TAHITI RESCUE.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20021, 1 September 1930, Page 9

TAHITI RESCUE.

NORWEGIAN CAPTAIN'S STORY.

"jXCBtI'BNT SEAMANSHIP.; . ; [IHE PRESS Special Service.] AUCKLAND, August 30. 1 watery still surrounds tlio circumM wlricli led up to the sinking., in •["pacific/some two days' steam from fcrotonga/of the Union Steam Ship ttompwy' B :inall steamer ' la ) / According to accounts telegraphed Dam Pwro and Suva the Tahiti f fro© * a © u e . ... , ~ ind developed a serious list and it was \L possible to lower lifeboats from e aide of the vessel. The story told " Captain Salvesen, of the Norwegian ELp steamer Ponybryn, which raced Ltbe rescue and stood by the Tahiti til all the passengers and crew wero ® jarred to the Yentura, contradicts rtia statement. The captain says that the Tahiti was an even keel up to the time that she abandoned and the passengers and .gffg left from boats launched on both #ol t and starboard sides. Although ho itood by for approximately 16 hours, Captain Salveseu was given no informa- ■' tioa as to the causo of the mishap and ja'clid not even know that tho Tahiti lad lost a propeller until he arrived .at gura. On An Even Keel. «Tie Tahiti was on an even keel. I noticed no" list, but tbo vessel was low it the stera. She may have had a list befW# w0 arrived but not when I saw jgj" he said on arrival at Auckland lariy this morning with a cargo of near from Cuba. "We did very little," •)g added in excellent English. "It is lie of those cases where one goes to at night as an ordinary individual pjl wakes up in the morning to find Htpelf famous. Tho Suva papers said Hit the Tahiti went down at 4.42 p.m.," ■ jontiatied Captain Salvesen. "To me it yefiied impossible that Bhe could sink it that time. I don't think anybody 'bows much about it or why she went down. It is easy to say things after i the i event. I certainly did not envy Captain Toten with all tho passengers ud crew he had on board. ,

Like Ajx Island. ' ship was their safety. She was : , fika aa island with food for all for lie time at least and a place to rest. I 'mild prefer to be 011 a ship like the , f 'i&jlwyn than in a lifeboat. I would was safe in any weather. I did t jilt,see the Tahiti sink. I left at 2 am.' on the day the passengers were transferred. Captain Toten left the Tahiti at 1.20 p.m. I dared not risk ibying on any longer as my bunkers true running out. When I left the XStbltl was in a condition no different ft what she appeared to be in all the i time I stood by. Of course I could not very xnuch at night, but I was close ' |longaide for many hours of daylight sometimes only about 50 yards ■ppaiating us. I did not know what |u trouble was, as it was not stated in far of,the radio messages I received. Rbbqdyt seems to know what happened 'A Vo the. vessel or to understand the mis* lap. X, S sid not know the Tahiti - had left AjWseUesuntil I r arrivsd at Sttva. '■ rt»iii that* 'flooded' and;' ~'srt the TahiH.wa? sinking; Everybody the excited, especially ! M after we saw the; rodkets on Sunday "Sight. " t - ;0 i To the Rescue. • _■■■.' 'lt was my. first" experience of going •fee the rescue,of-a* ship in distress, but : ' the-mate had' had J a ferfr - experiences of , Jitte kind. When we'got' the first radio -tteweather bad. 'The second mate, &fto' is also a wireless operator, came ptts me and said there was a ship in I .did not believe it for the E»t. brought me the message, rer, and I informed the chief cngiWe turned round and put on full .but could not travel as fast as because the Peiiybryn was IbJrtv. not having been in dock for six » We. were able to do about ten There was a strong south-east rhicit hindered our speed someWe had only made eight and a lots from Panama while . our speed f is just under ten. id taken in 200 tons of coal at on the run down, but after leavre we ran into bad weather and day wo only did Ave and a half gale we encountered then, was lue south-west and when wo ronnd it was blowing from southist, but the wind had abated. I that I travelled in the race to tiiti between 260 and 280 miles lours. We worked out the positen we got the first message, and d that we were 180 miles distant i$ Tahiti. It became apparent, r,' > that we were drifting nortliestyat the rate of about three n hour. The set was northerly, calculated that if there bad been els within call, the Tahiti would "at Barotonga or.to some nearad. It was difficult from the > find out the Tahiti's exact posi3he as drifting so much that Btioa was undergoing frequent was a dark- night oa Sunday re came into the Tahiti's vicini there was a drizzling rain. We id, rockets which I presume the saw, and when we observed her •there was- great excitement on Anxious Hours. I 4 on Sunday (New Zealand nad an S.O.S. from the Tahiti, an being given, and at noon day the same position was" We were looking out keenly s for some hours myself in trees. It was about 6.30 r when we saw the 'facets. Wo were then some 3o ant, and four hours later we with her. I had come out' EOSB-trces before this, being ed up of looking but. We one position in the afternoon for it, and a little later ani just a lucky chance that we e rockets, and the same may r- the Ventura, which arrived Ive hours after us. She came the south - instead of the ich shows that she had the Bulties to contend with that My greatest surprise on reachthiti was to find that she had d her boats, and I was further that the passengers were not 1 on the night we arrived, to. the Tahiti for this pururse the cajjtain had to be circumstances, and if I had issengcr, and knew the VenRoming up, and there , was no .danger, I would have prewait. I did think, however, •in Toten would have been let rid of his passengers at st possible moment, but no did the best in the circum-

