END OF THE WELLINGTON AND CYRUS THE FIRST SHIP OUT FAR EASTERN SERVICE

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 132, 30 November 1935, Page 31

END OF THE WELLINGTON AND CYRUS

THE FIRST SHIP OUT

FAR EASTERN SERVICE

DASHED TQ PIECES AT SINCLAIR HEAD

(By "Argus.")

' Accustomed as we are to look upon Wellington as a reasonably safe port, and one whose toll of shipping, in modern times is lower proportionately than that of many of the great shipping centres of the world, it is hard to realise the dangers that surrounded the ships trading from the port in the old sailing days. ...-,'. '

With the ativent of steam and motor, the port and its environs seem to have lost much of their former fierceness. Vicious it was in the old days, with its sudden changes of wind, its unknown rocks, its ironbound shores, and its mysterious, illogical currents for which there was no accounting. That it can still show its teeth is evident by the recent mishap to the Waipahi, a mishap that might very well have resulted in the. loss of a fine new ship with her crew. >

Over fifty years ago, however, when' steam was yet in its infancy (though even before this, as told in last Saturday's notes, steamers had felt to their cost the weight of the anger'of the Strait) the environs of Wellington, and indeed the whole southern coast of the North Island, were to be

treated with the utmost respect. Perhaps the dangers about Wellington were not noticed so readily because there were others, even- greater, elsewhere. ; The coastal and intercolonial skippers of those days, while, perhaps, not any more courageous or skilful than those of the present time, certainly had to take a great many more chances. Sometimes, as in the case of the Wellington and the Cyrus, the coin did not fall the captain's way, and Davy Jones took all. A HOWLING NORTHERLY. One of the worst days up to .that tune in Wellington's maritime history was undoubtedly March 5, 1874, when the ship Wellington, of 696 tons, and the barque Cyrus were dashed to pieces: 2^.miles east of Sinclair, Head, with a loss of 7 lives. A terrific northerly gale raged over the city, the waves breaking often over the pier.. Even' in. the harbour, the schooner Unity had some planks stove in, and the three-masted schooner Melanie, after parting her moorings, had her stern smashed to .-by the iron, stern of the Glenlora. The Ocean Mail bent her mooring pauls, and ,two men were blown off the wharf. •The colliers Wellington, commanded by Captain Hill, and Cyrus (Captain Andrews), both of which had left in ballast on the Friday night for Newcastle, caught the-full force .of the storm. The Wellington beat out against a north-west- gale Xintii she was reduced to lower topsails. When the hurricane came down on her, the fore and mizzen .topsails were blown out of the bolt-ropes and the main topsail was taken in. Under bare poles the ship lay almost on her beam ends. At 5 p.ni. the foretopmast staysail was set, and an unsuccessful attempt was made to wear the ship. Two hours later, .with the ship six miles from Cape Campbell, and a tremendous sea running, the wind shifted to the south-east. The lower fore and main topsails were set, and afterwards the upper foretopsail and topgallantsail, and a course was set for Terawhiti. "Breakers ahead!" came the cry.- Immediately afterwards a blue light was seen burning on a vessel ashore to leeward. , ON TO THE ROCKS. The course was altered, but the ship struck with tremendous force, and everything ■ went by the board. She broke" up almost at once, the; captain and survivors making their escape in the one remaining boat. They afterwards rowed round through Chaffer's Passage into the harbour, reaching there at 6 a.m. ,on the day after the wreck. Hammill, • the y mate, who had previously distinguished himself in the City of Newcastle wreck, swam ashore. Wilson, the cook, was never seen again, and Rushton, a seaman, was found by the survivors of the Cyrus reclining against a tree, dead with exhaustion. The first mate reached the shore by means of a'lifebuoy. END OF THE CYRUS. The fate of the Cyrus was very similar. Standing to the northward to clear Terawhiti, she, too, mistook her bearings, and struck the rocks about ten minutes before the Wellington— only some 40 yards distant from where the larger vessel drove" ashore. All the boats were swamped, and several attempts to get a line ashore failed. ■ In these efforts, Robert Smith, the second mate, and a seaman named George, were carried away and lost. Then a tremendous sea struck the ship. Captain Andrews, who was standing with a passenger, Mrs. Wrigglesworth, and<rher two children, was hurled across the deck. The sea broke the ship in two, and dashed the deckhouse down on Mrs. Wrigglesworth and the children, killing them instantly. The rest of the crew got ashore miraculously, without further hurt. ' ♦

A visit the following day to the scene of the two wrecks revealed an unbelievable state of chaos. Of the two well-found ships which had gone ashore there only a few hours before, no semblance remained. Their, battered timbers strewed that bleak shore for miles, but hardly one timber clung to another. That desolate lee shore which has since accounted for so many vessels had removed and disguised many of the traces of its work. It was said at the time that anyone chancing on the scene of this sevenfold tragedy would have thought that the remains were merely old timber that had been dumped there out of the way.

