LOSS OF CECILIA SUDDEN

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 10 September 1921, Page 7

LOSS OF CECILIA SUDDEN

I —— CAUSE OF THE FJRE. I THE CAPTAINS THEORY. (BY TKI^GUAPH —PliKfiS ASSOCIATION.) AUCKLAND, Sep. 9. ' The harbour £ug Teawhina, which ' was sent out to search Tor tiie (Jec3ia Sudden and, if possible, to salvage Her, returned to-night having rfountl the burning vessel ashore one mile southeast of Trykhena, on the Great Barrier Island, and about six miles from the locality where the vessel was when j the fire on hoard was noticed. The harbourmaster, who went with the- , tug, reports that the Cecilia £udden's 1 masts and boom have disappeared and there is only the shell of the vessel left. With the inside a raging furnace fore and aft, it was estimated ,£hat she , would fall to pieces and sink at any ! tnne. j The captain of the Cecilia Sudden, : interviewed, described how the fire was i discovered at 5.45 p.m. on Thursday, I but the smoke increased rapidly vn j spite of the efforts of the crew vc I quench the flames with buckets oi i water. When the trawler was noticed ; in the distance a bed sheet was hoistec

as a distress signal. This was noticed on the trawler, which came to the ship's assistance. His theory was that the fire was due to the spontaneous combustion oT tlio coal. He could not signal with flags or rockets, as both were cut off by the fire. He indicated that if anything ■gossible aeuld have been done about T?re schooner he was determined to do it. Tlie captain was quite certain, however, that there would have been no hope of towing the schooner.anywhere before the fire had sunk her. It was a slow progress getting away from the ship without rowlocks, and they felt the heat of tne fire before they wereaway. | > ===== I