THE SINKING OF THE TAHITI.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20025, 5 September 1930, Page 13

THE SINKING OF THE TAHITI.

TO EPITOB OF TH® P8833 Sir— I Tlie description of the Enal plunge of tilie Tahiti in to-day's- Press recalls an incident I witnessed towards the close of. the war while'on the/way home to New Zealand in the old Remuera, We left Liverpool late m the afternoon with lour other liners under convoy by one light cruiser and several destroyers. Owing to having over on<> hundred, women and children oh board the Remuera steamed in the centre .of a square formed by the other t>e warships on the alert oil the outskirts . . . Afi.-r davbieali -on the following morning we. were attacked off the K coast by, a submarine. There wis a good old North Sea gale blowin'., ancf a dirty s«i naming-when Uie last steamer, ou our ftarhoard side was hit by a torpedo well aft. I saw and

heard the explosion and . about ten minutes later her stern began to settle down and the sea could be seen breaking along the after deck. 81owly the bows began to rise m a most solemn manner, continuing till half the ship was out of water in a perpendicular position. After swinging backwards -and forwards for some tew minutes, she wriggled slowly down from sight. All hands must have gone dowu with the ship, a big two-funnelled Canadian liner, as we saw no rescue work going on, the destroyers being too busy ferreting out the submarine and we putting on more steam to get away from the scene: In the trials that beset us in those days this was but an incident. At the present time it lfould go forth as a calamity.—Tours, etc., PAKURA. Redcliffs, September 4th, 1930.