WRECK OF THE MAITAI.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16468, 19 February 1917, Page 8

WRECK OF THE MAITAI.

OFFICIAL INQUIRY OPENED.

STORY OF THE GROUNDING.

PARTING OF A CABLE. An inquiry into the circumstances of the wreck of the Union Steam Ship Company's steamer Maitai at tonga 011 the night of Christmas Day last was commenced at the Auckland Magistrate s J Courthouse on Saturday. The Court con-! ( sisted of Mr. C. C. Kettle, S.M., chair- - . man, and Captains I. R. Re id and W. R. , Holmes, assessors. Captain C. Fleming,' superintendent of mercantile marine, and Mr. Selwyn Mays, as counsel, represented the Marine Department. Mr. Allan ( Moody appeared for the master and chief ■ j officer of the wrecked steamer, and Mr. j M. G. McGregor watched the proceedings; on behalf of the underwriters. I Charles Maclean, late master of the: Maitai, said he had been in charge of the 1 j vessel since November 14 last. On Decern- ■ ber 25 he arrived off Rarotonga about J 4.30 p.rr>. The usual ocean swell prevailed ■ at the time, but the night was calm. | ( Some months previously Captain Williams i ' had lost two anchors and two cables, and j' witnes3 was trying to pick up one of the I ' anchors, the position of which had been j ' buoyed. Witness described two attempts, 1'• which were unsuccessful, to recover this 1 i anchor. As it was then getting dark he i, abandoned the attempt for the night and ! ] decided to anchor, the vessel's head being | put to sea in order that he might approach the anchorage in the right position. He came up to the anchorage again at 8.58 p.m. He had 16 or 17 fathoms of water then. He dropped the starboard j anchor and let out 60 fathoms of cable. ■ He sent tho steamer slow astern to stretch the cable and prevent it from ' fouling. He afterwards went slow ahead in order to take the strain off the cable, i The ship next swung round with her head , towards the beacon on Puee Point. He . could see that the anchor was not holding, and shortly after this the chief officer 1 called out, stating that the cable had parted. Before this he had given the ' order "half speed ahead.' He then 1 gave the order "full speed ahead," in order to get the vessel into deep water. ! When she was half speed ahead he 1 thought that the ship touched bottom. Grounding of the Steamer. The witness, continuing, said the steamer refused to answer her helm, and soon afterwards grounded heavily, and re- 1 ' mained fast. Ho kept the engines going, [ and gave the order hard aport and full speed ahead, with the object of keeping the vessel's stem in deep water, and turning her head right round, and thus getting out to sea.. The tendency of the current was to carry the ship broadsides on to tho reef. He considered that if he had gone • full speed astern he would have been carried on to tho reef, that the rudder and stern-post would have been smashed, and that probably all hands would have been drowned. The vessel remained fast, and she appeared to be pinned under the bridge. He sounded all round the ship, and found from to 4£ fathoms all round. The ship was drawing 16ft forward and 21ft aft. He cot the passengers, mails, and luggage ashore safely. The engines wore kept going all night, but the vessel remained fast. The Parting ol the Cable. Witness stated that when he hove the cable in he found that a link at a depth of 15 fathoms had gone. He did not notice the fractured link. Had the anchor not held the consequent jerking would put an extra strain on the cable. The weather had remained calm all the time. In the coral formation there were what were called ''horses' heads," or mushrooms," and cables were liable to be ; caught in them. Ho was well acquainted I with the anchorage. j In reply to Mr. Mays, witness said he noticed that tho vessel was drifting three or perhaps five minutes before &ho struck. ; The vessel grounded 22 minutes after tho 1 anchor was dropped. During this time ! he was carefully paying out the cable I and " nursing " the ship with the engines. I The witness was cross-examined as to I the narrowness of margin in the distance .ho was working on. The distance between the anchorage and the reef, he said, was between 800 ft and 900 ft. He had out . 360 ft of cable, and the ship's length was . 345 ft. This left him a margin of about j 150 ft to work on. Mr. Mays: And you think that is sufficient! Why did you not anchor further out? Mr. Moody : The soundines further out show "22 fathoms. No bottom." The witness said ho did not feel any shock or noise such as might have been occasioned by the cable parting. A portion of the windlass also was carried away. The inquiry, at 1 p.m., was adjourned until 11 a.m. to-day.