WAHINE STRIKES WHARF

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21802, 6 June 1936, Page 18

WAHINE STRIKES WHARF

Extensive Damage To Bow

MISHAP IN THICK FOG

MARAMA RECOMMISSIONED [THE PRESS Special Service.] WELLINGTON, June 5. With a grinding crash the inter-island steamer Wahine, arriving from Lyttelton in a dense fog shortly before 7 o’clock this morning, collided with the Pipitea wharf and seriously damaged her bow. The massive reinforced concrete deck of the wharf withstood the impact without much apparent damage; but it bit deeply into the bow of the ship, the upper part of her stem coming to rest a full 20 feet from the edge of the wharf. The passengers and their baggage and mails were disembarked from the bow of the ship, which remained fast for four hours before it was finally got clear. The mishap occurred In the densest fog experienced In Wellington for several years.

The Wahine had a smooth and uneventful passage from Lyttelton, the visibility being good until the ship was well up the harbour, although a dense fog could be seen outside, stretching from Cloudy Bay across to Lyall Bay. As soon as the Wahine rounded Point Halswell, she ran into the fog, and at once slowed down. It was not possible to see the ship’s length ahead, and the engines were stopped several times as the Wahine felt her way in on her usual course, which makes a fairly wide sweep in the direction of Thorndon to bring the ship diagonally past the south-east corner ot the Pipitea wharf. Officers and men were at their stations, and a sharp look-out was being kept for the lights on the Pipitea wharf, the engines being at slow after being stopped twice. Engines Ordered Astern Suddenly, through a slight break in the dense white fog, lights were seen right ahead. The engines were immediately ordered full astern, the helm was put hard over, and both anchors were let go to check the ship’s way. The orders were executed instantly; but the ship hit the wharf head-on, with a resounding crash, about 70 feet from the outer end of the wharf. The Pipitea wharf, which has a width of 183 feet, is exceedingly well built of heavily reinforced concrete, the massive piles being stayed and buttressed both transversely and pact of the Wahine’s sharp bow and £OOO tons weight in a remarkable manner. The parapet of the outside beam was crushed in, exposing several reinforcing rods. Hie heavy hardwood fendering was splintered and broken, and two or three piles and other concrete work below the decking were cracked. The visible damage to the wharf was surprisingly small. The Wahine fared worse. The impact broke her stem-bar clean through about 15 feet down from the deck level, and the massive decking of the wharf then cut cleanly into the ship’s bow. the upper part of which drove a full 20 feet across the wharf. Viewed from a row-boat, the damage to the ship below the wharf-decking looked even more serious, the plates and frames being torn and cracked and twisted into junk. The wharf had bitten into the ship as far as the forepeak bulkhead, \ ich was bent back in the way of the concrete decking. The ship was firmly held on the falling tide at a right-angle to the wharf. Shock of the Collision Passengers on the deck, and many who were dressing below, felt the shock of the collision, which was not violent. There was no alarm amongst them when it was found that the ship was held fast with no immediate prospect of getting clear. One of the heavy gangways used on the wharf cranes was got into, position on the ship's starboard bow, and by it passengers’ baggage and mails were disembarked with little delay. Later in the morning the Government steamer Janie Seddon went alongside the Wahine and transhipped checked luggage and parcel-post hampers to the ferry wharf. Meanwhile, efforts to get the Wahine clear were being made. The Union Company’s tug Terawhiti was made fast on the starboard side of the steamer, and the harbour board tug Toia, took a wire hawser from her stern. Again and again the Wahine’s powerful engines were run full astern while the tugs tried to pull her clear, but without success. The upper part of the ship’s bow was “sitting” hard on the wharf, and it was found that on the falling tide the tangled mass of plating under the wharf was “hard up” behind the massive outside beam, thus effectively preventing the ship from breaking clear. It was decided to cut away some of the plating on the top side, and so allow the bow to sag down and clear the obstruction below the decking. A gang of men and a supply of oxyacetylene gas in cylinders arrived from Evans Bay, and scon two burners were at work cutting through the steel plating and frames, two strips about six feet long and a foot wide being burned off on either side. This job completed, the Wahine's engines were put full astern, and both tugs took strain on their lines. As the steamer canted slightly, there was a loud crack or two, and then she was seen to be moving. At first she moved ever so slowly; but her astern pace quickened, and with a final grinding noise she slid off the hard concrete and was clear of the wharf, her windlass heaving in both anchor cables as she went wide and swung broadside-on. Extraordinary as she had looked ’ when locked with the wharf, f the gaping “bite” in her bow made her'still more so as she moved across to a berth at the Fryatt quay, where she discharged her cargo during the afternoon.

A close-up inspection of the Wahine alongside the quay revealed the extent of the damage. With the snapping of they stem bar, a rectangular hole was torn in the bow the. full width of one strake of plates, and extending' rather more than 20 feet to the forepeak bulkhead, which was bent and strained but not broken. The upper deck under the forecastle-head was also bent and torn below the big gap. The stem bar was forced back five or six feet the shell plating riveted to it being crumpled into a deep fold. About three feet below the water about the 12-feet draught mark could be seen the fracture m the stem bar. The shaft of the bow rudder appeared to be fractured. Whether the rudder itself has suffered damage will not be known until- a

diver has made an examination. The ship is making no water, and it is probable that a good deal of the preliminary work for the repairs will be done afloat. The floating dock is occupied by the Kalingo, and it will be seme days before she comes off the blocks. After the Wahine’s bow had been moved off the wharf, examination showed that the wharf did not suffer to such an extent as might have been imagined. Mr A. G. Barnett, general manager and secretary of the Wellington Harbour Board, said it was impossible, without further examination, to estimate the work entailed in repairing the damage, or what it was likely to cost. He agreed that, speaking generally, and having regard to the nature of the impact, the wharf “had got off very lightly.’’

