THE TYRONE WRECK

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 89, 11 October 1913, Page 15

THE TYRONE WRECK

♦ NAUTICAL ENQUIRY EVIDENCE CONCLUDED. (BY TELEOBAPS — FBESS ASSOCIATION.) , DUNEDIN, 10th October. The nautical enquiry concerning the loss of the Tyrone near Otago Heads on 27th September, by over-running her course, was continued to-day before Mi*. Widdowson, 8.M., and the assessors. Mr. Hanlon said that in the interests of the second mate (Parry) he proposed to recall him and the third officer to state what occurred between them in the chart room at midnight when the second mate took charge [on his second watch]. Gladwin Parry (second officer) said that when he was about to take over the watch at midnight he went to the chart room. The third officer pricked out the position on the chart by dead reckoning, and showed the distance l-ui'. He (witness) went back over the distance (with dividers) to Akaroa, and also did the same forward over the distance to the anchorage at Taiaroa Heads. The third officer then said that they should get there shortly after 4 a.m. Mr. Hanlon : And having got that information,'did you think that there was anything further for you to do? Witness: Only to look out for the Moeraki light [last light on the trip south]. And up till that time there was no danger to the ship— that is, by overrunning her distance to Taiaroa Head? Witness : _ None. Witness added that he did pick up Moeraki light at 1.20 a.m., four points on his starboard bow. He then described taking his bearings. He afterwards called the captain when the light was .lost. The captain came on the bridge immediately and took chargeMr. Hanlon: So that you placed the master in possession of all the facts that could assist him in the further navigation of the ship? Witness : Yes. . At this- stage Capltain, M'Lauohlan was resworn to enable him to rectify some parts of his former evidence which -were correct at 'the time as far as he knew, but were based on a belief which had been nullified by subsequent information. Charles Henry Hughes, secretary of the .Union Steam Ship , Company, said that at the time of the wreck the Tyrone was the property of the company, and carried a policy of £110,000 on her hull, machinery, etc. He could hardly asseee her value. She was a very good ship for the trade, and it would cost from £150,000 to £160,000 to replace her. COUNSEL FOR CAPTAIN. In addressing the Court, Mr. Hosking said that there were four things which called for special note. The first was that the fog signals at Taiaroa Head 6 Wftre apparently defective, and tho interval between, the detonations too long. Besides this tho Taiaroa Heads lighthouse was iplaced at a 'considerable height above the eea (where land fogs were common.), and. gave only a red' light — the least penetrative of all. Tien there was (although he did not place great reliance on it) an error in the chart., which showed that had: Wahine Point (where the ship struck) been where it was charted the Tyrone would have been in deep water. Further, there were the currents. It had been genuinely shown, by Captain Eyffel that the current was setting from the north' [behind the Tyrone] on the morning of the wreck. The next important point (continued Mr. Hosking) was that of the bearing taken off Moeraki light. It was a fact that the two bearings taken corroborated the estimate of distance made by the captain under a mental error, but this had no great importance. What he (counsel) urged was that, the captain accepted the information given by the second mate (when off Moeraki), and acted upon it.,' There was no need for him to chart His distance either backward or forward. It had been alleged that the captain w;as guilty of careless navigation in not taking soundings and reducing speed when Moeraki light was lost and the Taiaroa Heads light had not been picked up. Whether such action should have been taken must depend on circumstances. The captain believed that the bearings taken off Moeraki were correct, and to have afterwards taken soundings or reduced speed would have meant that from 2 a.m. .(when Moeraki light was lost) they should have started and kept on taking soundings all the way down the qoast. Such a procedure would have been absurd. As it actually turned out the first fog signal from Taiaroa Heads really corroborated the captain's estimate of the distance run. Experience had led him to believe tkat he could hear this signal for nine miles, and, not knowing of the cap of fog over the land (which stifled the sound), he assumed his position from his bearings, and concluded that he was seven miles off Taiaroa Heads. In fact, the fog signal proved a trap to him. As to the original miscalculation off Akaroa, 1 - the error was cancelled by the bearing taken at Moeraki. ■ Mr. Hanlon (for the second officer) Said that if the master had done all that could be done, then it -was a sorry look-out for life and property *on this coast. A hurried glance at a halfopen almanac was not the way to arrive at his conclusions. It was suggested that the master had a right to rely upon the bearings [taken off Moeraki], but the extraordinary thing was that the log alone bore out the actual distance. The captain's position was that, when he had run 119 miles by the chart, he had logged 125£ miles, so that, assuming the bearings to be correct, it was clear that a current was operating. Moreover, it was difficult to see how the captain could defend himself against the charge of not using the lead when approaching Taiaroa Heads. He had rushed a big ship through the dark without precaution, depending on a fog signal when the coast and the light were shrouded. Mr. Hosking replied that, if it were demonstrated by the enquiry Lhat something further should be done at the Heads, and the captain had to pay the costs, the Government would be getting the benefit of a special enquiry at the captain's expense. Mr. Widdowson intimated that the Court would endeavour ■ to give a d«£ cision to-morrow morning. He reminded Mr. Fraser (Crown Solicitor) that he had said nothing on the question of the second officer.