Bad weather at wreck site

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34047, 10 January 1976, Page 14

Bad weather at wreck site

f From

HUGH POPHAM and ROBIN SMITH,

aboard the Acheron)

AUCKLAND ISLAND, January 9. Undeterred by atrocious weather, our diving team worked today, our second at the site of the wreck of the General Grant. The wind was roaring and the sea rough and white against the towering white cliffs.

Getting men and gear into the dinghy required great team work as it was tossed about beside the Acheron in the 50-knot wind, one minute level with her deck and the next right down her hull. Once over the site, John Grattan had a struggle to keep the dinghy afloat. “At one point, it was almost overturned by the strong wind. The wind came through the tunnel and round the point (at the same time,” he said [afterwards.

“For a second I thought the dinghy would flip over end,” he said.

The day’s diving was cut short because of the weather. “Now you know how those aboard the General Grant must have felt,” Commander Grattan said. “A swimmer would stand no chance in those conditions.” On their last dive yesterday, the divers recovered four objects from the site. We huddled on the deck of the Acheron as the divers scrubbed and chipped at the finds, in the hope of discovering some tell-tale marking. A bronze roller bearing carried the inscription “Trade mark Rubonze.”

But the find that fired the imagination was a small brass plate, 2in by 4in, with a casting mark of an anchor on it. and with the letter M above each fluke. Could it stand for Morse Bros, the builders of the General Grant?

Identification and gold still elude us, but each day and each find tempts us further. The “pirates” who appeared yesterday in their 40ft black-hulled fishing boat are today reported to be sheltering on the east, coast of Auckland Island.