S.S. PROGRESS LOST

Grey River Argus, 2 May 1931, Page 5

S.S. PROGRESS LOST

•| ON WELLINGTON ROCKS FOUR MEN PERISH i Crew’s Terrible Ordeal i - —— -EIGHT SURVIVORS INJURED. (Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON. May 1. The Holm Shipping Company’s steamer “Progress,” well known i’> i, coastal waters, was wrecked at Ohiro , c |Bay at noon to-day. and rhe rapidly g I broke up on the rocks, under the battering of heavy seas. * The Progress broke her ta : l shaft ? I about eight o’clock last night. The - Opawa was alongside and asked if asi sistanee was wanted. The Progress de|dined assistance, but asked to bp reI [ported to the TTarbour Board. p | The TTarbour Board tug. which left . last night to tow the Progress, was un- ) [able to lend any aid. The tug returned | to port to-day at 8 a.m.. after being unable to connect with the vessel owing ,'to the heavy weather. The Toia sot I out again at 9.15 a.m. The Union Conv . pany’s tug. Terawhiti, wont out at' 6.45 a.m.. but returned at 9.25 a.m. ? The Terawhiti only went as far as E the Heads. There she received a report j from the Toia that the weather was very rough, and too bad, the Toia’s master considered, to do anything. Communication was made with Tsnnd Bav to see if a line could be taken • out to the Progress by means of a i launch, but Island Pay reported that it . was low water, and the sea was running heavily across the entrance to the Bay. i Tt is stated that the Toia got a lino [ aboard last night, but was unable to , iget a hawser aboard. . I At 11 o’clock this morning the Progress was lying about half a mile off the bench, to theh eastward of Island Bay. She was then reported to have 5 two anchors down, which were holding ' fast, hut an exceptionally heavy sea was running. Then there came the news that the disabled vessel had drifted upon the ‘ rocks at Ohira Bay. j Thp “Progress” was a single screw steamer of 353 tons gross and 181 tons net. She was built at Port Chalmers, in 1882 by Kinnear and Tmrie and was rebuilt in 1919 for her present owners, 1 thp Holm Shipping Co.. Ltd. She had an overall length of 129 feet, was 25ft 3ins. in breadth, and drew 10ft linch in 1 depth. At 3 p.m. the Happy Valley Tea Rooms reported as follows: “Three men are dead so far and either four ‘ or five saved. The men who have come ashore are severely battered.) Two men can be seen out. On the rocksj but cannot he reached. The ship is < , completely broken up, and there is' wreckage from one end of the beach to the other. There is a big crowd out at the shore.” STORY OF THE DISASTER. WELLINGTON, May 1. The steamer Progress, which was wrecked this afternoon at Ohiro Bay, broke the tail shaft o n Thursday evening i n Cook Strait during tine weather. and she anchored. When Ihe southerly gale blew up, however, the conditions became so bad that the tugs [ sent were unable to assist her. For two hours this morning the vessel was under her trysails, trying to get away i from the shore, but > s he was forced I upon the rocks half a mile south of , Happy Valley. | Several members of the crew arc ■dead, the bodies of whom came ashore | in a terribly battered state. i The Progress was inward bound. I from Lyttelton. She broke the tail shaft when nearing Wellington harbour, and was then ! I forced to heave to. [ I The small motor ship ‘Opawa.” ' which was coming from Blenheim, no[ticed the Progress was in trouble, and went alongside of her to ask if any I assistance were required. The offer | was declined. Captain Copland, of the ■ Progress, asked to have his condition , reported to the Harbour Board. The weather then was beautifully fine. ’ Later in the night, a strong southed v sprang up and matters then be- ' came very unpleasant for the disabled ■; steamer I The Harbour Board’s tug Toia set ' out to her assistance at 11 p.m., but, ! i although it is understood that she suc- ? 1 ceeded in getting a light line aboard, j ; it was impossible to connect the two i vessels with a hawser. The Toia returned to port at 8 a.m. i Daylight revealed that the vessel’s [position had not altered very much | during the night. Her anchor was standing up to the terrific strain im--1 posed by the heavy, confused sea. She j was then something I less ttyan a mile off the Red. Rocks and was plunging heavily without in-; tennisflion. Developments were anxiously watched from the shore by a party of Harbour Board officials, and f men from the “Diomede,” under Cap--3 tain P. S. Peterson, Acting-Deputy • Harbourmaster, who had rocket appar ratus ready for immediate use, if nec- -' essary. The hours dragged on, but 31 there was no material improvement, in fl the vessel’s plight. Me n could be seen running round her decks 1 ( ,and at 10.55 a.m. the fore trysail was s hoisted on the main mast, and then, ') the cable either having slipped or car--1 tied away, the vessel began to drift 3 along the coast. Soon she was clear of dangerous rocks Red Rocks ; and, for a time, there appeared to be a faint chance that she would weather the jhgged ro|cfs running out .from n the vicinity of “The Run Around.” . Meantime the tug Toia had been ap- ] proaching her, ami about half way between Red Rocks aud the “Run ; Around,” the tug appeared to be witht i n a short distance of the Progress. 3 The latter vessel, however, was then 0 dangerously close in, and any attempt e at a rescue was attended by thp utmost danger for the rescuers. Those on board the progress wqre making i- a gallant fight against terrible odds, but when the e Toia failed to achieve her object, a d disaster became inevitable. At 12 3.1 o ’clock, a series of short whistles from 1 j the Progress aunouuced that she had

