U.S. Navy Cargo Ship On Second Visit To Lyttelton

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28766, 11 December 1958, Page 12

U.S. Navy Cargo Ship On Second Visit To Lyttelton

On her second visit to Lyttelton, the United States Navy cargo ship Wyandot arrived at Lyttelton yesterday morning from Norfolk, Virginia. Her previous visit was in December, 1955. The vessel will remain at Lyttelton until Monday when, with the icebreaker North wind and the tanker Nespelen, she will sail for McMurdo Sound.

Crossing the Pacific, the Wyandot met very rough weather and had sunshine on only four days until she reached Lyttelton. At times the seas were between 20 and 30 feet in height, and the wind was of gale force. At one time, said the commander, Captain R. K. Irving, the ship was

buffeted by wind and seas from a cyclonic disturbance*, the centre of which was 600 miles away. In her passage from the Panama Canal to Lyttelton, the Wyandot took what was practically a Great Circle course. This was done to take soundings in a part of the Pacific where soundings are sparsely shown. The Wyandot is taking south a cargo of stores, diesel oil, Jato bottles and prefabricated steelwork. The vessel carries a crew of 20 officers and 200 ratings, 47 of whom are Seabees. Passengers travelling in the ship are Lieu-tenant-Commander Le May, of the Chilean Navy, and Lieutenant Gonzalez Riesco, of the Argentinian Navy, who are going to the Antarctic as observers, and Mr R. Newman, a New York journalist. Sir Raymond Priestley will join the ship at Lyttelton. Captain R. K. Irving, ' commander of the Wyandot, is a member of the United States Naval Academy class of 1935. He has served in practically all types of ships, from 50 to 50,000 tons, except submarines. During World War II he saw much active service and was severely wounded He was awarded the Bronze Star medal, the Gold Star in lieu Of a second Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart. It is his first visit to New Zealand.

Captain Irving was called upon last year to play the part of Captain John Smith, leader of the expedition which landed on the coast of Virginia in April. 1607, to establish an English colony at Jamestown. The re-enact-ment was organised to mark the 350th anniversary of the arrival of the three ships of the expedition. the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery, nearly 14 years before the arrival at Plymouth Rock of the Mayflower. “I think they chose me because I have a beard which they were sure could not be pulled off,” said Captain Irving.