Four years later the Saint Vincent, under Captain James Barrow, arrived at Wellington after a tedious passage of 120 days, Wellington being readied 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, Jlr. Stringer, who was saved from the fate that overtook every soul on board except himself and the sailmaker. The Saint Vincent left with a favourabli wind, but out in the Strait a southerly came up and developed into a gale thai carried away several sails. The shij was carried considerably out of hci course, and the following evening at aboir 0 p.m. she found herself close to land which was eventually made out to be PaUiser Bay. She tried to weather the point and get bauk to Wellington, bul she laboured heavily, and that night a I ten o'clock she struck the land. All hand: were trying to clear the lifeboat whci 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 wu

swept broadside on to the rocks, where she soon became a total wreck. The crew hung on in the main and mizzen 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 au unconscious condition. When he rame to himself he saw the ship, or what remained of her. about half-a-ruile off the beach. He thought he was the only one saved, but on going to the house of a Mr. McKenzie be found the sailmaker, and the}' were the only two survivors out of twenty-two. Tiie beach was strewn with wreckage for over two miles. | A few years after the loss of the ! St. Vincent at Palliscr Bay, another | ship bearing the same name wa3 ' launched for the Black Ball Company, ami made several very fast runs jto Adelaide and Melbourne, on one occasion doing tbe passage from London !to the former port in 79 days, which for |a vessel of S-'IO tons was in those days a I very tine performance. In the early days a few merchantmen I used to cany midshipmen somewhat on : the same lines as a inan-o'-war, and for two years Constable T. H. H. Beddek, ; now in charge of the Birkenhead district, ' Auckland, served in the Saint Vincent as one of these "iniddips," under Captain Barrett, who sailed tbe ship to Australia. dining many years. iam indebted to Constable Beddek for the photograph that appears with this article. ■ Neither ot" the torementioned ships 'must be confused with a ship nf the I same name that carried troops in the ' time of the Crimean war, and in which Captain Rose, so well known throughout 1 New Zealand, served his apprentice .hip. (To be continued Next Saturday.) A k "' T

O AUCKLAND. Sailed Arrived. ! Captain. Days. Nov. 3, '73 Oct. 20. '7i July 27, '79 Sep. S, 'SI Mar. 1, 'Ti Feb. 19. '75 NOV. 21, '79 Jan. 13, '82 Holman Hill Mill Hill 117 114 117 12S TO PORT CHALMERS. June 17, '7C Oct. 6, '76 Hill 111 TO NELSOrj. Auff. 93 Aug. 20 j Dec. u, '73 I Holman Dec. 27, '80 Hill 113 120 TO BLUFF. July I Oct. 21 Hill 10S