MAN OVERBOARD.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 185, 7 August 1930, Page 7

MAN OVERBOARD.

TERRIFIC STORM.

Tainui's Six-Day Battle With Cyclone.

FIRST OFFICER LOST.

(United P.A.—Electric Telegraph—Copyright)

(Received 11.30 a.m.) LONDON', August 6. A terrific three-days' battle with a cyclone, in which the Shaw-Savill steamer Tainui lost lier first officer overboard and had five of her crew injured, was revealed when the battered vessel berthed at London. Captain W. P. Clifton-Mogg says the vessel carried 67 passengers and a cargo of butter and meat. When six days out from Auckland, off Pitcaim Island, the ship encountered a tremendous cyclone, which by the morning of July 4, had its centre astern, causing mountainous seas, many of which were shipped throughout the day. The two worst flooded the engineer's quarters and lifted off the refrigerator pipe. Enormous seas were shipped at 10.30 that night, and they washed away the chief officer, Mr. H. V. Seddall. "When it cleared off we were able to take stock and found that Mr. Seddall was missing and five men were injured, one with a broken arm. The sea stove in No. 3 hatch, breaking the pipes and doing other damage. "It was considered too dangerous to 'bout ship in view of the seas then running and the darkness. In fact, Mr. Seddall by then was three miles astern. "Mr. Baker, the second officer, and the crew repaired the damaged hatch. Terrific seas continued tossing the vessel like driftwood, and a wind was blowing at 90 miles an hour. There were times when I thought the end had come. A terrific sea on the morning of July 5 smashed in the steerage door, flooding the third-class quarters. After this the weather moderated." The missing officer commanded a minesweeper in the war time and was three times blown up. The Kotorua, which was some miles distant from the Tainui, was also damaged and three of her crew were injured. In a radio letter received by the Auckland office of the Shaw, Savill and Albion Co., on July 12, the death of Mr. Seddall was reported. Captain CliftonMogg stated then that Mr. Seddall was washed overboard in a terrific sea on the night of Friday, July 4, when the vessel was running before a hurricane. He was busy with the crew attending to some damage on deck, when a sea came aboard on both sides. Three of the crew were injured, and Mr. Seddall disappeared. In the blackness of the night the search Was hopeless. He. was never seen again.