SHIPS AND THE SEA

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 112, 14 May 1938, Page 24

SHIPS AND THE SEA

(By "Helmsman.")

Probably lew of the many people who wander along the Wellington wharves during the lunch hour pay much attention to the notices which read, t "Danger—Smoking Prohibited," which are placed in the vicinity of loading inflammable cargoes. : Yet there is a definite danger. Their : heedlesshess may even lead to the - loss of life, ship, and cargo. It is just undfer twenty years ago that the Defender, a small wooden i steamer and one of the best known of < the mosquito fleet trading around the : New Zealand coast, was totally de- i stroyed by a fire which started while she was at one of our wharves. There i

was. no loss of life in this case, but there could quite easily have been. Apart from the loss of the vessel, . which was a serious matter owing to the shortage of shipping in the Dominion cause'd by the war, the destruction of 1132 cases of motor spirit gave a bad setback to the dealers in the South Island for whom it was de-' stined. The Defender was valued at about £5000. / The Defender was owned by the Westland Shipping Company, and was a vessel of 185 tons. She, was built by G. Frost, at Kimcumberj New South Wales, in 1901 for her owners. After trading on the Australian coast she came to New Zealand about fifteen years before she was lost. Her principal dimensions were:—Length, 118.5 ft; breadth, 25.4 ft; depth, 7.4 ft. FLASH OV FLAME. The little ship arrived at Wellihgton on{ the afternoon of August 1, 1918, with a,'general cargo from Lyttelton, and bSrthed at Queen's Wharf. Next morning she was shifted from her berth and tied up alongside an oil ship at King's Wharf to take on a transhipment of some 1200 cases of benzine. The; fires had been drawn to eliminate danger; and the ashes, were cold. The transhipping of the cargo was com-, meticed, .and, several of the cases of petrol, which were found to be leaking, were put on' deck so that they could be'returned to the oil ship. / : At about 11 ajn., when there were> nine men working in the hold, there was a flash of flame, and within'a few seconds the ship was on fire. A tier of cases was violently thrown down,"but the men were unhurt and managed to escape to the deck. They hurriedly left the ship, and the fire spread with great rapidity. Smoke belched forth from the hold and quickly increased in volume. .... DANGER TO SHIPPING. The fire brigade was summoned and the Harbourmaster (Captain J. Dawson) was almost immediately on the scene to superintend operations. Owing to the highly inflammable nature of the cargo and the awkward position of the Defender, it was difficult to deal thoroughly with the outbreak and, apart from that, the danger

WELLINGTON HARBOUR BLAZE THE DEFENDER DESTROYED BY FIRE

to the oil ship increased as the fire grew. The tugs Karaka and Admiral were called and lines were put aboard the burning vessel to tow her clear from all shipping. Up till this time the flames, though raging under, battened hatches, had not been visible above deck. Almost immediately after the vessel had been towed clear of the wharf, a few minutes after noon, a dense volume of black smoke, followed by a rush of roaring flame, burst from the fore hatch and rapidly increased. It was evident that the little steamer could not be saved, and the Karaka

; took her in charge and commenced an . hour's spectacular tow up the harbour , to a little island north of Somes i Island. There the Defender was • beached at about 1 p.m., and blazed • furiously from end to end. The TerawHiti and the pilot launch Uta accompanied the burning vessel to the island, but little trouble Was experienced in the towing. The sight, from the view of the disinterested i spectator, was certainly very fine, and large crowds gathered along the waterfront arid speculated as to the chances of the vessel being saved. A good number of motorists and cyclists took : to the roads around the coast mid waited for the explosion which was almost certain to occur. , BLAZED FIERCELY. The explosion ,came at 1.25 p.m., and watchers standing on the shore saw a great rounded cloud of steam shoot up and heard, some seconds later, a heavy rolling report. The tug had cast off by Ihis time arid was standing fby at a* respectable distance A quarter of an hour later a second and less violent explosion occurred, and dense clouds of smoke rolled across Somes Island. - The Defender"" continued to blaze fiercely till well after dark. Several minor explosions occurred and at about 7 pip. a considerable quantity of oil which had found its way through the burnt-out sides of the vessel blazed steadily on the surface of the water. Patches of fire were carried, by the wind and current in long streaming lines from the wreck and presented a weirdly picturesque sight. This loose oil quickly burnt itself out and an hour later the Are on the Defender had practically died away. The finding of the Nautical. Court, which sat ifor several days on the inquiry, was that the fire originated through a naked light being used in the stokehold yrhile a cargo of benzine, affected; by leakage, was being stowed in the adjoining hold. It appeared that, while the cargo was being loaded a fireman' was working in the stokehold with a light known a's a "slush." The bulkhead between, the hold and the stokehold was not airtight and the benzine fumes had found their way through and came in contact with the "slush."