SHIPS OF BY-GONE DAYS.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17740, 17 April 1923, Page 14

SHIPS OF BY-GONE DAYS.

THE RANGITIKEI'S HISTORY. SOME SENSATIONAL RUNS. £ r Another most interesting narrative of a sailing ship which, made many voyages to Port Chalmers, Lyttelton, and Auckland in the early seventies, and also in the eighties and nineties, has been penned by Air .Henry Brett, oi Auckland. The story deals with, the career of the Bangitikei, and the particulars were compiled by Mr Brett from records obtained at Dunedin, Ljttelton, and AuckUind. The article \\ as published recently in the Auckland' "Star." | In comand of Captain Scotland, the j Rangitikei, one oi tuc i\ew Zealand i (Shipping Company's last saiiers, made a reinai'Kable run to iiytceiiou in loio. The passage troin Plymouth occupied , seventy-tiLree or sixty-seven days from land to land. J-he Kangitikei, which was of tons and lux uiciiy known as tins Scimitar, left London on November i&tli, ItiiS, for Plymouth, where she euuurkud.iitjr iiiiniiya.n.s souls), and sailed on December 4th. The iixjuator was crossed on Christmas Day, twenty-owe days Irom Plymouth; (rough lsiand passed on January loth, 18/6- and the meridian of the Cape on January 21st. She ran down her easting between parallels 62deg anu oo dug. She had remaiiably hue weather, as j on© may gather ironi the that the main slcysa.il was not taken olf the ship from the time she left Plymouth till ahe reached the coast of Tiasinama. She was off Cape Leeuwin on February sth, and on the 12th passed l*he Snaros at 10 p.m., arriving and dropping anchor off i'lipa Island, Lyttelton, at 2.30 p.m. on February 16th, 1876. j Fast Sailing. Some splendid day's runs were made during the passage. From Go ugh Island to Cape Saunders the average was 2(jß miles per day—or, in other words, from January 20th to February lUth, .3738 miles were covered in thirteen days, the vessel being south of SOdejj when. the run was. commenced. One day no fewer than 315 miles were covered. Another good run was from the Snares, which was left at 10 p.m. on February 12th, and Nugget Point was abreast at 10 a.m. on the 13th—1S2 miles in twelve hours. On January 22nd the ship sighted an immense iceberg, standing about 500 ft above water, and it was about 1500 yds long. It was seen at 4 a.m., and it passed abreast of the ship, ivithin a quarter of a mile, at 8 a.m. On this occasion the Rangitikei made the voyage from Lyttelton to London and back in six months twenty-seven days. ■ An Unlucky Voyage. Before the ltangitikei was purchased by the. New Zealand Shipping Company in jti/5j aha was known as the Scinnta», anu under tnis name made a sensational run to Port Chalmers. The ship left Plymouth on December 24th 18/3, with 430 souls aboard Four days after sailing scarlet fever broke out. Two days beforo starting two families from Jersey were removed from the ship, as the children were suffering from this complaint. The fever was followed by other sickness, including bronchitis, measles, and variola' which were confined to the children under seven years, with one exception. One or other of the diseases attacked all the children on board. Altogether there were twenty-six deaths before reaching Port Chalmers. Dr. Hoskings was in charge, and upon arrival he eulogised Captain Fox (the ship's' commander), and narrated how, in spite of death and suffering, the passage was ajot without its pleasant 6ide. The said Captain Fox . wiarried one couple and performed the ceremony of baptism on four occasions. "What with reading divine' service every (Sunday, celebrating marriage, baptising the new babes, and burying so- many, there had been enough work on the . passage to keep a person fully employed," said Dr. Hoskings. The Scimitar on this passage departed finally from Eddystone on December 25th. She then thrashed about for a week before getting favourable winds, and afterwards made a splendid passage to, Tristan d'Acunha, where she called and took on board, a supply of fresh meat and poultry. She crossed the Line twenty days from Plymouth, meeting with splendid trades each side of it, and sha got fine strong westerlies ' from the meridian of the Cape. The vessel made an average of 1&{10 miles ' per week, her casting being run down in 41deg. S. Fine weather, -with Strong flwinds, favoured her until making the Snares on March 3rd, where high seas were met with. She anchored at Port Chalmers on Maifjh sth. • The time occupied from land to land was sixty-seven, days, or seventy days from , Plymouth; It used to be an open question whether the palm should be given -to the Rangitikei (ex-Sci/itar) or the Westland for having made the record run from England to Port Chalmers • .during the forty years, from ISGO to IS*OO. While the Scimitar's time was seventy days from Plymouth to pQi't, or sixty-seven days land to land, the •' tyestland made the run in seventy-two . days from London, or sixty-six days land to land. Under the circumstances I am satisfied all nautical men will agree that the honors should undoubtedly be given to the Westland. It must be remembered that she had a two or three days' longer run down the Eng- . lish Channel than the Scimitar, and certainly beat her a day in the land-to-land run. Bun of Rescue Work. The 1883 'passage of the Bangitikei to Auckland was an cventfu} one. Mr W. Bines, now residing in Auckland, who was one of the ship's company on ' this occasion, has supplied me with interesting details taken from his log. "The Rangitikei, Captain Millman," ■writes Mr Bines, "left- Plymouth on January 30th, after taking on board immigrants. On February 3rd we sighted what we took to be a raft with live human beings on it, all awash. The lifeboat was lowered, aiid we rescued injsn, who had been on a deck house (not a raft) for two days aud nights. Eight men scrambled on this house when they left the wreck of the Kenmore Castle, bound from Liverpool to Singapore, but six were washed off. Dr. Legor Erson (who was a passenger iu our ship, aud afterwards'settled in Auckland) soon pulled the men round. "On February Sth we sighted a dismantled barquentine. At the time a heavy gale was raging, and we were running under fore and main topsails. At; 2 p.m. we came up to the wreck, the Maria Agatha (Captain Owens), from South Wales. "Under considerable difficulties the lifeboat was lowered, and the master, mate, arid five men were rescued. It was very risky work, owing to the heavy seas, and we did not get back to the ship until just at dark. Picking up men from a ship in a heavy seaway under such conditions is a far different jot) from a warship, filled with life rockets and breeches buoy, doing similar work. We had to get close enough to the wreck's lee quarter to allow one man at a time to jump in and then back away, as the lifeboat at one time would be almost level with the ship's rail, and three seconds later 20ft below. Doctor "Wanted. '.'9® Murch 2nd we were again requisitioned. A, ahiy KicmnlWj £

