COLLIER BREAKS DOWN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13831, 18 August 1908, Page 6

COLLIER BREAKS DOWN.

TOWED BACK TO PORT. ENGINES SERIOUSLY DAMAGED. [BY TELEGRAPH. CORRESPONDENT.] Christchcech, Monday. Considerable surprise was caused at Lyttelton yesterday- when it was noticed that the signal letters of the Blackball Coal Company's collier Petone were flying at the Sumner Road signal station indicating that the vessel was coming into port. The Petone finished discharging cargo coal on Saturday, and sailed at 8.40 p.m. for Greymouth, but when she was signalled yesterday morning as returning to port, the opinion was expressed that the vessel had met with some mishap. The Mararoa arrived about 11 o'clock from Wellington, and Captain Manning reported having passed the Petone about 9.30 in tow of the Lyttelton Harbour Board's tug Canterbury, a fact which indicated that there had been a serious breakdown in the collier's engineroom. The Petone, with the tug Canterbury alongside, came inside the breakwater at 12.40 p.m., and was berthed at the Gladstone Pier. Outwardly there was no sign of any damage to the vessel, but a Press reporter gathered that there had been a serious mishap to the engines. Vieiting the engineroom in company with Mi. McKellar, of the Blackball Coal Company, and Mr. Mulgan, chief engineer of the Petone, the reporter ascertained that the crank shaft of the engines had broken in the after bearing. There had evidently been a flaw in the shaft, and the scarred and jagged broken ends showed that the break had gone diagonally. More serious than this, however, was the damage which had resulted to the engines, the heavy solid bed plate of which was badly cracked. Ugly cracks were showing in live or six places, and the damage was regarded by the chief engineer as being by far the most serious part of the whole affair The Petone left Lyttelton at 8.30 p.m. on Saturday, and everything went smoothly in the engineroom until 11.35 p.m., when there was a sudden crash, and a heavy jar. Almost at the same instant steam was shut off and the engines stopped. An. examination showed the extent of the damage, and as there was not the slightest chance of doing anything in the way of repairs, Captain Christian decided to sail the steamer back to Lyttelton, A square and a trysail and two staysails were rigged up on the foremast, and the vessel got underway before a light north-west wind about 1.30 a.m. yesterday, About the same hour the Petone was spoken by 'a' small motor fishing boat, the Spec, owned by Messrs. Hodgmau and Green, which was on her way to the fishing grounds of Kaikoura. On learning what was amiss, the two men in the Spec at once set oil" for Lyttelton to report the Petone. The little boat made an excellent run down, and reached the wharf about 6.30 a.m. Captain A. H. Thorpe, acting-harbourmaster, was at once advised of the mishap, and he left Lyttelton in the tug Canterbury about 7.30 a.m. In the meantime the Petone had not been idle, and although the wind was light she had been coming down the coast under her improvised sails at about three knots an hour. The mishap occurred about 32 miles from Lyttelton Heads, and the vessel had covered a. little over 10 .miles under sail when she was, met by the tug Canterbury, and towed back to port. As the wind was favourable, the Petone would have been able to reach Lyttelton under sail, but Captain Christian decided to run "no risks, and accepted the services of the tug. At present' it is impossible to say now long the work of repairing the engines will take. A spare crank shaft for' the vessel is at present in the Lyttelton foundary of Messrs. Anderson, Limited, but the damage to the bedplate and pedestal of the engines presents a more serious problem.