Naval Men Jump Into Sea As Launch Is Threatened

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28436, 16 November 1957, Page 15

Naval Men Jump Into Sea As Launch Is Threatened

(New Zealand Press Association)

AUCKLAND. Nov. 15. ! Eight naval men had to leap Into the sea when a motor launch threatened to sink while being towed to Auckland from Coromandel yesterday. The tow came to a temporary halt half way between Coromandel and Waiheke Island and while the launch wallowed in choppy seas her towing crew abandoned ship. The men were picked up by the diving tender Manawanui and brought straight back to the Devonport naval base. H.M.N.Z.S. Stawell with the launch in tow arrived at Auckland at 1.30 a.m- today. The launch, a 70-foot vessel used by the R.N.Z.N.V.R. was badly holed and stranded on submerged rocks on Rangipukea Island on November 8. She was later! beached at Te Kouma harbour and filled with oil drums and kerosene tins. Two steel catamarans, each about 25 feet long, were fitted on the port and starboard beams. The tow to Auckland started at 5 a.m. on Thursday. The weather was fair and the launch with its towing crew led by Commander

C. H. Hilliards. R.N.Z.N.V.R.. was I riding high in the water, in spite of the damaged hull. At 9 a.m. the wind increased and the launch started to bounce in the short choppy seas- The launch’s stern sank low in the water and although the drums and catamarans gave the vessel buoyancy it was decided that the towing crew should abandon ship. The men leapt over the side in lifebelts and were quickly fished out of the sea by the Manawanui. Only one member of the towing crew, a young reservist, appeared to suffer any discomfort from seasickness.

The launch was brought into the small boat basin at the naval base this morning and appeared to be very badly damaged. She has a large hole amidships and a smaller gash on the port bow.