NAUTICAL ENQUIRY.

Press, Volume XXX, Issue 4078, 22 August 1878, Page 2

NAUTICAL ENQUIRY.

An enquiry wa* hel I at tha Custom Honse, Lyttalt... yeit.rdav arternoou, o-i the r.-turn of the ship Duke of Argyl;. before A. Kose, Esq .collector of Castoms. a_id Captain G. T. Saator, matter of the ship Bulwark, nautical assessor. Mr H S-iwyn Smith watched the case on behalf of the Xot Zetland Shipping Co. j James D.ivi .*oV muster of the ship Duke of Argyll, stat .-d— I hold a certiucite of c nnpetencv as :uister uudsr tho Board of Trade. Ou July 30th w 1 ..uchor and sailed from Lyttelton with light SW. breeze- At 7 p.m. that evening the wind freshauaJ to an oi.ht knot bree .c, continuing till morning of 31-t. and gradually incre.isiug. sail being taken off "the ship at iut_rv__U. Th-* ship showed signs of being rather tender, aad about daylight the wind hmled s.iit'aerly, aad at 5 a.in. I c tiled all hand_ to reduce sii.by furling faresaii and topsails. .Some of the crew then vauta aft and c.niplaiued the ship was too tender to g. r_ nnd the Horn. In the forenoon I seat d.vra the fore and mizen topgMliut yards. and in the aft.raoau the main _opg.l_.-u_-yards. I md then a consultation with my X'ffiet'rs, resn!ti"g only iv them aiyiug the ship would never got r.»uai the Horn. I said that I would sooner send -lava the three tipgalLiut mast, than go back. At ■_ p us. on"Angnst Ist the whole crew mustered aft iHAkiag the sime complaint for tho sec _md time. I pr.H_ii .ed thtiia tiiat at the first oppjrt unity 1 would send down, the topgallant masts, at the same tinn explaining to theai I did not consider her dangerously tender, thit I was not afraid of her mrself ia any way, remi-idiug them that wheat cargoes always rendered a ship -tender at first. leaviog. They tall mc they woud refuse duty if I proceeded. After miduigUt the g-.ile began to take *»3. aud at 4 a.m. on August 2nd I had the jib and fore~ad loosSd, and at cfayli-ht shaped a course homeward. At 9a m. all haads, iucladin? officers, passengers. aud crew, mastered aft, protesting against the ship pr.'-e&edi-'.g on her voyage on the iwuie gnrrods as before. I land in copy of entry iv the official log-book. The weathir at this time was m.le_ir_. th. win! abontS.S W. I f_.lt compelled to return, and worked my w_v back to port, haviug severe weather from 4th to fth, whir:. s nb-M-.juentlv raoder-ted.ml we arrived in port on An cast 10th. Ka.iwing I should net be ibio to get -_ f raaii crew liers.l dacid-d to : put more bulla, tin the ship and readjust the stoweufe. The ship will be raady for sei to-morr. w eveniaj. 2Jod inst. ASyJSautu; U A.itS^or—As far a. I was concerned mr-H-.Tfih-jnld h«Te?o3e on with the ship, even after the heavy weither e-ivrieneed on the 4th and 7th. Janie* Porte->u_ lloyd. chief officer of the Dnke of Argyll, stated—l hold a Board of Trade certificate, the first night after leaving Lyttelton on July :Kstt_,-w__ea the hr_t.ze freshened, we took in sail, finding the snip w_,.s diuisrerously tender in my opinion. The day aft-.rwe left the crew complained to the ciptiia of tho ship being uasea worthy fhrongh beingtcio tender. Alter this, the captain consnited with mc as to the tenderness of the vessel, »ad I told him the ship wa. cot in my opinion fit to jgo to sea. The crew compliiued for the :>e'oud time on Angust IsC aad again on the md. when every one in the shin cime at't. and protested antsst th. vessel pr<oeediug on her voyage. The offleers agreed with the crew ia urging the captain tt> return. T_« ciptaii wa. opposed to returnica, bnt yielded on our saving we wonld proceed no farther. I have 1 _ea at mz ten wars, au<l iv my eip_ri_iHt- the _hij> -warned to be unnstally tender. I have _pea three v.iyages in the same vessel as seeon I and first inatu. Ou our last voyage we ___rrs__t grain from Calcutta to London. Alexander McLean, a:t A 8., sworn, said—l belong to the Duke of Argyll. On the .Ist Jnly m .eot-plaißed to the captain about the ship feeing dangerously tender. Ou the Ist Angnst the *_-_>nd occasion, many of the crew coraphined. and o_ tlie __ad Angnst all hands aboard the ship went aft, and told the captain, that mc would go no farther in tie ship, and requested him to pat back. The captain was compelled to return as t_6 crew wonld not hive worked tha ship. Siace her retarn to wort the cargo has Keen readjusted, and more ballast taken I understand 50 tons. I have been eight years at sea. William Pergie, the second officer, gave Corroborative evidence. This concluded the enquiry.