TRAGEDY AVERTED

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 12140, 30 December 1933, Page 5

TRAGEDY AVERTED

BYRD’S SHIP NEAR DISASTER. FIRES EXTINGUISHED AND VESSEL DRIFTS. HUGE ICEBERGS ON EITHER SIDE. (Special to Press Association from Byrd Expedition). AT SEA, December 27. After the first spectacular success, the expedition now is apparently getting a taste of the conditions that for 160 years have defied explorations in this region. The Jacob Ruppert to-night, fighting fog and a north-yost gale, steered! a wary course among countless icebergs. The noon .position was latitude 66.10 'south, longitude 140.23 west, approximately 10 miles north of the main ipe pack. Tho ship logged only 56 miles since Saturday at noon. The past. 24- hours have impressed upon all hands the perils latent in this region. We were particularly near disaster this morning when a large quantity of water which had collected ■in the starboard oil ta.uk was inadvertently • pumped into the boilers, extinguishing the, fives. Meanwhile, two icebergs each 200 f- ! high, loomed several hundred yards off the starboard and port side. The chief, engineer immediately switched on the poi-t' tanks, ' .restarting tll!? ‘ fires, but the Jacob Ruppert. rapidly losing speed l , drifted helplessly. On the after : deek t Pilot Jeffs mobilised tho aviation crew for emergency action oil. the ’plane. FortunaJielj, with the ’bergs less t?um 300 yards away) the steam pressure returned to normal and the Jjicob Ruppert fought her way back into the wind, Commander Gjertsen told his mess: “Your lives were in the hands. o f ■God and the engine room. If either had failed, you would all be dead tonight.”