stances. He certainly knew more about the Tahiti's condition than I did. What upset me were the telegrams from the Tahiti saying the ship was being abandoned.

Standing By. " The Penybryn stood by for about twelve hours before the Ventura came up. Half an hour before she arrived the lifeboats were lowered and the passengers placed in them. I was glad I had not been asked, to take them on board. I had no accommodation, although I could , have fed them all for a few days. Without the Ventura the passengers would have been safer on my ship than in the lifeboats. I could have taken them to Karotonga. . "The Tahiti sent up rockets every half-hour. When we got alongside we could not hear much from the passengers, their voices being drowned-by the noise of the winches which were going at full-speed, lowering and taking up the buckets used as auxiliary to pumps for bailing water from, the hold.

Excellent Work. "I can say for the Tahiti that the lifeboats were lowered beautifully* 1 have never before seen so many boats lowered so faultlessly. They were placed in the water from both sides, and the passengers were transferred from both sides. The light luggage and the mails were also transhipped from port and starboard. I stood by until Captain Toten left the Tahiti, and then cleared out. It was when I arrived at Suva that I heard about , the Tahiti's captain going back to the ship. "Members of the Tahiti's crew appeared to be weak and overstrained. They had had no rest for many hours, and that is the reason for them not making more trips for tho luggage and mails; . "Nobody knows the tfwful strain that was put upon Captain Toten. He had hundreds of souls on board, and did not know when his ship might sink. It was fortunate that the weather was clear and bright on the day the Ventura came up. All that the boats had to contend with was a long south-east swell. It made me sad to see beautiful lifeboats destroyed. There must have been close on twenty of them and every one was smashed up with hat-; fhets after the tanks were destroyed. I just, hated to see those boats, sunk. I would have liked, to take some, but I suppose it was for the best. An Amusing Statement. "I. was much amused at the statement that the Ventura had raced across 800 miles of uncharted seas to the rescue. It i 3 laughable. She travelled across the most beautiful and wifest portion .of the Pacific Ocean. There waa absolutely no chance of touching anything for hundreds of miles. "When we left the Tahiti we badonly 96 tons of coal in our bunkers," said Captain Salvesen, "and on arrival at Suva this was all burnt, with the exception of fivi tons, and the distance | was 970 miles. That was a close shave. ■,

Had I not turned back I would have had ample coal to take mo to Auckland. We used twice as much coal in the race as we would have under normal conditions. We took on 250 tons of coal at Syva. We did not mind going there, but I would have prefered the direct trip to Auckland." Asked if the Penybryn would receive compensation, Captain Salvesen answered, "Why should wet Nest may bo our turn. We carried out the tra-> dition of the sea, and hurried to the scene of the mishap to sa\c life.'