NAUTICAL ENQUIRY.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 11097, 16 October 1901, Page 5

NAUTICAL ENQUIRY.

l» THE IXDBADEVI-LILY COLLISION. The magisterial enquiry into the collision of the Indradevi (steamer) and the idly (schooner) was held yesterday at Lyttelton before Mr H. W. Bishop, S.M., and j Captains Gibson and Lundy, assessors. Mr Cresswell appeared for the Collector of Customs, Mr G. Harper for Captain Trotter, of the Indradevi, Mr Russell for the owners of the steamer, Air Harman for the ! auxiliary second officer of the • Indradevi, and Mr Beswick for the owner and the master of the Lily. Mr -Mills, Collector of Customs, was present. ' Mr Cresswell opened the case, and called Theophilus Trotter, master of the Indradevi, who deposed that on October 9th the j steamer left Wanganui at 2 a.m. for Lyt- j telton. At a quarter to eleven that night the collision with the Lily occurred (the witness read the entiy made in the log book), fie had left tiie deck five minutes before the collision, leaving the auxiliary second officer in charge. There was no- , thing in sight. He was reading in the J chart-house at the time of the collision. ! He at onoe went on deck, and resumed command. He saw the Qodley Head light ■ Defore-he went below. .1 To Mi , Beswick: The steamer was going ! eleven knots. The steamer's head was : directed S.E. by E. The schooner was then parallel with the steamer, andr going stern on. Witness saw her red light. He felt the vibration of'the collision, and heard , the napping of sails. | To Air Harper: A steady experienced ■ man was on the look out at the iorecaetle : head. A quartermaster, an A.8., was at . the wheel. Witness had- not goiie down with the intention of turning in, as he intended to go into Lyttelton tout night. The side lights on the steamer were powerful electric lights of 32 candle power. They could be seen five miles oil. They are quite 40ft above water. The sea was a little choppy, arid the wind was fresh. The night was dark, but clear, & very good night for seeing a vessel's lights.. 'JL'he schooner's position wnen witness saw her showed that she must- have ported., The red ligfat of the schooner was good, .but ' the green light was poor, and was a miserable specimen. "Witness observed the lights particularly while ■ towing the. schooner after the collision. William Barton, auxiliary second officer of the steamer, deposed that at the time of the collision he was on the bridge, and in charge of the steamer. A midsnipman and a quartermaster were on tlie bridge with him. The lookout man reported every half hour as to the steamer's lights. His last report was only a lew minutes before the collision, less tban five minutes. The lights were reported to be in order. Witness had seen the captain a minute or two bafore the collision. He was on the bridge with witnees. The steamer's course was S.W. by S. 4S. Witness hid not seen the schooner or her lights when the captain left him. Witness kept the same course and speed till he sighted the schooners lights. First saw a pale green light a point and a half on the port bow... Witness assumed the schooner was two miles distant, because, the regulations require that a ship should show ier lights at two miles. It was a dark clear night, a favourable night for sighting a light at maximum distance. When witness saw the green light on the port bow-.he ordered **Hard starboard." Witness came to the. conclusion that there wa* danger of a collision about five.seconds before it occurred. The closeness of. the light made him come to the conclusion. The green light disappeared, and the red light appeared in" not .quite a" . minute after witness first saw the green > light. The red light. continued in view till the collision. Witness gave the orders "Steady and keep-her hard a starboard;" L That meant to keep her going to port. The * helm was never shifted, from starboard. [ The collision occurred about half a minute . after the last order. Witness gave no I signals by steam whistle. It might have I teen d-esirable to do so, but witness did ' not think it necessary. The rules say you * "may" use the whistle, but it is a matter of judgment Witness did not slacken speed, slackening speed would have made a collision more proDable. To Mr Beswick: The reason witness did , not think it necessary to whistle was that lie thought the schooner was going in a different direction than that she was really taking. The picking up of the light would indicate that the steamer was crossing the " schooner. The schooner struck- the fore rigging of the steamer. The wind was ' from the S.E. (The witness illustrated the ' positions by reference to the models). To iMr Harper: After the sfchooner was taken in tow witness took particular,notice ' of the ichooner's lights. The , red light was a bright one, but tie green was about the shadiest thing he had seen. The lookout reported the green light simultanously with witness seeing it. To Captain Gibson: Sails might be seen that night a lew hundred yards, away if one had good eyesight. To Mr Russell: The loom of the land , would interfere with seeing the sails. Alfred Anderson, A.B. and quartermaster on the Indradevi, deposed that he was at the wheel on the bridge just before the collision. The witness corroborated the evidence of Mr Barton. Joseph Yerbury, A.8., the look-out man . on the Indradevi at the time of the collision, stated that the first, he saw of the schooner was what he thought was a white light on the port bow. After two minutes ne lost t sight of the white light, and half a second t later he saw a red light. At that time he - could see the hull and sails distinctly. The schooner's bowsprit caught the steame/s starboard side abaft _to fore-rigging. j Rhudolphus Walter Scott Coward, midshipman on the Indradevi, gave corroborav tive evidence, r Andrew Bloom, captain of the Lily, de- - possd that he left Camp Bay, Lyttelton, for * Greymouth, abcnit 6.50 pan. on October r 9th." His course was north-east half east. * About 9 p.m. the wind shifted to sou&-east, c and he altered the course to north-north-east, i He came on deck just as the collision occur- » red. The mate said, *"Come on deck, skipper, the steamer is, going to run us down." -Witness left the deck about 9.50 p.m., and the collision took plaoe at 10.45 p.m. Th* * port light went, out witb. tb& shock. No green light was burning. Witness wus cross-questioned at some length-

Frank Walters, mate of' the Lilr, stated that he was on watch when the collision occurred. The man at the wheel was the only other man on .deck. The steamboat's green light appeared a point on the port bow, and shortly after that witness saw her red light. , The steamer then abeam of the schooner, and then -altered her course, and her green light showed towards the schoon--1 ere nd light. The eteamer struck the I schooner abreast *of the main rigging, then ' ; ran across the schooner's bow and carried ■ away the jibboom and the bowsprit. Tho ! schooner had light and the other 'lights burning alHhe time. The gre«>n I light was burning properly. The schooner j was steering north-north-east the who'? itime. Witness saw the masthead light at I ten o'clock, and the red light a quarter of an hour afterwards. The green light he saw just.before the collision. The schooner was running before tbe""i#ind. It was jv dear night The schooner was keeping a straight . course all the time. *' i To was not acquainted with the sailing rules. Before the collision witness-vcalled the captain. The steamer was going clear of the schooner Witness thought there was no occasion to call the-captain. He was aft on the port side. The schooner's white light was in the main rigging, and nob obscured by the sail. Witness never altered the course till the col-. , lision. He had been three months on the ; schooner. j Other evidence was also called, and after ■ retiring for nearly half oh hour the Court gave the following decision:—"The Court is lof opinion that every precaution had been f taken by those on board the steamship to ' avoid the collision, and that suitable wisdom ,'» and discretion were used by the auxiliary I second officer under the circumstances to I avoid the collision. On the other hand, we find it quite impossible to believe the evidence of those on the deck of the schooner. We consider that great neglect arid want of discretion were shown on the part of tne : mate in not earlier calling the master, who , > it appeared had been placed in a most false position by that want of discretion. Owing Ito the mate's not holding a certificate, we j are unable to punish him in the way the i safety of the travelling public demands. But Iwe order bun to pay some portion of the costs. We therefore order him to pay five guineas towards the costs of the enquiry." The certificates of the various officersVere returned to them.