doctor, and Dr. Erson again went to the rescue. He found a young fellow who hud been suffering with a broken arm i'or twenty-eight days. The arm was amputated, and the man greatly relieved. The ship was the Grimsby, from Bak to San Francisco. After this all went well. Mid we had a lair run to the coast, sighting the North Cape on May 13th, and anchoring in the harbour on the 17tli. "Mr Basley, who was third officer on this passage, is now port missioner at Auckland. Captain Owens, of the Maria Agatha remained in New Zealand, and commanded the brigantine Pendle Hill, Ada 0. Owen, the barque Casablanca and the brigantine Wanganui. He has now retired, and is settled in Auckland. Myself and Mr W. Walker two of the men who rescued Captain Owens, are also living in Auckland." Trip to Port Chalmers in '75. I* had been stated in print on more than one occasion that the ltaiigitiicei reached Port Chalmers from London during 1875 in ,seventy-three days. The iujts are: The ship ielt Loudon on Uucemuor ISth, lbti, and arrived at , Port Chalmers, in command or Captain Fox, on March 25th. She was in the vicinity of the Otago 'Heads on the i • but was blown olf again. Capj tain Fox stated that the ship was very i deep, drawing over 20ft, and this and j. lijjht winds experienced accounted for a longer passage than usual, the time being eighty-eight days land to land, or ninety-six from port. On February 23rd th'e vessel was becalmed abreast of Prince Edward and Marion Islands for twenty-four hours. The sea being beautifully calm, a boat was lowered, and manned with several of the passengers, including two ladies, who pulled towards tiie land. Several pieces of drift ico were seen this day, and one large berg three days previously. Changs of Eig and Name. Tlie Itangitikei made three or four smart passages to England/ After the year lbS'J she was rigged as a barque. While she never sailed for Wellington direct, she called there on oiig occasion after discharging at another port, and at the capital city she loaded for London. Sold to the Norwegians when she left •the New Zealand Shipping Company's fleet, the Rangitikei had her name changed to Dalston, and under that name she paid a visit to Lyttelton. Later she was sold to a French owner, named the Paul Bouket, and taken to Noumea, New Caledonia, where she is used as a hulk. During the late war, when everything that could /float was sought after, she was once more sold, and taken to Sydney, where, after being recommissioned, she was again sent to sea. The Rangitikei. was built by Mr Samuelson, of Hull, in 1863. In the year 1884 the Rangitikei brought out to New Zealand eight cock : and twelve, hen pheasants and one raven j for Sir George Grey.