HEROES OF THE SEA.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 4 January 1928, Page 5

HEROES OF THE SEA.

MAN BURNING VESSEL. GO DOWN WITH SHIP. (BY TELEGRAPH—PRESS ASSOCIATION A AUCKLAND, Jan. 2. How the captain and chief engineer ):' the Clan Line steamer Clan Mac:lliam lost their lives when the vessel was burned and 1 .sank at Vavau, Tonga, on December 24 was learned mm * wireless, message® intercepted by ''e Niagara while on her way from Honolulu to Suva. Captain W. Thompson and the chief viiig neer, whose name iis believed to he Jackson, were the only persons on board when they met their fate- They had taken the burning vessel into the stream, one on tin? bridge and the other in the engine-room, in older to save the wharf from being destroyed.

According to an officer of the Niagara, which arrived here to-day. the winkles*) messages showed that the Clan MaeWil lam, a vessel of 6000 tons, which had come from Singapore to load copra from Europe, had part of her cargo of concentrates, in the bottom of her hold and a p'led-up deck cargo of coal for the long voyage. Possibly thiiough spontaneous combustion, or through the Lascar crew’s smoking in thf? holds, tbe_jcepra, of which about ■001) tons had been taken on board, caught fire, burning fiercely and igniting the coal on deck. There, were no fire-fight ing appliances on the wharf ai which she was berthed. The officers and crew did what they could with the ;umps and hoses available on board, lint- Mi? fire got out of control and the vessel’s sides became so hot that thcwharf was endangered. The port authorities ordered Captain Thompson to alee his apparently doomed vessel into the stream.

He appealed to the white officer® and

eiow to man the ship, but they refused, .saying that she was unsafe. There was sufficient steam in the boilers to take her a short distance from the whorl, ind accordingly the captain went on to the bridge and took the wheel, wlii-.e the chief engineer, single-handed, manno.:! the engines. The crew let go thf lines and the Clan 'MaeWilliam moved slowlv away. When she had gone some distance her back broke and in a- few minutes she sank, taking the two brave m°n with her.

It is believed Captain Thompson met his doom through becoming entangled the vvlockage. What happened to the engineer is unknown, but presumably lie was still at his post in the engine-room when the ship took her last p iinge.

The remaining officers and cipw are to leave Vavau by the Tofua, and should reach Auckland on January 23. The harbour of Vavau is very deep, and : t is possible the wreck will not be a grave menace to navigation.