THE END OF THE "QUEEN"

Evening Post, Volume XCVII, Issue 110, 12 May 1919, Page 3

THE END OF THE "QUEEN"

A TOTAL LOSS FEARED

Further details of the stranding of the old Wellington trader Queen of the South, were available yesterday when the crew returned to port. The report that the vessel was in a dangerous position off Cape Campbell is verified; in fact, it is thought that oho will becomea.total wreck. She is lying on a reef a long way ont to sea, and it is thought that it will be impossible to salve her. Captain'J. B. Owen, after setting the course, retired to. his cabin, and at 5.30 a.m. he was awakened by the vessel shuddering, as though it had struck a submerged object. When he went on deck he found that the "Queen" was hard and fast. The mate (Mt. F. Lawton) stated that when the engines were reversed at the first feeling of the impact there was no response. At the time of the mishap everything was obscured by fog. The coastline was invisible, and the Gape; Campbell light, three-quarters of a mile north-east of the wreck, was not visible. In clear weather the light has a range of twenty miles. The eea was perfectly calm, out as the vessel was rapidly filling with water, all hands took to the boats. It is considered that an attempt to refloat the Queen of the South would be fruitless, and that even the salving of the cargo would be a dangerous operation, exposing the lighters to grave risks. ' The Queen of the South carried a full cargo of 225 tons, the major portion being cases of machinery, transhipped from the sailing vessel Terpsichore and consigned to the International Harvester Company, CTiristchurch. There were also 400 cases of benzine on board, besides a number of email consignments.