A VISIT TO THE SHIP.

Evening Post, Volume XCII, Issue 58, 6 September 1916, Page 2

A VISIT TO THE SHIP.

A reporter of the Hawkes Bay Herald took a trip on Sunday ih the small steamer Tangaroa to the scene of the Tongariro wreck, and from his description it is certain that the doomed ship will not survive much bad weather. Captain Plunket (Lloyd's surveyor, Auckland) and Captain Bone (Marine Superintendent of the New Zealand Shipping Company) also made the trip.

As the Tangaroa passed Portland Island Lighthouse the ill-fated Tongariro loomed up in the twilight of early morning. From the distance she looked not at all unlike a smitten battleship that had listed over and was slowly sinking. Then, as the coastal boat drew near, tlie hopeless plight of the Tongariro could be only too plainly seen. • The big list to port had brought the deck on that side to the level of the sea, while the stern of the vessel sloped down below sea level. Tlie interior was awash fore and aft. The vessel was plainly doomed. The davits were swung out and the ropes dangled idly from them.

The huge swell that surges incessantly over Bull Bock raced the length of the liner every few minutes. It swept over the deck and caused the trailing rOpes to swing, bringing an eerie creaking and groaning from the blocks and tacklte above. The liner looked Utterly hopeless, and, as the waves eddied" and swirled at her bows, they laid bare occasionally "the horns" of Bull Rock. These pieces of black, jagged rock.gave just a hint of the terrible crags and pinnacles beneath the water, which- had torn the bottom out of the vessel, and on which she now rested.

So far no arrangements have beer, made for the nautical enquiry into the wreck of the Tongariro, owing to certain difficulties which are now being settled. Napier-' will probably be the place where the enquiry will be held, though this has not been definitely decided. The crew was signed off and paid oft; to-day, and arrangements are being made for any members of the crew who wish to return to England to securg positions on Home-going vessels or to be taken Home as distressed sailors. Captain C. C. Plunket, Lloyd's Surveyor at Auckland, has been appointed representative for the London _ Salvage Association in connection with the wreck of the Tongariro.