A SMART BIT OF SEAMANSHIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9064, 26 May 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

A SMART BIT OF SEAMANSHIP.

It is often said that seamanship will soon be a lost arb, and that at any rate our naval officers no longer need to become proficients in its practice. Thorefore, the following story of a breakdown that noarly ended in a catastrophe is all tho more interesting :—" Breakdown of a man-of-war" is not an infrequent announcement in tho newspapers, but it generally refers to the mishaps of some vessel on her trialtrip, and not of a ship in commission. In this case two men-of-war were in great danger of being lost through accidents to their machinery, and were only saved, apparently, by what small sail-power they possessed and the skill and readiness of bhoir officers. The story, briefly told, is this : —On February 123 last the British squadron on the West Indian station, u.ider Admiral Lyons, was proceeding to sea from the Port of Spain in Trinidad. The passage out between the island and the main, called the Bocca Huevas Channel, is somewhat narrow, and a strong wind and swift current knocked up a heavy sea and long ground-swell. '1 he eight ships which composed tho squadron were, therefore, ordered to proceed in single line under steam, the three rearmost vessels being the Lily, Canada, and Forward. The Lily is a barque-rigged, second-class gun vessel of sufficient horse-power to drive her, under favourable circumstances, about ten knots ; tho Forward, a schooner-rigged, secondclass gunboat, which may make eight or nine knots at the best. Both vessels are more than ten years old. Tho ileet had struggled through the channel against wind and sea, when, just as the Forward cleared tho outer edge of tho shoals, the framo in which her propeller is carried broke, and in a moment she was completely disabled and drifting broadside on to tho rocks. Lieutenant Bearcroft promptly hoisted ono of tho sails, and, while preparing to set more canvas, ordered his anchors and cables to be cleared away as a last resource. Meanwhile, although on board of the Canada, which was next in ; front of tho unlucky gunboat, the mishap had not attracted attention, \hc erratic movements of the Forward had been aeon from the Lily. Her captain, Mr. Campboll, guessing that something had gone wrong, and divining what might bo the result of the disaster, at once turned his ship completely round, sent up a signal to the admiral asking for permission to do that which ho was already in the act of doing, and steamed full speed to tho relief of the distressed vessel. Tho moment must have been an anxious one; for from tho Canada (on board of which ship the impression prevailed that the Lily's steer-ing-gear had broken down) the little ship was seen, as she turned, to roll her gunwales almost under water, so deep was tho swell, and for a time her hull was completely out of sight. When the Lily neared tho Forward, a hawser was with difficulty, owing to the heavy sea running, gob on board tho latter craft, and then an effort was made to tow her backwards from the point. Under tho circumstances, communication between the two vessels must have been a ticklish job, and scarcely had the gunboat been dragged fifty yards whon the wire rope parted. Then another hawser had to be sent from the Lily, and this was hardly secured when it fouled tho gunvcssol'e screw, and she, too, was disabled. But tho endeavour had succeeded; the worst part of tho peril was past, for the gunboat was now to leeward of the dangerous point, and she was able first to anchor ana then "club haul." To learn what this Inst manoeuvre is, we refer our readers to the pages of Marryatt or Falconer ; it is a feat not often performed nowadays. But tho Forward was saved, although it is certain that, had she touched bottom in the first instance nothing could have prevented the loss of the ship, while probably a good many of her crew would have been drowned. Had Commander Campbell not displayed a judgment and decision worthy of the greatest commendation there seems to bo no doubt but that Her Majesty's navy would have been short of another gunboat. The officers and crew of both vessels promptly responded to the needs of tho situation, and that the two ships wero kept off the rocks in a tideway ana taken into port, when both had temporarily lost the use of their engines, goes n long way to show that seamanship is not dead" yet in Her Majesty's navy.—St. James' Gazette.'