NO PANIC.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 49, 27 February 1937, Page 9

NO PANIC.

LINER HITS MINE.

'Gaping Hole Torn in Bows of

British Vessel.

IfEW MENACE OP SPANISH WAR

United Press Association.—Copyright.

(Received 11 a.m.) LOXDOX, February 26. Tugs successfully towed the Union Castle liner, Llandovery Castle, which struck a floating mine off the northeastern coast of Spain during a voyage from Gibraltar to Marseilles, -to the quayside at Port Yendres. Divers found a gaping hole in the tows, about 18 feet long. It is impossible for the vessel to proceed to Marseilles until temporary repairs have been effected. In an interview one passenger said: "The ship struck the mine at 4.45 p.m. as we were passing Cape Crues 10 miles off the shore. Most of us were at tea at the time. '"There was a sudden roar and a high column of water rose up to the left j side of the bows. Water immediately) began to pour into a great hole in the ship's side. The bows sank until the ship tilted. The pumps were immediately brought into action and the water-tight doors were closed. "There was no panic and nobody was injured. The captain, after dispatching an S.O.S. call, changed his course for Port \ endres while the ship's officers invited the passengers to the ballroom, where they danced and sang as if nothing was amiss." When the vessel had been hove-to outside Port Yendres her bows sank 30ft in the water but the sea was calm. It is not -intended at preseht to disembark the passengers, who were still dancing in the brilliantly-lit ship at midnight. The captain wirelessed for powerful tugs to tow the ship to Marseilles. Mines are reported, particularly by the masters of French ships, to have been freely sown off the Spanish coasts., including Majorca. The French Navy has arranged to begin mine-sweeping operations.