NEW TRAIN ARRANGEMENTS

Because of the mishap to the Wahine the Railway Department has decided to run a special train to Dunedin today, leaving Christchurch at 12.25 p.m. Suitable connexions will also be arranged at Dunedin and Invercargill.

WAHINE’S HISTORY

WAR SERVICE RECALLED The Wahine was built by the famous firm of Denny Bros., Dumbarton, and launched in 1913, being the second vessel to be built to the order of the Union Steam Ship Company specially for the intcr-island service. The vessel’s principal dimensions are 4436 tons gross register, length 375 feet, beam 42 feet. Fitted with eight watertube boilers and propelled by triple screws driven by direct-coupled turbines, the Wahine has a speed of 21J knots to 22 knots. For some years she ranked among the fastest passenger ships in the world. In October, 1913, the Wahine entered the service, replacing the Mararoa. She remained in the service until the middle of 1915, when she was requisitioned .by the Admiralty for war service.

Commanded by Captain A. E. Edwin, the Wahine steamed from Port Chalmers (where she had been given a rapid overhaul and painted warship grey) to London. At the Millwall dock the vessel was fitted out as a dispatenship, and armed with two four-inch guns which had originally been made for a Turkish warship. Manned by I Royal Naval Reserve ratings, the vessel left London for Gibraltar and Malta, and became the dispatch-ship to the Gallipoli forces, running between Malta and Mudros. In this service she became famous for her speed and the clock-like regularity of her running, and even more so for her feats in speedy berthing and leaving harbour. A Mine-layer On the evacuation of Gallipoli, the Wahine returned early in 1916 to England. At MiUwall Dock, she spent some weeks being converted into a mine-layer. The whole of deck D was ripped out and became a mine-cham-ber. Mine-rails were laid along, the deck from the bow to the stern. Part of deck C was ripped out and converted into a mine-room and workshops. For mine-laying, the Wahine was manned with Royal Navy ratings, and was commanded by Captain Smythe, R.N., C.M.G., D. 5.0., until the end of 1916, when he was succeeded by Captain Thinne, R.N., C.M.G. The New Zealand engineers were retained, the chief engineer, Mr Profitt, being commissioned Engineer-Commander. R.N.. and the second engineer, Mr E. E. Lowe, Lieutenant-Commander. R.N. During her work as a mine-layer, the Wahine carried out 76 mining operations and laid a total of 11.378 mines. On 13 occasions, under cover of night, she laid mines in Heligoland Bight, near one of the enemy’s bases. The Wahine was one of the naval vessels present in the Firth of Forth when the German High Seas Fleet steamed in to surrender. After the war the Wahine was refitted in the yards of Denny Brothers. In December, 1919, she left the Clyde for New Zealand, arriving at Port Chalmers on February 20, 1920. A day or two later she resumed running in the inter-island service. In November, 1931, the Rangatira entered the serv.ee and the Wahine then replaced the Maori, except in the winter months of each year, when the Maori takes up the running. The only other serious mishap in which the Wahine has been concerned was in 1922. when she collided with the tug Lyttelton, in Lyttelton harbour. The tug had an overseas vessel in tow at the time and was damaged considerably. Captain B. B. Irwin is in command cf the Wahine. The chief engineer is Mr E. E. Lowe, D. 5.0., who was ond engineer and later chief engineer in her during her war service, and who has been chief engineer of the vessel almost continuously since then.

RECOMMISSIONING OF MARAMA

HURRIED WORK NECESSARY TO FIT VESSEL IPRISS i»»OCUTTO» WELLINGTON. June 5. The Wellington-L’ytteltcn steamer service was maintained without a break by the hurried recommissioning of the intercolonial liner Marama, which had been laid up in Evans Bay. An immense amount of organisation and work was required to get the ship ready. There was no water in the boilers, and the engineers who normally require 24 hours’ notice to raise steam had to move quickly. Gear, stores, and a crew of about 100 had to be assembled post haste by drawing on the Wahine and other ships. Cabins W'hich had been stripped when the Marama laid up had to be refurnished, and* berthing arrangements made for the passengers who were booked to travel in the Wahine to be transferred to the Marama’s plan. The Marama sailed at 10.10 p.m. with Captain B. B. Irwin in command.

RANGATIRA MISHAP DAMAGE TO GOODS CONSIGNED THROUGH RAILWAYS [From Our Parliamentary Reporter.] WELLINGTON, June 5. The question of the responsibility for the damage to cargo carried on the steamer express Rangatira, when the vessel was damaged in February, was raised in the House of Representatives to-day by Mr E. G. Holland (Nat, Christchurch North), in a question to the Minister for Railways (the Hon. D. G. Sullivan). Mr Holland gave notice to ask the Minister whither it was true that the Railways Department had declined to accept any responsibility for loss or damage to goods consigned through the Department and reshipped on the Rangatira, on the grounds that the accident to that vessel was an yt of God.