r struck, but the end was still a little way off. Rising and plunging heavily, I the vessel made her way another 100 {yards along the coast before the end came I when a huge caught her broadside 1 on, and she struck with terrific force. | Within a few minutes, the after part of the ship broke off, and it swept round on to the forepart. At about that time, the sea increased, and at times the wreck was almost completely obscured from sight. The men could be seen clinging to various parts of the deck and rigging, but the heavy seas were too much for them. Soon the broiling waters were dotted with the heads of men taking a forlorn chance to reach safety. Words fail to describe the uncanny impression created when the whistle sounded as the Progress struck s i A erv 'I “She’s gone! went up from the horrified onlookers. Then, as *e a after sea swept over the vessel, it became only too evident that the Progress had lost her struggle. A graphic evidence of the might of the seas was afforded by the rapidity with. ‘ which the vessel broke up. It was ■ actually only a few minutes before she broke in two. Two men remained huddled on the sloping forepart of the . ve.-sel. Two others managed to reach I comparative safety on some rocks that were only a few yards from the wreck. [ • Here they were exposed to consider- ■ ( able risk*. At times they were completely submerged by big waves. The r two who had remained on the wreck finally jumped 5 into the water, just as the rocket apparatus was being prepared for action. They were ultimately picked up, both ■ of "them bleeding, and one unconscious. The rocket apparatus failed to reach the two n*en who were clinging to the rocks about 150 yards from | 1 the shore. In a small boat, three men battled gallantly for over an hour in an endeavour to rescue these men, whese position, with the tide coming in fast, was becoming more hazardous every minute. Heavy seas were continually breaking over them. Another man took a big risk in attempting to swim out with a, line. Ho did not get r very far, and his safety was a’so imperilled. longer boat, manned by Italian fishermen then attempted to reach the two mon, amidst cheers from the crowd. They picked up the man who had endeavoured to swim out with the line, and also picked up one of the seamen on the rocks. The other seaman, however, when the boat was half way between the short and the rocks, decided to strike out for tire shore. He was quickly swept round towards the bay. beyond the reach of the men in the boat, but he was rescued by a lifeline from his plight. The men who were brought ashore presented a pitiable sight. They were bleeding copiously. Their clothes in pome cases were almost completely tom off them, and | they were blue with the cold. They I V’ere assisted into nearby hohses, i where restoratives were available. QUICK BREAK-UP. Wreckage began to come ashore soon after the vessel broke up. It must have been from the drifting spars and other parts of the vessel as much as from the rocks that the crew r , almost without exception, received their injuries. SECOND MATE’S STORY. Kustaa Kanerva, the second mate of the steamer, who was seen at the Hospital, said that, the Progress’s propeller dropped off at 7 o ’clock last night, and then a course was shaped for the Wellington Heads, sail being used durI ing the night, as the vessel was starting to set in towards the shore. The wind then increased and the anchor, ' which had been put out, began to drag. At daylight the f-hip was about a mile from land. The tug Toia arrived somej where shortly after midnight, but they could not get a rope from the tug or one to the tug for a considerable time. I “At last, the tug picked up a light I line from the Progress, said the second ' mate, “but it broke, and the Progress gradually drifted towards the shore. Repeated efforts were made later to get a line from the tug, but without ' success. Before the Progress struck : the rocks, we all gathered o u the poop. Heavy waves were now breaking over the ship. We were all washed off one after another. I managed to ■ scramble on to a rock, but I was washl c*d off, and the next I knew was that a man from the shore was assisting me to land. POLICEMEN TO THE RESCUE. ' While a rescue boat, i n charge of ’ Constable F. Baker, of Island Bay. was returning to the shore after having ’ picked up a member of the crew of 1 the Progress, a large wave capsized it. ' It was with great difficulty that Baker ’ was rescued. He was sent home in an s exhausted condition. Constable Hammond, of Taranaki Street Station, tried to reach some of the crew with a life line, but the heavy sea forced him back on to the • rocks, where he was rescued by some . fishermen, who went around to« the I scene in a lorry, carrying a dinghy - with them. Hammond, an cxr hausted condition, was taken home. WHY TERAWHITI TURNED BACK. t At 5 o’clock this morning the assistJ ance of the Union Steam Ship Coy’s tug Terawhiti was sought. She left the wharf at 6.45. Captain Wilson, the master, told a reporter that he went no ' further than jurt outside the heads, ’ where he received a report from the ' Toia that the conditions were too bad for‘anything to be done Captain Wilson could see for himself that it. was ’ hopeless to proceed, and he returned. l The Progress had two anchors down. They were holding fast. When he ’ found that he could not do anything. Captain Wilson communicated with Island Bay, and asked if it would be possible to get a line out td the Pro--1 grass by means of a launch, but a launch could not be sent out. J TOIA’S SECOND TRY. ’ Captain Wilson then received word that the Toia. was going to> have another try. After taking on board a long length of rope, the Toia left the Queen’s Wharf at 9.15 a.m. with the P Harbourmaster, Captain J. Spence, and i Captai n Holm, cf the Holm Shipping 2 Company, on board, in addition to a! Captain Campbell. As the morning I wore on, the chances of the weather

