SHIPS AND THE SEA

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 128, 1 June 1935, Page 26

SHIPS AND THE SEA

DISASTERS OF THE FIFTIES

A very interesting and no doubt Tare little volume, which is over eighty years old, has recently been brought :tomy notice. Carrying the rather imiposing title of "Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea, or Accounts of the [Principal Calamities on the Ocean Which Have Occurred During the Pre sent Century," the book bears the publication date of 1854, and was printed at Halifax. v Under a single heading appear accounts of three wrecks occurring the'previous year which should be of rnpre than usual interest to readers of' this column. One was the loss by fire of the emigrant ship Mahomet Shah, another the burning on the Australian coast of the. English barque Winchester, and the third the running ashore of the Monumental City, the first steamer to cross the Pacific. Altogether, in the space of 442 pages, this little volume deals with a score of Australian wrecks, which are only a small part of its contents. The year 1853 was one of the worst for shipping ever experienced, and in reading the accounts of the various disasters one is struck with the courage and endurance of the sailors and passengers of 80 years ago. THE MAHOMET SHAH. The emigrant ship Mahomet Shah, a well-found vessel of 600 tons, cleared London early in January, 1853, under Captain Minter, with about a hundred people on board. The earlier part of her trip to New Zealand was uneventful enough, but about noon on April 18, when the ship was in latitude 43deg 30sec S., longitude 116deg 20sec'E.; due south of Fremantle and in nearly the same parallel as Hobart, smoke was observed issuing from the forehold. The; fire, which originated from spontaneous combustion well down in the hold, could not be extinguished. As a last resort, the hatches were battened down and everybody was ordered on deck. Shortly afterwards the ship Helen, en route from Mauritius to Hobart, hove in sight. She saw the distress signals of the Mahomet Shah, and bore down towards her, afterwards lying by for two days and nights. On the night of April 19, the burning vessel's boats were lowered, and the passengers were safely, transhipped. .The crew followed rapidly on discovering that the ship was like a furnace below, that the flames had penetrated the cabin, and- that all approach-was'cut off. By midnight, all was enveloped in flames. The Helen remained by-until it was clearly evident that nothing could be done. Sail was then made for Hobart, it being fully realised that the provisions aboard were not adequate to meet the demand. The voyage, however, was a tedious one, and before it was completed all were subsisting on starvation rations, and half a pint of water a day. The rescue, which is one of: the most striking in New Zealand maritime history, was accomplished without the loss of a single life. THE WINCHESTER AFIRE. The barque Winchester, with'-Cap-tain Curry in command, left Melbourne on May 14, 1853, for Newcastle. On the following morning, as the wind was blowing heavily from the southwest, "the captain ordered some of the men to go below to secure,the stores. When the hands came up, one of them was noted to have a lighted candle in his hand. In the course of ten minutes smoke was seen coming up the after hatchway, and the storeroom was discovered to be on fire. The crew were so panic-stricken that they could scarcely be induced to attempt suppressing the flames, and shortly took to the boat. They were Apparently under the impression that a quantity of gunpowder was on. board. After fighting a losing battle with the flames, the captain and officers dived overboard and were picked up. The ship was soon ablaze from end to end. MONUMENTAL CITY STRIKES. The Monumental City is justly famous as the first steamer, ever to cross toe Pacific. She was .- built at Baltimore in 1852, being one of the earliest' screw steamers, in the United States, and was a very well-appointed ship of 1000 tons gross and 768 tons net register. Her two direct-acting oscillating engines developeed 475 horse-power and drove a four-bladed propeller. She was a three-master with-a-single-funnel between the fore and main masts. An excellent idea of her sail plan is given in the- picture appearing on this page. ' • - - ■On,'April 23, 1853, this fine ship arrived iat Melbourne from America with.about 200 passengers all told, after a two months passage. Haying landed all but 86 passengers, and' embarked several colonists, she left Port Phillip for Sydney. As she was running round the coast at twelve knots, Captain W. -H. Adams was warned that he was too close in. Early in the morning she struck heavily on a formidable reef in Malacoutta'Bay," near Twofold Bay. "..'/■ As the morning advanced, a'strong gale sprang up, and the heavy bumping of,the ship caused.her to make much,' The'engine fires were- extinguished and the ship settled' down. The first' boat was dashed to pieces against the side, the-second'met a similar fate, and the third broke away. The lifeboat, the only boat left, was got over the side and floated around to the bow. A seaman, Plummer by name, jumped aboard, and the boat, with a rope attached, was allowed to drift to the rocks..' The rope parted, however, and the boat stove itself in against the rocks. AN ACT OF HEROISM. Anqther line, fixed to a spar, was allowed to drift down. Plummer, in extreme peril on the wave-swept, halfsubmerged rocks of the Island, seized the rope, and hauled it and the hawser to which it was attached to the shore. Alorigthis slender line 53 people made their; way to safety, but many failed, and were swept away. The waves were now sweeping the full length of the doomed vessel's deck. Then:;the watchers oh the island saw' the vessel break in two. The quarter^ deck sank as those on it made their escape to theforecastle. Another sea split the remaining part of the wreck, covering the water with floating timbers grinding together in the heavy, .sea. The bow of the' steamer, crowded with men, women, and children, was the last to go. 1 At last,, it tore loose, and the survivors' of those*who had been clinging to it were left to perish in the surf. ~ . , , The 54 survivors found enough from the wreck to feed themselves, and buried the bodies of the victims of the disaster as they were thrown up on the, rocks., In the course of a few days-the mainland was reached. Mr. Peter Strolbed, the owner ;of the ship, perished with.; her, standing by until the last. ,

"WOODEN SHIPS AND IKON MEN"