"HOODOO" SHIP.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 31, 6 February 1937, Page 7

"HOODOO" SHIP.

WELCOMBE'S CAREER. BAD LUCK FOR 13 MONTHS. "VETERAN" OF SEVEN YEARS. MELBOURNE, January 30. The officers ami crew of tlie British trump steamer Welcombe still refuse to believe that she is a "jinx" ship, despite the battering, fire scorching, sinking and other sundry odd mieadventures in the last 13 months. Even the fire last night in hatch No. 4. while the Wclcombe was berthed at No. 0 Victoria Dock, which <.ave Chief Officer G. Tinclail, the crew and 30 firemen a. strenuous two-hour fight, has not shaken their confidence. They say that their luck must change. It will need to, for in 13 months the Welcombo has been: — Sunk in six minutes. Buckled and nearly cut in two. Struck while at 'anchor by a ship doing 12 knots. Raised by a salvage company and towed to New York for repair. Nearly crushed by ice in the St. Lawrence River. Halted in the ice floes in that river until a diver could be brought from inlet condenser pipe. Thrashed by bad weather between Threatened by fire at Melbourne. This record' has made the ship, although only seven years old. look like a real veteran. It has scarred her hull and fittings and removed almost all her paintwork. But for the master (Captain Joseph Snaith) the record lias been even longer. When the Welcombo was run down and sunk at anchor at Jacksonville (United States) his arm was badly crushed. In the storm near Japan he fell and broke three ribs. Last night he was ashore when the lire broke out.