LOG-BOOK GLEANINGS

Evening Star, Issue 23059, 10 September 1938, Page 2

LOG-BOOK GLEANINGS

PERIL IN THE NIGHT TOWAGE DISASTER NARROWLY AVERTED GREAT FEAT OF SEAMANSHIP [By Fittsi Mate.] Towing vessels on the east coast of Australia seems to be a hazardous undertaking. Captain Potter, of the tug Frosty Moller, lost connection with a cargo steamer he was pulling from Melbourne to Sydney one night, luckily without disaster, while recently the former Auckland steamer Mako broke adrift twice between Newcastle and Sydney when under the charge of the crew of the motor-ship Salamaua, which had already taken her across the Tasman successfully. A great feat of seamanship was necessary to re-estab-lish connections; the night’s events were a nightmare for master and crew. The first, second, and third officers risked their lives when, in the pitch dark, they jumped from the Salamaua to the tossing Mako to make fast hawsers and ropes. The second officer (Mr N. T. Israel), hurt his leg badly when jumping. Many members of the crew were bruised; all were exhausted. The Salamaua, with the Mako in tow, cleared Newcastle at about 3.30 p.m. On the last lap of a weary voyage from Auckland to Sydney, every one looked forward to peace and quiet. All went well until about 7 o’clock, when tho tow rope parted. In the open sea, this would have been regarded as bad luck, but the officers of the Salamaua at once realised the perilous position of the Mako. The two ships were about four miles off shore, near Norah Head. The swell had increased, and the wind was blowing inshore. Moreover, the Mako was tossing like a cork and drifting fast. To make matters worse, her port light had gone; the only means of identification in the darkness was a pinpoint _ green starboard light—she was free in the path of coastal shipping. RUNNING ALONGSIDE. Drastic measures were taken to meet a perilous occasion. Captain Andrew Smith decided to run alongside the Mako—a dangerous undertaking, because the Mako was tossing wildly. He manoeuvred the Salamaua between the Mako and the shore, and gradually drew alongside. When the ships were within jumping distance, the third officer (Mr J. Rowe), leaped to the Mako. He was followed by Mr Israel, whose leg struck a pipe on the foredeck. He fell over with pain and it was thought that the leg had been broken. In a moment or two, he was on his feet again. Then the first officer (Mr Douglas Patterson), made his leap. Passengers said that the suspense while the officers were waiting for a favourable chance to jump was almost heartbreaking. The Mako’s fenders at times ground horribly against the fenders of' the Salamaua, and all the time in the dark both ships were edging towards the coast. Towing hawsers and ropes were then thrown to the officers, who worked feverishly to make /’he, Mako fast fore and aft, alongside the Salamaua. At 9.30,, this work was completed, and the officers clambered aboard the Salamaua again. ; ' . HAWSERS PART AGAIN. But the night’s troubles had only begun. The swell increased, and the Mako tossed and strained' beside the other ship. It was too much for the hawsers to stand, and, one by one, they began to part. At 1.30 a.m., only one slender stern line remained. Soon this came away, and once again the Mako was free. She drifted fairly fast, and, at one stage, she was within a mile of the shore. To. the captain, officers, and crew who had battled to get the Mako safely across the Tasman sea, the prospect of losing her on the last lap of the voyage was too dismal and heartbreaking to contemplate. Once again the Salamaua was manoeuvred alongside the Mako. Once again the officers jumped aboard, and once again lines were made fast. Meanwhile, wireless messages had been sent from the Salamaua, and the tug St. Hilary from Newcastle was steaming south at full speed. RELIEF COMES AT LAST. Daybreak found the Salamaua and the Mako nearer the shore than anyone would have wished. But the Salamaua, by skilful manoeuvring, was able to keep, the Mako away from land. When the St. Hilary arrived she took

two ropes to the Mako, and the Salamaua came on alone to Sydney. Officers and crew, many of whom had faced dangers on the sea in the past, described the night as one of the most dramatic that a seaman could wish for. ,

