THE NIMROD WRECKED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LIII, Issue 74, 28 March 1919, Page 7

THE NIMROD WRECKED

SHACKLETON’S FAMOUS SHIP. . The less of the Nimrod, news of which has come id haiid fey ThO datest; English mail, biings to an end the tilrfcTr dl -,a ship made famous by her connections with the exploration of the Antarctic. A cablegram was received from Vancouver about two months ago, stating that Sir Ernest Shackletou’s exploring vessel' Endurance had been wrecked at Yarmouth, but, a§ wa§ pointed fldfe by The Post, this vessel Had been lost ill ti!6 ice in November, 1915. The cable evidently ! referred to the Nimrod, which vessel foundered near Yarmouth about midnight on The 29th January. Only TWo exhausted sailors, found on the 1 shore llekl) llirtrfliflgj were left to tell the tale 6 f tile disil&tef: The Nimrod was oil ii Vciyiige from Blyth to Calais -with < coal, wheil ■ aba struck in heavy seas on the dangerous Barber Sand, off Caister. Rockets were fii’ed, and all available - flares burnt, but before the lifeboats launched from Caistel’ and Yarmouth could reach the spot, fchtf NimrOd' had b§ell battered to' bits, and her crew of twelve'were battling with . a stormy sea in weather below freezing point. A lifeboat broke loose and drifted but, of sight without’ an occupant. Eleven men were then Ifeft ■with the remaining boat, but it cap-, Sized, and eight men were lost. Two survivors clung on to the keel until’ by straligd tlhailde the boat righted and they were eventually driven to the beach. Searches' were made by patrols, but only portions of the wreck were discovered. . When informed of the wreck, Lady Shackloton said: “Sir Ernest will, I Wow, be deeply sorry to hear of the sati fate of Tile stout old ship. Ho had a strong feeling of serttirilerit for it, and it secnis sad-that’after withitaildlflg the terrific violence of the Antarctic stcrmS and the buffeting of the ice floes al tshould be dashed to pieces so.’near home. I little thought that she would tome to such a sad end.” - The Nimrod is well known m New Zedlafld/: Httvillg vh'tt’d -LyuTt-m -on several occasions ill comrtotioll with the Antarctic Expedition. She in rived at the.southern port from England 011 ,&3r.1 November, 1907, ;.nd on New Tear's Day, 1908. in io - v of ~be steamer Koonya (then com.n-intted by Captain Evans: of the Union C.orapiav), she set out for the Antarctic. The Koonya towed her tbThe pack ice‘, a distance of 1510 miles,- and on.account of the severe strain" caused l by’this, the Nimrod was docked at Lyttelton on her return; ; on 'the Bth March, 1903. The little vessel returned to the Antarctic at the end ofhat vflar To ake-off members of the expedition, returning to Lyttelton on the 25th 'March, 1909. About fhnr months later she set sail for London, via Sydney and-Monte" Video, haying'rendered valuable services to the expedition, despite The fact That she was'only 352 tons gross register, and up to that time had been in commission* for 43 years. She was latterly owned bv an Antwerp fir pi, carrying on business under the title of “The Steamship Nimrod. ,Ltd M ” and was engaged in the coal trade between Hull and Grimsby and northern ports of France,