ALL ON BOARD SAVED

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 144, 19 June 1940, Page 8

ALL ON BOARD SAVED

SAILED FROM AUCKLAND Rescue Vessels Speed To Answer Stricken Ship's S.O.S. Calls SURVIVORS RETURN TO-NIGHT It is announced by the Director of Publicity that the Royal Mail steamer Niagara, of 13,500 tons, was lost off the coast "somewhere near Auckland/' after leaving this port yesterday. The Police Department at Auckland said this morning that they had been assured that all on board were safe. There were 146 passengers and a crew of 200. Ships in the vicinity sped to the rescue on receiving S.O.S. signals. . . J* 1 * *•*•*» was apparently due to an explosion of some kind, the cause of which is being fully investigated. TTie "Star's" special reporter at Whangarei says that after the explosion course was altered to head the crippled liner to land, but that the inrush of water was so great that the ship soon listed. Within an hour passengers and crew were safely in the lifeboats, which rode on a calm sea.

Aeroplanes and small craft assisted in the rescue. Search was made over a wide area. A report from the coast this afternoon stated that a scow and two other ships, together with a fleet of fishing vessels, were circling continuously near the scene of the disaster. No survivors had been landed on the coast, and it was assumed that all were safely aboard a large vessel.

Arrangements were made to-day by the Mayor, Sir Ernest Davis, for the accommodation of survivors in three Auckland hotels.

. T"? Na yZ Department could give no assurance this afternoon that there were no injuries. There was no report relating to injuries. However, it was known that all the passengers and crew were aboard rescue vessels. It was expected by the Navy Department, in the absence of precise information, that the survivors would arrive, at Auckland "some time after dark ,, to-night. An officer said that it would be only guesswork to state a time concerning the arrival of the passengers and crew. The Navy Department had no advice to suggest that they were being taken to any port other than Auckland.

During Aβ last war "the lucky Niagara/ , as she was called, was hunted by Germany s Pacific raiders, but she was always able to outpace and escape the enemy*