RACE WITH DEATH

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 January 1928, Page 2

RACE WITH DEATH

THRILLING SEA RESCUE. One of the strangest sen experiences of recent years was brought to a conclusion, happily without loss of life, when the Cromer lifeboat put into Yarmouth a few weeks ago. Aboard her were-15 men, who had been rescued aftei* a long ordeal from the oil tanker Georgia. With the arrival ef these seamen the mystery of the Georgia was solved. Confusion had been caused by the seemingly contradictory reports that the sinking ship had not a soul aboard and that 15 men had been left on her. It now appeared the the vessel had been blown in two. One portion of the wreckage, the stern, was driven by wind and waves to three miles off Cromer, where it was. observed, no sailors being ! on it. The bows of the ship were carried to a point off the Haisborough Sands--16 miles away. It was from this wreckage that 15 men were rescued by the Dutch steamer Trent, which reported 15 others still aboard. The plight of the men had been a pitiable one. To save themselves from being washed overboard by the huge seas which broke upon the wreckage they climbed as high as they could from the deck and lashed themselves to the rigging. In the very teeth of the gale they were exposed to the full blast of the wind, without means of securing food.

Owing to the roughness of the seas the lifeboats that went to the aid of the men found it extremely difficult to get alongside. Separated from the Georgia by raging seas, the lifeboatmen could see the crew lashed aloft, and it was possible to count the men, which gave the welcome intelligence that thus far no casualty had occurred: Would it be possible to reach them before they had succumbed to exposure? The race against death was won only just in time. , The Cromer boat, which effected the rescue, had •been much delayed owing to the uncertainty as to the locality of the wreck. The boat had been out for 36 hours searching the seas for the survivors, who, in view of the previous reports, were believed to have taken to the Georgia’s boats. At last, when returning from their fruitless labours, the lifeboatmen obtained definite intelligence—from London. A telephoned message had been received instructing them to go with all speed to the Haisborough Sands, where the Gorleston boat was standing by.

Despite the arduous labour they had already performed, the men responded to the call and made all speed to the sands. They took with them quantities of oil, to assist in getting through the heavy seas to the wreck. One by one the prisoners in the rigging were released from their precarious shelter and taken on to the lifeboat. It was night by the time they had reached Yarmouth. They were extremely exhausted after their ordeal. For 40 hours they had been without food or water.

Men of the Gorleston boat, although they were unable to reach the Georgia, had ' made gallant and repeated attempts to plough through the waves. All through the night they stood by hoping that the seas would abate and permit of an approach to be made, but the seas foiled them. ’Again, when dawn broke, urged on by the spectacle of the sailors in the rigging, they renewed their efforts, but only to be beaten back. It was not possible to state how the Georgia, came to be.sundered in twain. It is suggested, an explosion was the cause, it must have been a terrific one, and it was regarded as a matter for satisfaction that no casualties had to bo reported.