LINER GOES ASHORE

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXX, Issue 4834, 16 April 1936, Page 6

LINER GOES ASHORE

NIGHT OF THRILLS. DRAMA NEAR END OF VOYAGE. Vivid happenings during a night of thrills and anxiety were described by passengers -who landed safely at Southampton from the 20,000-ton luxury liner Winchester Castle after she grounded near Portland Bill. Fortunately only a single casualty was caused by the mishap. The bo’sn, Bert Calloway, of Northam, Southampton, received head injuries apparently from falling down a companionway when the vessel struck. He was taken to hospital. The liner was bound from the Cape, and among her passengers were the Duke of Sutherland, Earl Howe,-the racing motorist, Lord Decies, who is ill, Sir Lionel and Lady Earle, and Lady Hogg, formerly Frances Doble, the actress. Happy parties were gathered in various parts of the liner on the last night of the voyage when a grindingnoise was followed by a sudden shock as the ship went on the rocks a mile and a quarter north of Portland Bill lighthouse. Passengers dashed on the rainswept decks to see towering above them the menacing mass of-Portland cliffs, lit by the flares of the coastguards. Others who had retired to bed wrapped dressing-gowns and bedclothes round them and hurried to the boat stations. Appeals for Help. Distress flares were sent up, and wireless signals asked for the help of tugs. The messages stated the ship was not in any immediate danger. The Weymouth motor lifeboat was sent to the scene, and the naval authorities at Portland dispatched H.M.S. Winchelsea and two other destroyers to help. Several coastguards scrambled down the 300 ft cliff to the shore, and maintained communication with the liner by means of flash lamps and whistles. After about four hours the Winchester Castle was refloated with the aid of a tug. She then went on to Southampton under her own steam. Except for a slight list to starboard there was no outward sign of damage. After unloading cargo the liner went into dry dock for examination. All the passengers were full of praise for the crew’s splendid behaviour. “They were magnificent,” declared the Duke of Sutherland. “They had the lifeboats out in a trice, and kept everybody calm. In Safe Hands. “When a destroyer and tugs came alongside we knew we were in safe hands. The way in which the boat was got off was a fine example of British seamanship.” “The passengers were splendid, too,” declared the Right Rev. A. W. Lee, Bishop of Zululand. “In the second class we gathered round singing war-time songs such as ‘Pack Up Your Troubles’ and ‘Tipperary,’ under the leadership of a genial Irishman, who took charge immediately the crash occurred.