“ The Tasman crossing was bad enough,” said one of the officers to an exchange. “ We had our moments then. But that night capped the voyage. There were times when most of us thought that we would lose the Mako. She was as light as a feather. To give you some idea of the seamanship of our captain-, he ran the Salamaua alongside the Mako as if he were berthing her at Circular Quay.”. Mr, Patterson, the chief officer, remained aboard the Mako when .the tug tookcharge. • When the Salamaua . entered Sydney? Heads she was more than 13 days out from Auckland.. Seventy minutes after, the Salamaua entered port the Mako arrived in tow .of the Newcastle tug St. Hilary, the master of which _ had orders delivered to him from a waiting motor launch to return, at once to Newcastle. The Mako was handed over to local tugs to be brought up the harbour, and the St. Hilary, waiting only to stow her hawsers bn board, went through the Heads again, this time northward bound, less than an hour after entering. • * • • TRAGEDY STRIKES TUG. Tragedy came in the night to the Ocean Cock, a tug owned by the Gamecock Towing Company, when she was sunk in collision with the Port Nicholson off Gravesend. Three members of her crew were drowned. Five others escaped, including her master and the river pilot, who was going off to an inbound vessel. Off. to meet the ship, the Ocean Cock was rounding the bows of a _ moored vessel when she was struck with considerable force by the Port Nicholson. Hit amidships, she heeled right over, turned on her side, and sank in a few minutes. Pilots who heard the crash rescued three men clinging to a small boat; another was taken aboard the Port Nicholson. BEER—NOT CHAMPAGNE. A quart bottle of beer took the place of the customary champagne at a recent naming ceremony at Greenwich. The vessel was the motor ship Mount, | to augment the fleet of 25 vessels running between the Isle of Wight and the mainland. It was a special brew —a ■saving grace—known as “ Princes Brew,” and was selected because it had been brewed by the Duke of Windsor, when Prince of Wales, in 1932. GREEK CAPTAIN’S REBUKE. When the 10,000-ton cargo steamer Themoni was launched recently for the Kassos Steam Navigation Company, of Syra, at Sunderland, Captain Nicholas Ilethymnis, for the owners, remarked that it was the - twentieth vessel launched in Great Britain for Greek owners in the past 18 months. These 20 ships had been built at a cost of £2,000,000, he said. Some not very complimentary reports, which served no practical purpose, had been in circulation about the Greek mercantile marine. Up to that time, lie concluded, there were no Greek shipowners he knew of who had gone to any but British shipyards for new vessels. , * CANOED ACROSS BERING STRAIT. Father Bernard Hubbard, the “ Glacier Priest,” recently crossed the Beriuo- Strait between Siberia and, Alaska with eight companions in an Eskimo canoe. There were several narrow escapes from disaster as the rough waters of the 250-mile voyage were fought with the aid of an outboard motor. The party was only a week overdue at the desolate regions around Point Barrow, northernmost point of Alaska, which was its objective. Prehistoric migrations from Siberia could have been made in skin boats, said Father Hubbard on his arrival. • • * * WHAT’S IN A NAME? Greek steamers have been prominent in the Australian wheat trade this season, and it is reasonably safe to suppose that their names will be remembered by stevedores, shippers, and agents for some time after their de parture. No doubt there were many

heartfelt • wishes expressed that simplicity was the keynote of Greek spelling. Some of the names borne by the vessels are truly extraordinary, but no less impressive, to non-Latin eyes. Those loading /in. Australia were the Agia Marina, Alflos Chelatros, Dimitries Chandris, Eugenie-Livanps, Evgenia Chandri, Ervos, Galaxies, George M. Embiricos, G. S. Livanos, ,-Hadiotis, Irene S. Embiricou; Kostis, Koumoundouros, Leonidas Z. Gambanis,'Lyras, Maleas, Michael L. Embiricosv Michalakia, Mina L. Gambanis, Mount Atlas, Mount Cynthnos, Mount Myrto, Mount Ossa, Mount Pera, Mount Rhodope, Neion, Nicholas M. Embiricos, Nikoe T. Olympos, Panaghis, Panagiotis Th. Coumantaros, ■ PeleUS, “ Pindos,' Rita Chandri; Staniatios G. pmbiricosV Strymdn, Triton, : Taxiafchis, Thetis, Zannis !L. Camliahis,'arid' Zeusi ; •' • V V • - - : -H. ELECTRIC LIGHTHOUSE .StEAMER English lighthouses will be/ served in future by ah electric twin-screw Diesel vessel—Patricia—which 'was ' launched recently for the committee service of the. Corporation ‘of ‘Trinity House, whose surveyor of shipping and marina engineer personally supervised the building to required specifications. Two hundred and eighteen feet long.'; the Patricia' reached slightly over 14 knots over a 24-hour.' sea, trial. The master and officers are accommodated in a large deckhouse on the boat deck amidships, and the engineers in the ’tween decks. The petty officers, crew, and 10 lights officers are accommodated amidships, and there is,also accommodation forward for 28 lightsmen.. The boat equipment includes two lifeboats for the personnel, ■ a service motor boat, a 16-knot committee : motor launch, and a rock-boat. “ The boats are manipulated by means of an electrio boat winch, the davits for the committee motor launch being of the Columbus type. A large hold is situated forward with a heavy derrick capable of lifting 12-ton loads, which .is operated, by means of an electric winch. An electrio windlass is situated , in the forward ’tween decks with three capstan heads on deck for lifting anchors, buoys, etc. A large towing winch is fitted in a house on the after deck, and is operated by compressed air pit is to be used when the vessel is employed towing lightships or other craft. An electric warping capstan is fitted on the-after deck.

Loud speaking telephones are arranged in various parts of the vessel. The ship is fitted with store rooms and storage spaces for the varied requirements of the service. A large amount of welding has been* embodied In the construction of the vessel, including the entire engine seatings taking the twin Diesel engines, generators, and propulsion motors, engine room casings, deckhouses, oil fuel bunkers, water-tight bulkheads, and the greater portion of the three steel decks.