WRECK OF TAHITI

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20024, 4 September 1930, Page 11

WRECK OF TAHITI

SCENE IN ENGINEROOM. HEROISM OF OFFICERS AND CREW. VAIN EFFORTS TO STOP INRUSH OF WATER. [THE PRESS Special Service.] AUCKLAND. September 3. The captain, officers, and entire crew of the Tahiti, together with 17 of her passengers, arrived by the Tofua from Pago Pago this afternoon. Thev were cheered by the people on passing ferry boats as the steamer came into the harbour, and a crowd of 800 welcomed them joyfully at the wharf. A civic reception was accorded them immediately they landed, and in the evening all. with the exception of the Auckland passengers, ' left by train for Wellington, where an enquiry is to be held into the causes of the disaster.

A graphic account of the scene in thf» engine-room when the Tahiti's propeller came off was given by members of the engine-room staff.

"1 was looking through the watertight door into the engine-room." said VV Geddes. an oil burner attendant, whose home is in Glasgow, ''when i heard a terrific noise. Instantly & rush of water came through the propeller tunnel, and I shouted out, 'stop the starboard engine and shut off the fires.' The second engineer, Mr A Thomson, who was o» dut.v, was standing at the dynamo. Before I had the words out of my mouth he had jumped down and turned off the throttle, and the engines stopped dead. He t!u>n rushed round and shut the watertight door. It was all doue in a minute, and if he had not farted so promptly, I have not the slightest doubt that the ship would have gone down in h n "f an hour." • The Hero of the Hour. W. Digney, another oil-burner attendant, who resides at Wellington, said the second engineer was the hero of the occasion. "You cannot praise him too highly," he said. "He did exactly the right thing in the twinkling if an eye, and 1 dread to think what would have happened if he had made a mistake. Having shut off the engines, he rushed into the propeller tunnel to see what had happened, but was thrown out by the force of water which was pouring through it. He then ran round and got the pumps started. He had done everything necessary in the space of a few moments.

"Of course, Mr Thomson knew the ship from bow to stern, and the crew and passengers owe their lives to him more than to anyone else," said Mr Digney. "It was because he understood the ship and everything in the engineroom that ho was able to do what he did.

"No one ever saw the real damage that had been done in that tunnel," he added. "We do not know how the propeller came off, but it did, and the engines started to race like mad. Then the propeller shftft broke, and its swinging motion mv t have torn a great hole in the ship's hull. It is only surmise, of course, but the shjp shook terribly as the engines raced, and the noise was deaf- • g. / Dangerous Work.

"Volunteers were instantly called for to work in the engine-room, which was now flooding badly. The watertight door was pretty firmly shut, but the bulkhead dividing the tunnel from the engine-room started to give way, the plates bulging inward and water streaming through cracks and crevices. We shoved bottle jacks up against it and supported it with 8-inch wood and iron stanchions. I am certain the bulkhead would have been broken in but for that. The watch which went on duty from midnight to 4 a.m. had only left their work about a quarter of an hour when the accident happened, and they were immediately called on to work on the dangerous bulkhead. They worked like Trojans, together with the rest of the engine staff, the remainder of that night and the following night without sleep. "When the last lifeboat left the ship on Sunday, the water had risen to the tops of the cylinders and the men who were working below were in constant danger of their lives. The rising water forced the floor plates up, and as we were working waist deep, and ■could not see where we were going, men were continually slipping and falling under water. Three men fell through shifted plates into the bilges, and were hauled out by their mates It was very lucky someone was there, or they would have been drowned. "We were all ordered to work with lifebelts on, but that was impossible, because if the bulkhead gave way and water rushed in, we would never have got up the ladder if we had been so encumbered. That ladder was our only path to safety, and when we saw the bulkhead bend under the strain and the leakage increase, I can tell yon we turned round every few seconds to see if it was still there.

News Suppressed from Passengers. "The news about that precarious bulkhead was suppressed from the passengers, and only the officers and engine greasers, wipers, and oil burner attendants, knew how near it was to breaking through. We would have been in a regular trap if it had given way. We stayed down there until it was impossible to stay any longer. Just when the third lifeboat was being launched, and we thought it was all over, the chief engineer called for volunteers from among the firemen to go down again and prop up the bulkhead. which was giving again. They found the refrigerator bulkhead was giving way, and by the time we left it had gone. "As things were, the captain just timed things nicely," Mr Dignev said. "Steam was kept up in one boiler all the time in order that the winches might be manned, and later a dynamo was set in motion again with the aid of a new armature, which was fitted into position with considerabe difficulty owing to its weight and awkward place of stowage. Waist-Deep In Water. William Brown, of 40 Dublin street, Lyttelton, another oil burner attendant, described how the men worked in pitch darkness with the help ot I electric torches and matches when the dynamo went out of action. "It was j extremely uncanny creeping about in the dark in water up to our waists," he said. "A few torches were used, and matches were struck at intervals, giving the staff the appearance of ghosts. The water seemed to rise and mil occasionally, according to the working of the pumps, and the bulkhead moved and shook like a partly , inflated water bottle. It was continu-

