LOSS OF THE IDA ZEIGLER.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 13, Issue 1035, 13 April 1869, Page 2

LOSS OF THE IDA ZEIGLER.

(From the '• New Zealand Gazette.") General Post Office, Wellington, 27th March, 1869. The following Report of the Court of Inquiry held under " The Inquiry into Wrecks Act, 1863," on the wreck of the ship Ida Zeigler, is published for general information. J, C. Richmond (Acting Postmaster-General). INQUIBY INTO WBECKS. Report on the wreck of the Ida Zeigler. To the Honorable the Postmaster-General of New Zealand. We, the undersigned Henry Stokes Tiffen and John Alexander Smith, Justices of the Peace for the Colony of New Zealand, having been, on the 10th day of March, 1869, applied to by J. M. Tabuteau, Esq., Principal Officer of Customs at the Port of Napier, for a formal investigation, pursuant to " The Inquiry into Wrecks Act, 1863/ ' respecting the loss of a certain British ship called the Ida Zeigler, of the Port of London, on the 27th day of February, 1869, did duly proceed with the said investigation, assisted by Captain Johnson, as Nautical Assessor, to wit, on the 11th and 12th days of March instant, and had before us and examined on oath divers persons as witnesses, the original depositions of whose evidence are hereunto annexed, and we hereby make the following report : — 1. That the official number of the said ship called the Ida Zeigler is 4,317, of which George Sellars was captain, who holds a certificate of competency, No. 23,097, .Board of Trade, and which ship belonged to William Eales, of 22, Great St. Helen's, London, and was built about the year 1854, at Bremen : it is classed in French Lloyd's 3-3rds, and registered 878 39-100fch tons ; was manned by a crew of twenty -nine men, including three officers, who also hold Board of Trade certificates. 2. This ship, it appears, has been in the New Zealand trade for some years. Captain Sellars took the command of the vessel on the 15th of July last, when, he states, she was in good order and thoroughly equipped, and that the cables had been examined by the Emigration Officer, and the Agent for French Lloyd's, previous to his taking charge. The carpenter, James Williamson, was working on board at the time the cables were examined, but states that only the portion on deck, about 45 fathoms of each, was examined. 3. The ship sailed from London on the 3rd of August, 1868, bound for Auckland and Napier, laden with a general cargo. Nothing particular occurred during the voyage ; sne made some water, and was pumped out every four hours, — a spell of from twelve to twenty minutes, according to the weather ; arrived in Auckland on the 7th November, 1868 ; left the 23rd December, and arrived at Napier on the 26th December. The usual signal for a pilot was hoisted on nearing the harbour ; but ho not coming off, the ship was anchored by the captain, and topgallant yards and masts sent down. The cables were hauled on deck, and examined by the first mate and carpenter. The Harbourmaster was

absent on duty, and did not return to Napier until late on the 31st December. He went on board on the 2nd or 3rd of January, 1869, shifted and moored the ship into what he considered a better berth in 65 fathoms, 4. Although there is some discrepancy as to the statements with regard to the state of the weather, we consider thai from the 26th of December to the 2nd or 3rd of January was a long period for the ship to remain without a visit from the pilot ; but he (the pilot) makes the badness of the weather, with other work, an excuse. During the time the ship remained at these moorings, about three weeks, the wind blow on several occasions as heavily as on the day the vessel was wrecked, but not so heavy a sea running : the vessel rode out this weather with ease on 75 fathoms of oable, and seemed to ride easier than the ship Excelsior at the Government moorings, which may fairly be accounted for by the difference in the depth of water at the two places. After the Excelsior sailed, the Ida Zeigler was taken to the Government moorings by the Harbour-master, who then removed the buoy to the shore, as it appeared to float deep. The ship's starboard chain was shackled on to the Government chain with an ordinary shackle of 2% inch iron, provided by the Harbour-master. Although the Harbour-master was under the impression that the depth of water at the moorings was five fathoms, the captain on sounding some time after found only 4f- fathoms at low water, and reported to the Harbourmaster that he did not consider the ship safe, and he intended to remove her out the first favourable opportunity, fearing she would strike if it oame on bad weather. He states no such opportunity occurred, the vessel remained at the moorings. 5. Taking into consideration that the ship had gone to the moorings about the 24th of January, and. the gale in which she was lost did not occur until the 26th of February, it appears to us extraordinary that she was not moved out into deeper water, either by sail or with the assistance of a steamer. The weather during this interval appears to have been variable and for the most part fine, with one exception, until the 26th, when indications of bad weather appeared. The captain was on shore, but went on board at noon, at which time the vessel was riding at the moorings with 50 fathoms on the starboard chain. Towards evening and during the night the weather became cloudy, with increasing sea and wind, attended with rain. About 9 a.m. on the 27th the port anchor was let go, and 35 fathoms was veered away on each cable, thus making 85 on the starboard one. At this time there were 4f fathoms of water forward and 4| fathoms aft. In a squall, about half-past 10, the starboard chain parted about 30 fathoms from the hawse, as stated by the carpenter, — the whole of the port chain was veered out, — the vessel then commenced striking heavily aft. Endeavours were then made to heave in the 30-fathom starboard chain, with the object of shackling it on to the starboard anchor, when the port chain parted. The captain then gave orders to set the jib, foretopmast staysail, and foresail, with the view of beaching the vessel, as she would not pay off. The starboard ohain was slipped ; after that she paid off and took the beach about noon, becoming a total wreck during the afternoon, the crew having been previously all landed safely, with the assistance of people on shore. Beyond the crew nothing was saved from the vessel. The cargo and wreck were strewed along the beach. 6. The vessel was about 7-10ths laden with wool, and was drawing at that time about 10 feet ; when full, she would have drawn about three inches more. After taking into consideration the whole of the evidence, and from our own knowledge of the port, we are of opinion that the ship Ida Zeigler was lost through the three following causes : — Ist, An error in judgment on the part of the Harbourmaster in taking a vessel the size of the Ida Zeigler into such shallow water so open to the sea. 2nd, An error in judgment on the part of the Harbourmaster in not shackling both the ship's cables on to the Government moorings. This omission appears to us most extraordinary when it is considered that the moorings are formed of 45 fathoms three-inch steel chain attached to a heavy mushroom anchor ; and in the event of a parting there was not much room to drive astern, and with a gale of wind blowing it would be impossible to beat out. 3rd, That the ship's starboard cable, if not actually defective, must have been much worn, and not fit or sufficient for use in an open roadstead. It was unusually formed, with a short length of 5 fathom of a smaller chain in the centre, near which, according to the carpenter's evidence, the cable must have parted. To how much of the above three causes can fairly be attributed the loss of the ship, it is impossible to. say ; but it is not improbable that the vessel might have ridden out the gale if the cable had been a little stronger, as it was not by any means blowing a heavy gale, not even so strong as it had been blowing four days previous as marked on shore by a register, but the sea, we understand, was heavier. We also wish to point out the great neglect of the Harbour-master in not sounding the ground and examining the moorings previous to taking such a large vessel to it ; and also in not making greater exertion to get back the mooring-buoy, the want of which prevented the spring the cable would otherwise have had. In conclusion, we beg to express our surprise that a vessel of nearly 900 tons register should have only been provided with 215 fathoms of cable when leaving the Port of London for an open roadstead like Napier. The Captain states in his evidence that he believes the value of the ship was about £9000, and she was only insured for £5000 or "£6OOO. H. S. Tiffen, J.P. J. A. Smith, J.P. I quite concur in the above report. R. Johnson, Nautical Assessor.