HEROES IN SMALL BOAT

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 June 1927, Page 3

HEROES IN SMALL BOAT

ROPE DROPPED FROM SEAPLANE. Thirty British seamen have been rescued from a wreck on the Moroccan coast after a destroyer and a seaplane had been sent to their assistance. Their vessel, the Collingdale (3896 tons), commanded by Captain Frank, of Liverpool, was driven on the rocks in a terriffic gale. Many rescue attempts failed owing to the high seas, and the gravest fears were entertained for the crew, who were believed to be without food. The Norwegian steamer Balto sent out the following message:—“Cannot you ask Navy to send help to save 30 of the crew of s.s. Collingdale? Pity to lose 30 lives thus. We will try at dawn with our own lifeboat.” After several attempts to reach the men had failed, the actual rescue was due to the heroic conduct of the owner of a small boat, the Vicente Martinez. With a crew of eight men, the owner of the Vicente Martinez set out for the wreck and succeeded, after a terriffic battle with’the waves, in reaching the British vessel. The boat returned to the quay at Melilla with half the Collingdale’s crew, and there was a storm of cheers from the crowds assembled there. A second visit had to be paid to the doomed ship for the rest, of the crew. The Collingdale was practically cut in two on the rocks. In reply to the Balto’s 5.0.5., a seaplane and the destroyer Viscount, aided by the salvage vessel Rescue, set out from Gibraltar. The Viscount attempted to tow the Gibraltar lifeboat, but this proved impossible owing to the force of the gale, and the Viscount and Rescue went on alone. A rope was dropped from the seaplane on to the Collingdale’s deck, but this proved of no avail. A boat from the Viscount also reached the wreck after a battle with wind and waves. While the gale was its height, the Balto and the Greek steamer Nicolos Peteras also went ashore.