ally leaking, and we worked in a shower of spray. , "In the morning, before we took to th® boats, the old ship started to shudder, and we knew it was all up. At 12.30 p.m. I was told off to ?-ctas messenger to the wireless operator, and at 1.10 p.m. I heard that the en mL ne room bulkhead had burst." The men working in. the hold got as much out as they could until the bulkhead in No. 3 hold threatened to burst, and it was unsafe for the men to remain below any longer. At one stage the refrigerating chamber which led into No. 3 hold gave way, and in the words of one of the officers, "frozen carcases came shooting through like dead bodies." There was nearly 20 feet of water in the hold, when the mails were dropped over the side into the waiting lifeboats, and owing to the great swell running the loss of several bags was unavoidable. All sections of the crew praise the ship's carpenter, George Bothwick, ot Wellington, who worked continuously in the engine-room propping up tfle bulkhead

THIRD OFFICER GETS A DUCKING. [THE PEESS Special Service.] AUCKLAND, September 3. The worst that happened during the transfer of the passengers from the crippled liner to the Ventura was a dtickinsz «hich the third officer, Mr J D. Crighton, received. He was steering one of the lifeboats containing some of the women passengers wh9n the stern oar broke in two pieces, and Ue wan thrown into the water. He was quickly rescued by his crew none the worse for the mishap.

CIVIC RECEPTION. PRAISE FOR CAPTAIN SALVESEN. ' BRAVERY OF TAHITI'S CREW. [THE PRESS Special Service.] AUCKLAND, September 3. Warm appreciation of the high sense of duty and skilful seamanship displayed by those responsible for the protection of the lives of passengers on the Tahiti was expressed at the civic reception given to the captain, officers, and crew of the Tahiti this afternoon. The" greatest honour was paid to Captain Salvesen, as captain of the Penybryn and representative of his officers and crew, when the Deputy-Mayor, Mr A. J. Entrican, asked that if present he should come onto the platform. Cheers and loud handclapping broke out, and continued until Captain Salvesen had taken his seat, after shaking hands with Captain Toten, of the Tahiti. Besides the Deputy-Mayor and Councillors, there were on the platform the captains of the Tahiti and the Penybryn,' Captain S. A. Chatfield, of the Tofua, and Mr N. J. Siepen, first officer of the Tahiti. Practically the whole complement of the Tahiti and passengers who returned by the Tofua were seated at the front of the hall, and in addition there was a considerable gathering of citizens. The Government's appreciation of Captain Toten's admirable handling of a very difficult situation, and of the splendid work done by the whole of his crew in very trying circumstances, was expressed In a telegram from ,the Hon. J. B. Donald, Minister for Marine. "The Government also desires to record its gratitude to the master of the Penybryn for his action in going unhesitatingly to the rescue; of the Tahiti, and for standing by at some risk to himself, until the passengers had been transferred to the Ventura,", continued the message. "The fact that no lives were lost reflects the very highest credit on all concerned."

"We pay a very warm tribute to Captain Salvesen, his officers, and crew, for their prompt response to the S.O.S. call," said Mr Entrican, after tracing the history of the mishap and the part played by Captain Toten and his "officers and crew. "True, the increasing effpfts of the Tahiti's crew in their fight against the inrush of water kept their vessel afloat longer than they expected, but it might have been that the Penybryn was theii only hope of rescue." 1 Captain Toten's Beply. '' On behalf of myself and my officers and men, who stood by me so magnificently during some difficult days, I wish to thank you for the attention you are paying us to-day," said Captain Toten in reply. He wished to express words of most heartfelt gratitude to the master and ship's company of the Norwegian steamer Penybryn. "They gave us our first feeling of safety before the Ventura eventually picked us up," he added. "I thank them, my officers and men thank them, and I know that the Tahiti's pas? sengers during those dark and difficult days behaved magnificently. There was never a murmur from any of them."

"I should like to congratulate Captain Toten on the splendid way in which he handled his ship,"said Captain Salvesen, amid 'applause. He especially admired the way the ooats were lowered, and as a sailor he could say it was done beautifully. Eegarding the part played by himself and his ship, Captain Salvesen Baid he had merely tried to do all he could to help Captain Toten in his very awkward position. Cheers were given for the men of the Tahiti and also for those of the Penybryn.

GOVERNOR-GENERAL'S MESSAGE. PASSENGERS' APPRECIATION. The kindly thought which prompted the Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe, to send a wireless message of sympathy to the passengers, officers, and ere o£ the Tahiti did not go unappreciated According to passengers who returned by the Tofua, the receipt of the message did much to revive the spirits of those on board.

"We had been told that we might have to abandon ship at any moment," said Mr Hector McQuarrie. "Suddenly we were summoned to the first-class lounge, and we all looked on this as the prelude to an order to the boats. Then his Excellency's message was read to us, and mingled with the general feeling of relief that we did not have to leave the ship was a feeling of deep gratitude for such a thoughtful action. We sent an immediate reply, but I am afraid the formality of the words rather masked onr true feelings."