SEA DRAMA.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 90, 17 April 1934, Page 8

SEA DRAMA.

CAPTAIN'S DEATH.

SHIP TURNED FOR HELP

an order, countermanded.

A story of a sea captain who failed to realise that he was a sick man and died -while his ship was Doing rushed to the nearest port in a vain effort to save his life was told this morning •when the British tramp steamer Fife arrived at Auckland with a cargo of raw sugar from Java. Ihe cential fi<nrre was Captain A. Thomson, who was in command of the freighter when she visited Auckland in July of last year. The Fife, which had been under the charge of Captain Thomson since the she was purchased from the Norwegians about two years ago, left South Wales in January with a cargo of coal for Alexandria. Upon discharge of her coal she was ordered to Java to load her present cargo of raw sugar.

To bring her sugar to Auckland the Fife had 1 .0 negotiate Torres Strait, that treacherous seaway which separates the most northern point of Australia from New Guinea. The strait is notorious the world over, and Captain Thomson gave his oDicers the impression that he would be glacl when his ship had left the danger zone well astern and was heading across the Tasman. He said nothing, but his officers bejieved that he was worried. All went well until the tramp was about three-quarters of the way through the strait. Then Captain Thomson complained of feeling ill. It was on April 4. The master took his own temperature, and saw that it was 102 degrees. Although he went to his bunk, his condition became worse, and on the following day his temperature was 104. Headed for Port. With his captain obviously a sick man, the chief officer, Mr. H. D. Budd, decided to run for expert aid on shore, and accordingly the vessel's head was turned for Port Moresby. Medical j advice was also obtained by wireless from Cooktown. But Captain Thomson's temperature fell rapidly and soon became almost normal again, and he believed that whatever had been his ailment it had then passed. When he saw that his ship was being taken to Port Moresby he countermanded his first mate's order and put the ship back on her original course. The ship at that time had been steaming towards Port Moresby for • slightly more than an hour and a half. On April 6 the master's temperature wae again up to 103 degrees. The first officer, chief steward and chief engineer did a'll • that they could for him, and it was not long before his temperature was down once more. On the following morning, Saturday, April 7, he was in good spirits and his condition appeared almost normal, but towards evening he began to wander in his mind. Death Follows Relapse. At 7 p.m. on April 7 the Fife was again taken off her course and headed for Townsville. Although this was the nearest port, it was some 300 miles away, and the freighter would have required over 30 hours to reach it, even though pressed for everything that she was worth. The radio operator sought medical advice from a Dutch passenger liner. At that stage it looked as if the ship would have to make a long race against time, but actually the race was over two Sours after it had been begun, Captain Thomson dying at 9 o'clock the same night. The reply to the message sent to the Dutch liner was not received until after the master's death. It is believed that the cause of death was a chill following an attack of influenza.

Once more the Pife was put on her course, but at 10 o'clock on the following morning the engine telegraph tinkled and the steamer-was hove-to. At the stern her ensign flew at half-mast, while the freighter's crew, including the Calcutta Indians who feed the fires in the stokehold, assembled on the «main deck. The burial service was read by the chief officer, the body, sewn in canvas, being shrouded by the Red Ensign. At the conclusion of the service the body was dropped over the ship's side, and within a few minutes the Pife was again under way and making for Auckland.

Captain Thomson, whose home was at South Shields, was 43 years old. He is survived by his wife and one child.

Stormy Weather Encountered.

On the death of the captain the chief officer, who holds a master's ticket, took over command of the ship and brought her on to Auckland. As the steamer carries only two deck officers, the death of the master meant that the actingmaster and tjie second officer had to take alternate watches. Stormy weather was encountered in the Tasman and minor damage was done on the fo'c'sle head, further adding to the worries of the acting captain. On arrival in the stream at 7 o'clock this morning the Fife (formerly the Norwegian steamer Penybryn, which went to the aid of the Union liner Tahiti when she was sinking in the Pacific in August, 1930) anchored in the stream until the tide turned, when she proceeded to Chelsea- Before she leaves Auckland the freighter will require the services of a temporary chief officer. ■