Wanganella Had Lucky Escape, Says Diver

Grey River Argus, 19 October 1948, Page 7

Wanganella Had Lucky Escape, Says Diver

There would definitely be no attempt this year to salvage the remaining portion of the gold aboard the sunken liner Niagara stated the Australian diver, Mr John Johnstone, in an address to the Wellington Rotary Club to-day. The operation would have been financed by a company formed in Australia, he said, but, among other things, the effect of the new exchange rate on the capital, rendered the prospect impossible in the meantime. Referring to the Wanganella he said: “If ever a ship was snatched from Davy Jones’s locker, it was the Wanganella. Only, a few of us on the job knew that the last bump she gave on the rock before she came off, was just six feet from the engineroom bulkhead. If the engine-room had been flooded, the whole ship would have gone.”