WHAT HAPPENED?

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 209, 4 September 1930, Page 11

WHAT HAPPENED?

"NOBODY WILL EVER KNOW"

HEROES OF THE ENGINE ROOM

MEN'S TRIBUTE TO ENGINEERS

"The whole mishap from beginning to end is a mystery. What happened after the shaft carried away nobody will ever know and no court of inquiry will ever find out." This statement was made by a member of the engine room staff of the Tahiti, and confirmed by others. These men, who had to work while threatened each minute with the burstin"- in of the bnlkhearl leading to the shaft tunnel, had a terrible experience. Had the compartment wall collapsed there would have been practically no hope of escape, as the pressure of Avater would have been so great that every man would have been swept off his feet and engulfed. A narrow iron ladder to the deck was the only outlet to safety. Some might have reached it. The men themselves think there was little chance. "What's The Use of a Reception?"

"We were close to death the whole time," said one of the greasers last night. "We arc to get a civic reception, 1 am told. "What's the nse of that? it would be better if they handed out some clothes to make up for what we have lost. Few, if any, of the crew got away with any of their kit. Some of our men are walking around with their white American navy caps, their trousers and shirts. That is all they salved, and they will have to find the money themselves to get more. We never get any compensation on these occasions. However, I suppose we are lucky to be alive."

"You ask me what happened," said another engine room hand. I don't think anybody, from the chief engineer down, can tell you. It is a mystery to every one of us. The weather was line, and the accident happened a little after the four o'clock morning watch came on duty. All of a sudden Iho engine. started to race, and in a moment we knew the starboard shaft had broken. Within ten minutes the engine room was flooded, despite the fact that the bulkhead door leading into tho shaft tunnel was closed at once. It was not long before our watch was standing knee deep in water, and the engines were threshing round in water. We had a terrible time, and practically, tho whole staff worked continuously until the ship was abandoned about 55 hours after the accident occurred.

Danger of False Step. ; "We were up to our waists in water a good deal of the time, and the men who were small in height were in deeper still. The iron floor plates, which are not bolted down on account of the valves below, were washed loose, arid we had to be careful not to step in the wrong direction, or else we would have been submerged another three or four feet. In fact, several members of the crew did get in between the plates and had to be pulled out by their mates.

"Although the engine room was flooded ten minutes after the accident, we soon got the water under control once the pumps were acting properly; but pumps are not like the ordinary machinery, in constant. use, and naturally it took some time to get them in working order.

Water's Steady Gain. "We could sec from the start that we could not beat the water for any great length of time. There appeared to be a steady gain, and we all knew it was only a matter of hours. If we could get a rescue vessel in time we knew all would be well, but our job was to keep tho old vessel afloat as long as possible until something came up. Nobody relished taking to the boats in the swell which was on, and with a lot of women and children on board. Nobody thought of rest while there was a chance of keeping the ship afloat.

"Everybody down below knew he was close to death. We never knew Avhat was going to happen from minute to minute. It will always be a mystery what really happened. We can't even say that "the propeller itself carried away, although we certainly think it

"I have heard the chief engineer say that the stokehole crew did splendid work. I and my mates can say this: Whatever we did was nothing compared to the work done and the risks taken by the chief and second' engineers. They were the real heroes. Every man who was down below will say the same .thing."