GROUNDED LINER PULLED FROM BANK BY TUGS
(Rec. 10 a.m.) LONDON, April 15. Tugs at high tide about 6.30 p.m. G.M.T. pulled the Queen Elizabeth off the sand bank ' where she grounded in Southampton water. Earlier, following the discharge of fuel and unloading of the baggage and 620 first-class passengers, the liner’s bows were lifted four feet.
Divers have been standing by with Lloyd’s agents ready to make a thorough investigation, as it is possible that some plates are strained. A Calshot resident’s statement, made yesterday, that the Queen Elizabeth grounded in clear weather, was given to the Press Association. The Times also said that the weather was clear.
The Daily Telegraph said that visibility was four miles. The Daily Express and some others, including the Standard, said that the grounding occurred during fog. The Cunard Line refused to make a statement on the weather, but the preponderance of evidence seems to be that there was a fog earlier in the day, but that, the weather was clear when the liner grounded. 26 Hours Aground
The Queen Elizabeth, under the pooled strength of a dozen tugs and her own giant screws, slid backwards off the Brambles sandbank, 26 hours after she ran aground. The tugs clustered round the liner’s stern, at the signal of two blasts from the liner’s sirens, made a concerted pull. Smoke billowed from the great ship’s funnels■ as the engines made an all-out effort. The Queen Elizabeth, once she was clear, disappeared from the sight of a thousand shore watchers in thick fog Later she anchored at Cowes. She will dock at breakfast-time tomorrow. The decision not to dock tonight was due to a sea mist. Mammoth Pull The liner actually got clear on a comparatively low tide. All the Admiralty tugs based at Portsmouth helped in the mammoth pull to get the world’s largest ship refloated. It is expected that after a diver has inspected the liner’s bows, she will sail on the return voyage to New York this week,
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Greymouth Evening Star, 16 April 1947, Page 7
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335GROUNDED LINER PULLED FROM BANK BY TUGS Greymouth Evening Star, 16 April 1947, Page 7
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