AROUND THE WORLD.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 179, 30 July 1932, Page 4

AROUND THE WORLD.

GOSSIP OF THE PORTS. THE WBECKS OF A CENTURY. INCIDENTS IN 1907. (By LEE FORE BRACE.) Cutter Elanor— Totally wrecked on Maori Rock, Kawau Island, Hauraki Gulf, on September 15. All hands were saved. Motor Launch (unnamed).—When crossing the Whangape Bar 911 October 20 the I launch capsized, throwing all on board I into the water, seven of whom were drowned. The vessel belonged to Messrs. Wallace Bros., Whanaape. Barquentine Katß 'iVcnarn.—While loading coal at Newcastle, New South Wales, for New Zealand, she capsized" at her moorings on November 10, and foundered, her decks being flush with the sea level at low tide. All the crew made their escape, excepting an ordinary seaman who was working in the hold when the vessel capsized. On rescuers proceeding to the vessel a tapping was heard underneath the after deck. In frantic haste, owing to the rising of the tide, carpenters were sent for, and they immediately cut a hole through the decking, near where the boy was heard, and he was dragged through, just in time to escape being drowned. When the vseel foundered, the boy, by a fortunate chance, was driven aft by the inrushing water to the only part ship which had an air space. The Kate Tatham wae subsequently raised, and she continued in the inter-colonial trade for a number of years. Incidents In 1908. S.s. Parua.—ln the great gale which blew over the Fiji Islands on January 15, the 5.6. Parua, the ketches Lola, Euterpe, Falafaln and Taira were thrown on various reefs and became total wrecks. The s.s. Ripple was driven on to the Lau leland reef, but was subsequently refloated, very extensively damaged. Scow Moonah. —When inward bound to Auckland from Ngunguru on the night of March 10 she was run into by the e.s. Wairuna, and sank in a few minutes off the Calliope Dockyard. One of the scow's crew was drowned, and her maeter had his leg broken. Cwtter Kathleen Maud.—Totally wrecked at Kennedy's Bay, on March 9, all hands being saved. S.s. Sangala.—Driven ashore in Suva Harbour during the great gale of. March 24. Up to this date the Sangala was the largest vessel that had ever entered Suva Harbour, being of 8050 tone. She was subsequently refloated, but was extensively damaged. S.s. Lady Roberts.—On April 19 collided with a Naval Artillery Volunteer launch in Dunedin Harbour. S.s. Taiviuni. —Ran ashore on the North Spit, Westport, on April 24. She was a valuable vessel, and her owners, Union Steamship Company of New Zealand, immediately commenced salvage operations to refloat her. Special launching ways were constructed under the stranded ship, and after she had been jacked up on to a great cradle, she was launched back into her native element, through a gap which had been made in the breakwater, on November 25, 1909, eighteen months after she had gone ashore. This salvage feat was described in maritime circles as one of the very best that had ever been carried out south of the line. .Castaways on Antipodes. Ship President Felix Faure.—Whem bound from New Caledonia to France, stranded on one of the Antipodes Islands on March 13. Her crew, of 22 all told, ; got safely ashore and found the castaways' depot erected on the island by the New Zealand Government. They subsisted on the stores found in the depot until j January 12, when H.M.s. Pegasus called I there, and seeing a distress signal ashore, a rescue party was landed, and the marooned men were taken on to Lyttelton, where they arrived on May 15. The Felix Faure was a four-masted barque of 2803 tons, owned in France, and at that time was the largest sailing ship in the world. S.s. lonic. —Fire broke out in the fore hold of this vessel on May 20, when she was lying at the Wellington wharf. The hold had to be flooded to extinguish the flames, and all the cargo stored there was ruined. No structural damage was done to the vessel. The lonic fire was the seventeenth in six months, experts considering the cause of them all being spontaneous combustion in wool cargoes. Sjs. Muvitai. —When bound from the Bay of Islands to Auckland struck on one of the smaller islands of the Hen and Chicken group on May 27. Passengers and crew and the mails were sared, but the vessel became a total wreck. Scow Whangaroa.—Sailed from Wanganui to Sydney on June 3. On June 9 a fierce squall struck the vessel, taking all three maete overboard. For ten g iys she drifted helplessly, and luckily the wind held in the west, which drove her towards the New Zealand coast. From among her timber cargo spars were secured, and jurymasts were ingeniously rigged, on which makeshift sails were spread, and by this means she made good headway. On June 26 she was sighted and picked up by the s.s. Regulus and safely towed into Wellington Harbour. The scow lost her deck loak of timber in the gale, but no one was injured. Barque Polly.—Grounded in Whangarei Harbour, below the the railway wharf, on August 4. She was timber-laden and bound for Melbourne at the time. A week later she capsized over on her side, and great difficulty was experienced in salvaging the damaged hull. No one was injured. Lost on Christmas Island. S.s. Aeon.—Sailed from San Francisco , on July 6 for Samoa and Auckland. On July 18 she ran ashore on Christmas Island when going full speed, and became a, total loss. Cargo and mails were salved later, the former being considerably damaged. This vessel was of 4221 tone register, and was owned by the Howard Smith Co., of Australia. S.s. Hawea.—Left Newcastle for New Zealand on July 27, and broke her tail shaft three days later. On August 4 a boat in charge of the second officer set off for Lord Howe Island to seek assistance, where they made a safe landing. Several vessels were sent out to search for the disabled vessel, but failed to find her anywhere near where she had been reported. On August 10, another boat, in charge of the chief officer, set off from the Hawea, and after a terrible voyage made Nambucca Heads. The information given by the chief officer was passed on to the master of the e.s. Rakanoa, and on August 20 the Hawea wae picked ur> by this vessel and safely towed to Sydney.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

D. J. HAULTAIN —Search shall be made for the information you desire, and you ■will lie written to. H. KEEN" (Onehunga).—Many thanks for the information. If possible I shall use it at an early date. A. N. DAVIDSON—The information you desire will be posted to you at an early date. W.H.C. (Titirangi).—The wreck, of the Russian barque Concordia wae recorded in this • column in the wrecks of 1906. OLD SALT (Wellington),-The fourmasted barque Andrina is the vessel of the story. She stranded in Policarno Cove, near Cape Horn* on May 10, 1809. Five _of her hanAs were lost, and the remainder rescued by an Argentine warship. The vessel lav where she stranded for 20 years, until 1918, when tonnage was exceedingly valuable. She was then refloated by salvage company, and ran under the Norwegian flag for many years afterwards. I can find no trace of her arrival in Auckland in the years you name. LANDLUBBER (ChrLstchurch).—A nautical mile ie one third of a league, or 2025.66 yards. In modern navigation it is computed as 60S0 feet.