A BOAT WRECKED

Hokitika Guardian, 20 July 1936, Page 5

A BOAT WRECKED

.ON GREY BAR 1 •' AABEL TASMAN BREAKS ADRIFT, (Per Press Association —Copyright). GREYMOUTH, July 21. Breaking adrift from her moorings at the Greymouth wharf at 5.1> o’clock on Saturday evening, the inter-colonial cargo steamer, “Abel Tasman” was swept down the Grey River by a swift current of eight knots and was cast up on the North Beach, becoming a total wreck. Following heavy north-westerly rains throughout. the West Coast on Friday night and on Saturday, there was a strong run in the river, and this fact, combined with an abnormally swift ebb tide,. so severely tested the mooring lines that they gave way under the strain. { The “Abel Tasman” was moored at No. 4 ooal berth, at’the time of the mishap, preparatory to her last few days’ loading to complete a cargo of 1,000,000 superficial feet of timber for Melbourne and Sydney; About 400 feet above her at the wharf was the s.s. “Storm,” whilst about 200, feet below her down the wharf was... the s.s. “Kaimai,” and at the cattle wharf, near the entrance to the Blaketowh Lagoon, was the Greymouth Harbour Board’s dredge “Maiwhera,” these four vessels being 1 the'‘pnly ones in port. Without warning ;on,e/df‘th© heavy mooring lines,- the (starboard chain, snapped suddenly near the ship’s bow, and, with the extra strain placed on the other huge chain and hemp ropes, the steamer broke clean adrift, and careered) down along: the wharf. -The master, Captain William W. Archibald, was standing on the wharf nearby; and he showed remarkable agility in jumping on board. ; ; '■ 1 It looked as though the “Abel Tas- 1 man” would foul the s.s. “Kaimai,” and would carry her away from: her moorings with a severe impact, but she : only grazed the “Kaimai” with her ; stern and drifted into mid-stream.-; Of tho “total prew of 29/j;here were only nineteen on 1 board the 1 ‘ ‘Abel Tasman”/ at The time, and these included -but one fireman and one engineer. Thus it was only a skeleton crew to man the /vessel, and they were rendered practically helpless. In spite of - this - overwhelming handicap, -the vessel, within three minutes of her cutting' adrift, ?had ■■ full; stea'in up) • hat it was not sufficient to resist the' eight knot current. She appeared to hold her own momentarily," but the position was a hopeless one. Distress signals were immediately wirelessed from the ship, but no assistance could be rendered. An . effort was made to back the steaiher into the Blaketown Lagoon at the bottom of the wharf, and, later, to beach her in the bight inside the north breakwater, but the attempts proved of no avail/ and , she quickly ‘drifted towards the river mouth. \ As she approached the" bar, the vessel swung broadside on across the river mouth, with the bow facing in a southerly direction. The northerly drift and poundering seas veered the vessel back towards the north tip, at the same time slewing her right around. Each succeeding breaker drove her gradually shorewards, and into the apron fringing' the north side of the north, breakwater, and piling be! up against the mass of large rocks deposited there by the Greymouth Harbour Board, to supplement the further extension of the breakwater. The westerly seas turned her almost broadside on, with the stem facing south. Continuing her northerly drift, the vessel pivoted round the fringe of the north breakwater, and was carried ' b v a particularly heavy swell on to the rocks of the North Beach, close into the breakwater, about fifty yards from the tip head. -., It was soon apparent 'that the vessel was badly holed, but she was swinging about freely? with - each successive heavy sea, being gradually pitched further inshore with the rising tide. "With the' aid of a rocket, a line was soon established from the vessel to the North Tip, and the first man came off at 6.20 p.m. Steady progress was from then onwards made in the rescue work, and all nineteen were taken off. by 7.25 p.m. Captain Archibald was the last man to leave the ship. The captain and first mate were on the wharf inspecting the mooring lines, when the vessel broke adrift. The first mate, Mr Dalzeil, just failed to get on' board. w The s.s. “Kaimai” had : her engines running half speed on Saturday after*- . noon, and her crew operating in resistance , to the flood' in the river,, and this somewhat relieved the tension on her mooring lines. The - “Storm” also had her screw operating. It. is understood that the “Abel Tasman” did not have her screw in action at the .time of the mishap. The “Kaimai’s” cables comprised the same lines as: those of the ‘Abel Tasman,” except' that there was an additional wire rope and extra hemp ropes attached to the ufliarf. The accident to the “Abel Tasman,” it is interesting to note, is similar "in almost every detail to one which happened almost exactly 36 years ago, when, on July 16, 1900, the steamer, _ “Taupo” drifted away from the wharf through the windlass breaking. The vessel drifted helplessly down the river, strandiug outside on the North Tip Head. As was the case yesterday, all of the crew of the “Taupo” were safe-; ly landed.