TOTAL WRECK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 170, 20 July 1936, Page 9

TOTAL WRECK.

THE ABEL TASMAN. TORN FROM MOORINGS. — ! STEAMER ENDS UP 0N BEACH. CHEW LANDED SAFELY. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.! GKKYMOU'M, this day. I The well-known intercolonial cargo steamer, Abel Tasman, of 2047 tons gross, belonging to IT. C. Sleigh Coasters' Proprietary, Ltd., Melbourne, was wrecked on Saturday evening at the Grey River bar under most unusual circumstances.The vessel parted her moorings at a coal berth at Greymouth, and despite gallant efforts by the crew to beach her, she drifted down the river and over the bar. Finally, she was thrown by heavy seas on to the North Beach, and she is now a total wreck. The crew were brought ashore safely after several exciting incidents. Heavy nor'-westerly wind on Friday night brought steady rain and the Grey River became flooded to a high level yesterday, with a current of eight knots. The Abel Tasman at 5 p.m. was moored at the No. 4 coal berth for the purpose of buiJcering preparatory to completing her cargo, and the steamer Kaimai was moored 200 feet further down the wharf. Also at the wharf were the steamer Storm, 400 feet above the Abel Tasnian, and the v'redge Mawhera, which was below the Kainiai. A few minutes after five o'clock the Abel Tasman's heavy starboard mooring chain snapped near the bow and the extra strain placed on the other mooring chain and hempen ropes caused the vessel to break adrift, and she careered stern first downstream. ' • Quick Action by Captain. The master, Captain William D. Archibald, was standing nearby on the wharf when the trouble first developed, and he jumped aboard with remarkable agility. The vessel's crew numbered 29, of ■whom only 19 were aboard, including one fireman and one engineer. . The latter were practically helpless, however, as the vessel at the time was not operating her engines, though eteam was up.

It first appeared that the Abel Tasman would foul the Kaiiuai and force her also to drift, but fortunately only her stern grazed the Kaimai, and the Abel Tasman drifted into midstream. Within three minutes the vessel had ftp full steam, but this proved insufficient to withstand the current, and slowly the vessel travelled stern foremost towards the breakers on tlie bar, despite an effort to back her into the. Blakctown Lagoon at the end of the wharf. Another effort was made to beacli her just inside tlie north breakwater, but she was taken to the bar, where she struck the, sunken wreckage of the Kaponga just inside the outer bar on the fringe of the North Tip Head. Then the westerly seas turned the Abel Tasman broadside on. her stern facing south. When she reached the outer bar she was carried north bv the current and pitched upon the North Beach, just north of the Tip Head, her bow facing north-cast. It is understood that the hull was holed. The vessel had a clearance- of- a little more than a foot with tlie seas on the bar, which was 20 feet deep. Darkness had been descending since the vessel broke loose, and as slie stranded on the rocks high seas broke over her, drenching the crew. The vessel was freely swinging on the breakers, and she was pitched further inshore, where .she down. Rescue of the Crew. A rocket line was fired from the vessel and the first man was got ashore by a breeches buoy at 0.20_ p.m. The line sagged somewhat alarmingly, and the man landed on the rocks, with seas breaking near him. When the second man was on the buoy the line broke, and he had to bo. hauled back to the ship. Th'ere was then no means of getting the other men ashore unless another rocket was dispatched, and preparations were being made to receive it when a member of the crew, Edward T. Winby, a seaman, was seen making his way hand over hand along the mainline, which, in the increasing seas, was swinging dangerously. "When two-thirds of tlie way across Winby was thrown a rope, which finally he caught. He secured the rope round himself and was drawn ashore. A line was then erected at a greater height on the ship's davits. The crew could be seen on the boat deck wearing lifebelts, and the captain was ordering them to keep together. Swift rescues were then effected, all hands being ashore by 7.25 o'clock. The men, who had been preparing for the evening meal when the vessel broke away, were mostly scantily clad, and consequently they' had an unenviable experience. The rain on Saturday prevented watersiders from working the vessel, otherwise forty men would have been engaged aboard when she broke away. The hatches had been fastened down, but the seas smashed them open and washed away portion of the cargo and deck property. Praise for the Crew. The captain paid a tribute to the crew, all of whom, he said, behaved in an exemplary manner. Efforts made to-day by tlie boatswain, C. Paulsen, to board the vessel in order to salvage personal belongings of the crew were unsuccessful, the breeches buoy not being workable. The crew's effects include a fair sum of money, one amount being £00. The crew praise the captain's resourcefulness. The vessel is a total loss and makes the eighth vessel to be lost in recent years on the Grey Bar. i last wreck was the Kaponga, which \ ns lost on May 27, 1932. A similar case to that of the Abel Tasman occurred 30 years ago, when the steamer Tanpo drifted from the wharf through the windlass breaking. On .Tunc i) of last year the steamer Omana broke away in a flood, and caused the Kiwitea also to break lier moorings. Both vessels were stranded opposite the wharf oil the side of the river and were refloated. Another effort will be made to board the wreck toriiiorrow to recover the cll'ects of the crew. The Ship's Company. The ship's company, in addition to Captain W. D. Archibald, comprised the following:—Chief officer, Mr. Peter Dalziel; second officer, Mr. Sydney jWilliams; third officer, Mr. Leslie A. Bail lie; chief engineer, Mr. William Murray; second engineer, Mr. J olm Annand; third engineer, Mr. William Robertson; chief steward, Mr. Ait red Owen; assistant, Mr. Albert G. Corker;

chicf cook, Mr. Anton Carlsen; assistant, Mr. William Snelling; wireless operator, Mr. Magnus Warwick; boatswain, Mr. Cliarlc.: Paulsen, able seamen, Messrs. Frank Gear, John H. Martin, Edward Winby, Alex Thomas, Peter Simonsen, John Pearson, Thomas J. Anderson and George Harding; greaser, Mr. William H. Pitt; firemen, Messrs. Graham Clive, ueorge Lyon, George Watson, William 11. Jackson, George R. Grant and James Viney. deck boy, Archibald Nash. The Abel Tasnian was loaded with 100,000 ft of matai timber at New Plymouth, and was to have taken 1,000,000 feet altogether. Part of the cargo is insured, but the extent of the insurances is not yet fully ascertainable. It is noteworthy that the Oniana, when she broke away last year, was moored in a similar place to the Abel Tasraan at the bend in the wharf. Yesterday the Kainiai and the Storm had their propellers going at half speed at the moorings. The river was in higher flood than for a long period. The rain still continues. The Abel Tasnian was 274 ft long, -10ft wide and 20ft deep, was built in 1910 at Rotterdam, and was formerly named the Mont Blanc, then the Maria, when she belonged to a Norwegian company. She was loaded with 810,000 ft of timber, 505 bags of hides, 20 casks of tallow, also general furniture, for (Melbourne and Sydney.