THE CLAYMORE

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 46, 24 February 1942, Page 4

THE CLAYMORE

HOBSON'S CHOICE

A STOUT VESSEL

(Specially Written for the "Evening Port"—

Copyright.)

Because of the war, there was much trouble in finding a vessel from which to carry out the salvaging of the Niagara's gold, and the choice of the Claymore was akin to Hobson's. A superannuated New Zealand coaster, she had been lying stripped and condemned on the mud of Auckland Harbour for several years. FoW decades previously she had been locally esteemed as the acme of elegance, the scarlet and blue plush of her furnishings dazzling all eyes.

But when Captain Williams cast his speculative gaze upon her she seemed to be held together between wind and water chiefly by rust, and her bright upholstery had long since vanished. Still, her engines were serviceable, and her bottom, with judicious patching, could be made to last for a while longer, thanks to the durability of the Lowmoor iron which had gone to its construction. Though birds had laid disrepectful eggs in the stokehold, and oysters mottled her fenders; though she had not a door, a steering wheel, an engine-room telegraph, or a compass; though grass waved in clumps on her worn decks; though she was afflicted with every symptom of, decrepitude, she was resuscitated and fitted out for the greatest enterprise of her career.

Innocent of paint and burnish, she carried her forest of derricks, her heavy winches and extra water tanks, her miles of steel wire and rope, and her proud personnel safely through storms that would have daunted a vessel twice her size (she registered 200 tons net); and it will be remembered to her credit that her Lilliputian and battered saloon was the friendliest that ever tossed upon the wide Pacific, notwithstanding that it leaked like a shower bath and reeked of rats. However much landlubbers might laugh at these quaintnesses, her company conceived a great devotion for her, and, what is more to the point, trusted her. Whatever the provocation, no man was ever seen to kick his boots through her senile side plates, and when her rivets were blown out by underwater explosions they were affectionately replaced by the divers. ON A CHARTER BASIS. The Claymore had originally been built in Scotland for the McGregor Steamship Company of New Zealand, and had then been passed to the Northern Steur>?.hip Company, from whom, for the sake of her engines, the New Zealand Government had taken I her over after the war had been in j progress for some time. Captain Williams was successful in making arrangements for the temporary transfer of the vessel on a charter basis. J Unlike the trim Italian, salvage ship j Artiglio, the second of that name, the Claymore was not flush-decked. Indeed, she had very little deck space at all, and in consequence was in a j chronic state of congestion. Even her most faithful admirer would have been forced to admit her unsuitability in this respect for the job in hand. The fore deck, where most of the "coollie" work was centred, measured only 31 feet in length and was 20 feet wide at its broadest part. It was' confined inside closed bulwarks! and the fact that a hatchway and a steam winch occupied most of the area did not in the least contribute to convenience. On the adjojning bridge deck the available working space was restricted to an area 20 feet wide and 10 feet long. Here was the foremast, a derrick guy winch, two plaited wires each 500 feet in length, the shot wire reel, the diver's telephone, firing and. submarine light cables, three massive mooring, ropes, and numerous tackles for various purpose?. To complete the maze, the foremast supported three derricks with their complicated wire?, ropes, blocks, and tackles. On a deck aft. of Dhe ship was a mooring winch which operated three distinct lines. I However confusing this web of equipment and riffging might appear, it was systematically ordered, and there was a place, as there was a purpose, for everything:. PEACEFUL AND LOVELY HAVEN. Early in November, 1940, Captain Williams paid a preliminary visit to Whangarei, the nearest town to the Niagara wreck, and arranged with the [local Harbour Board to provide facilities for him to make a survey of the | relevant area. Anxious about a proUpertive water supply—for salvage work makes n heavy demand on boiler ■v^tor—he was happy to find springs on Men Island, where he tentatively nhinne'rt to establish a camp. He fixed on Urquhari'.<= Bay. just inside Bream Head, as a likely anchorage in foul 'weather, and it was into this peaceful and lovely haven that the Claymore sicamPd for the first time on December 10. ,