HOLMGLEN'S BATTLE

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 104, 4 May 1936, Page 11

HOLMGLEN'S BATTLE

SWEPT BY HUGE SEAS

CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE

!Hy Telegraph—Press Association.)

NEW PLYMOUTH, This Day. With most of her portholes stove in, the starboard bulwarks crushed, and all loose deck fittings carried away, the coastal motor-vessel Holmglen arrived at New Plymouth this morning after weathering probably the most severe westerly storm that has ever swept the New Zealand coastal waters. ■ The Holmglen left Wellington on Thursday night and had to fight raging seas for ,75 hours before she covered the 373 nautical miles to New Plymouth. By Friday afternoon the vessel was battling against the combined force of huge seas and a tearing hurricane. Every wave swept over her deck, which was continually awash rail deep. The | heavily-laden vessel was almost down to her marks in the water, and every crashing wave jarred her with its impact. >

The stout glass of portholes was broken, and bunks were flooded. The deck cargo was continually shifting; loose fittings were carried away bodily, arid it was almost impossible for the crew to move from one part of the ship to another. The most serious damage occurred, when the starboard bulkhead was stove in and severely damaged.