moderating did not improve, and the , ninety fathoms of cable attached to i fhe anchors were severely strained. j When the Toia arrived it was seen* that the Progress had drifted too far inshore for the tug foi b-e of any as-! sistanee, even had, the weather permitted. The Toia returned to port at 1.20 p.m. WHY ANCHORS WERE LET GO. Captain Holm gave his personal opinion as to what had happened just before the vessel went un the rocks, i , About noon, he surmised, Captain Copi land, when he found his ship drifting, | ashore, decided to let go his anchors I and to endeavour to beach the ship under sail. The attempt was unsuc- j cessful, and the ship finished up on, the rocks about 300 yards off the) shore. | List of the Drowned j (Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, May 1. • | The revised list of those drowned in the wreck of the Progress is as follows: I W. Winton, aged 48, fireman, of 1 Dunedin. i W. Finch, aged 40, single, cook, of i Wellington. F. Lawton, aged 45, married, Chief! [ Officer, of Fairview Terrace, Kelburn, Wellington. T. Simpson, aged 46, married, chief engineer, of Dunedin. SURVIVORS. The survivors are: Captain A. Copland, ager 45, married, i master, of Opawa, Christchurch. Kustaa Kanerwa, aged 33, single, I second mate, of Wellington. [ Fritz Degerholm, aged 26, married, I able seaman, of Wellington. 1 John Metcalf, aged 43, married, fire- I i man, of Wellington. [ Felix Kruisik, aged 27, single, able [ seaman, of Wellington. Jack Horgan, aged 25, single, able i seaman, of Wellington. 1 William Evans, aged 25, single, able i seaman, of Wellington. 1 J. A. Collins, aged 17, single, ordin- ! ary seaman, No. 38, Palliser Rd., Wel- ■ lington. CONDITION OF SURVIVORS. WELLINGTON, May 1. I All of the survivors of the Progress i I wreck are in hospital, save Captain Copland, who is at a friend’s hame. The survivors are all suffering from shock a nd exposure. Some have abrasions and broken ribs.