ORIENT LINE BEGINNINGS

Written plainly in a corner I find the name Lusitania, and the date August 14, 1877, says a writer in the "Sydney Morning* Herald." That steamer and that day brought the Orient Company to Sydney. Direct steam communication with London by a new organisation named the Orient Company was announced on May 5, 1877, and the names of three sisterclipper steamers were stated, the Lusitania being scheduled to leave on September 1 of the same year in time to arrive in London for the November wool sales. That announcement took Sydney and the port by storm, and caused consternation among the many wise heads who had not yet begun to understand what steam power and the steamers meant to Australia and her deep-sea trade. . A. day or two afterwards, in. the news columns, the second announcement, appeared. "A new line of steamers for the colonies, via the Cape of Good Hope,"/ was

woven into the headline. Then followed, "We learn from an advertisement in 'The Times' that a new line of first-class vessels may be expected in Sydney in a few months to take up a regular trade between London and the colonies. It is called the Orient Line, and the undermentioned, magnificent, full-powered steamships, belonging to the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, of Liverpool, will be despatched punctually "for Melbourne and Sydney, in accordance with the following arrangements." The names of the three steamers are then given. Lusitania, ,3825 tons; Chimborazo, 3847 tons; and Cuzco, 3845 tons, each with a 500 nominal horse power, indicating 3000 horse power, and burning about 45 tons of coal per day, for an average run of about 320 nautical, miles. Messrs. Gilchrist, Watt; and Co. were the appointed Sydney agents. All in good time the Lusitania made her appearance in Australian, waters, and was welcomed to Sydney Harbour on the morning of August 14, 1877, after haying made the run from Plymouth to Port Phillip in 38 days 21 hours and 20 minutes as her steaming time. ■■;,-■ Captain Hewisdn, who was in command, must have been happy as he watched his pilot take the Lusitania to an anchorage in Neutral Bay. Many flags were flown by rival skippers on that eventful morning. The brotherhood of the oceans never lets a seaman down. A great sea triumph had arrived; come what may, the skippers in port would still carry on. Captain Fernie, of the Windsor Castle, and Captain Murray, of the Alexander Duthie, did the honours nicely. "UNPARALLELED FEAT." In the "Herald" of August 15 the following record appears:—"This splendid ship, one of the finest afloat, arrived yesterday morning from PlyPlymouth, via Melbourne. She is the first of the Pacific Line of Steamers intended for the London and Australian trade, coming out via the Cape of Good Hope, returning home by the Suez Canal. "We have of late years had quite a fleet of magnificent steamships visiting this port; but, without detracting from their merits, it can safely be said that she outshines them all, either in general outline or admirable passenger arrangement; and as for speed, her passage of 40 days 6 hours from' Plymouth to Port Phillip, inclusive of 36 hours at St. Vincent, is an unparalleled feat in ocean voyaging. The fame of the Lusitania has preceded her, and has not in the least been overdrawn " Like most of the "full-powered" steamships of her day, the Lusitania was fashioned like a clipper ship with a pretty bow, three shapely masts, and a sleek, well-sheered hull that did credit to her builders, and made her so pleardng to the eye of the sailormon of the day. Her topside and single funnel were black, her facings, bridge, boats, and rails were white, and her below the water colouring was almost emerald green On September 1, 1887, the Lusitania left port on her first homeward journey, taking 77 passengers in all classes. Below deck as cargo was stowed 888 bales of wool, 1808 cakes and 18 601 uigots of copper, 3350 ingots of tin 4 cases of sponge, 43 cases of pearlshell 138 casks of tallow, and 5133 cases of meat.

The Far East express liner Gneisenau, of the Norddeutscher Lloyd which is nearing\ completion at the Weser yards of the Deschimag Bremen, will make her first trip to the Far East from Bremen on January 3, 1936. This 18,000-ton ship, which is built especially for service in the Tropics, is equipped to accommodate about 150 passengers in the first and about 144 in the tourist class. The most modern arrangements are provided on the Gneisenau for the transportation of cargo. The total capacity of the six holds is about 14,000 cubic metres. Just like her two sister ships Scharnhorst and Potsdam, the Gneise^ nau is to have a speed of about 20 knots, the power for which will be generated by a Deschimag-Wagner high-pressure turbine plant. Consequently, the Gneisenau can cover the run from Bremen to Genoa in nine days and from Genoa to Shanghai, or vice versa, in twenty-three days.