SURVIVOR OF FAMOUS WRECK

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 184, 2 May 1929, Page 10

SURVIVOR OF FAMOUS WRECK

CELEBRATES 94th BIRTHDAY Dominion Special Service. Auckland, May 1. Memories of the wreck of H.M.S. Orpheus on Manukau bar on February 7, 1863, are vividly recalled by Mr. Charles Sturtridge, of Auckland, who celebrates his 94th birthday to-day. He is probably the last survivor of the 71 who were saved of the crew of 256. Call of the sea found a responsive chord in Mr. Sturtridge. As a boy he joined the Navy as a seaman-stoker, and served in China waters and the Cape of Good Hope. Mr. Sturtridge graphically narrates the disaster that overtook the Orpheus in attempting to negotiate Manukau bar against the signal. “An additional warning to the ship was a gun fired from the station,” he says. “Bradshaw, a captured deserter, on board, who from experience in sailing timber ships out of Manukau, knew the channel as well as the pilot, warned the captain of the danger, and he was clamped in irons for his pains. Five minutes later the ship struck, and sank beneath the waves in 15 minutes. “I saved my life by jumping overboard,” he added. “I clung to a spar for a time, and then lashed myself to it with silk handkerchiefs. After floating for nine hours I was picked up by Gilbert Dobson and Mat Nixon, who had put out in a boat from Muddy Creek in search of survivors.” Mr, Sturtridge is typical of the hardy Scottish race. His memory is unimpaired by age, though physically he is bent and frail. He has contributed his quota to the pioneering work of New Zealand.