SEA MYSTERY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 184, 7 August 1933, Page 8

SEA MYSTERY.

SERMB INQUIRY.

RAPID RISE OF WATER.

DID THAWXER STRIKE LOG?

"With water pouring in through a leak in lier engine room, the. Auckland trawler Serfib was hastily abandoned in a sinking condition off Open Bay, near the East Cape, on June 8 last. All the crew were saved, but the vessel was not seen again. A nautical inquiry into the loss of tho trawler was opened in the Magistrate's Court before Mr. Wyvcrn Wilson, S.M., this morning.

The nautical assessor was Captain W. S. Clark and tho engineer assessor Mr. W. H. Parker. Mr. N. Hubble appeared for the Superintendent of Mercantile Marine, Mr. J. Terry for Sanford, Ltd., tho owners of the vessel, and Mr. H. E. Barrowclougli for the underwriters, Lloyd's.

An outline of the loss of the trawler, as well as a survey of the evidence to be presented to the Court, was given by Mr. Hubble before witnesses were called. "Tho real cause of the sinking- of the vessel is unknown," he said. The- ship ihad gone to sea after a stringent survey, and there were no known rocks in the vicinity of where the trawler sprang a leak. '

Horace Stewart Baldwin, a Government surveyor of ships, gave formal evidence of the survey of the Serfib in March and April of the present year. The survey, ho said, had been a 12 years' one, and particular steps had been taken to have the thicknesses of the plates ascertained by drilling. The results of the drilling had been satisfactory. At the end of the survey witness had been quite satisfied that the trawler was thoroughly seaworthy and fit to go to eca. Possible.Causes of Loss.

Asked by Mr. Barrowclough if he had formed any conclusion as. to the cause of the loss of'the vessel, witness said there was a possibility that it might .have been caused by damage inside the'ship. He did not think, that the vessel could have been holed by a piece of timber, either floating or partly submerged. He could not remember ever having read or heard of a vessel being'holed 1 by a floating log aft of amidships. It was possible that, under certain conditions, the how of tho vessel might have been lifted over a submerged object, so that the trawler struck the object amidships. There was a possibility that something accidental might have caused the damage from inside the ship. The dropping of an iron bar or spanner into a position where it would be struck by the crank was a possible but hardly a likely cause of the damage. He could think of no other possible cause of the leak, apart from a deliberate act, than the two mentioned, and both were highly improbable.

Master's Evidence. The story of tho abandonment of the Serfib was told toy James Alexander Flett, master of the trawler at the time of her lose. Between June 6 and 8 the boat had been trawling in the Bay of Plenty, he said, and on the Bth she had gone to Hicks Bay. From 10 a.m. onwards the ship was steaming for Tolaga Bay and. passed East Cape at midday. The trawler had passed about two miles outside East Island, and witness had never taken her between the" island and the cape. His course after passing the cape had been south, at a 6pecd of 8S knots. The first witness knew that anything was wrong was at 3 p.m., when the mate came to him on the bridge and told him that the fireman on watch had reported that the ship was making •water.

"Noticed Nothing Unusual." "I had noticed nothing unusual of any kind," continued witness. He had gone into the engine room to investigate and the engineer had informed him that he did not know the cause of the trouble. Witness saw the water rising in the cngino room. There was no water in the tunnel which might have come from the tail shaft. After remaining in the engine room for four minutes witness made preparations to abandon tlio ship, as it was realised that she was sinking. The crew left the trawler about half an hour after the discovery of the leak. When last seen an hour lq,ter the Serfib had been low at the stern and high by the bow. From the time the leak had been discovered until tlio ship had been abandoned she had been headed for the shore and had covered about two miles. The trawler's, boat and life-saving appliances had been in good condition and the damage to the lifeboat in launching had been caused by the movement of the ship. Witness thought that if the vessel had hit anything to cause damage the shock would have been felt.

"Felt a Slight Jar." John Black, mate of the trawler, said that oil handing over the wheel to the captain he went to his room to read. About 3 p.m. he felt a slight jar and tremor. As it was out of the ordinary he jumped off his bunk, but lay down again, not thinking that anything was wrong. A minute or so later tho fireman shouted out that the 'ship was making water. Witness thought that the slight jar felt by him must have been caused by tho vessel striking a floating log.

Cross-examined by llr. Barrowclough, ■witness said that the noise that he had heard had been a metallic one. The freeboard at the afterpart of the ship had been reduced to Gin when the lifeboat left.

"I was called from my cabin by a fireman, who said that the ship had struck something and was lhaking water," said Harry Druinmond Samuel, engineer of the trawler. There were no seacocks in that part of the vessel where he saw the water bubbling up. When the skipper decided to head for the shore, another fireman was put 011 to get all the steam possible. Three pumps were brought into action, but without effect. His subsequent conclusion as to the cause of the sinking was that the ship had struck a log. If anything had fallen and been driven through the skin of the ship by the crank the noise would have "awakened the dead."

To Mr. Barrowclough, witness said that the only person below just before the alarm was given was the firemangreaser on duty. The turning off of the steam just before the ship was abandoned would automatically stop the main pump. Robert Mitchell Henderson, cook, said that he was in the galley when ho felt a bump and heard two sharp reports. John Elliott, ship's fireman, described two sounds he heard as being as if the ship had run over two ridges; When he investigated he saw a solid mass of water in one of the crank pits. . (Proceeding.) *