WRECK OF HIMITANGI.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16943, 31 August 1918, Page 6

WRECK OF HIMITANGI.

MAGISTERIAL INQUIRY HELD, OFFICERS EXONERATED. [bt TELEGRAPH.— PRESS ASSOCIATION*.] WELLINGTON, Friday. | The magisterial inquiry concerning the wreck of the steamer Himitangi at Chat, ham Islands on the night of July 28 wag ~ I held to-day. The Court exonerated the ship's officers from blame. ' Captain Thompson, master of the Hirai. ' i tangi, said the vessel left Waitangi for ■•- Kaingaroa at 10 p.m. on July 28, wlun i, there was a light south-west wind blow- ■:.'• ing, with squally showers. The course V steered should have placed the vessel two riles and a-half to three miles off Cape 1 Pattison at 1.30 a.m., but at that time. , the vessel struck. The witness was or : ' f duty from the time the vessel left Wei. •■>? tangi until she struck. After striking the $ vessel went further on the rocks and stuck > fast. He ordered the engines full astern, M the order being maintained until the •■':• blades of the propsllor were knocked off. , • The boats were lowered, and it was found 1 that the vessel was in about 10ft of water. ! The boats etood by the Himitangi until X: daylight, and then effected a landing at -•• 4 Mongonui. The crew saved most of their l§ belongings. On the night of the mishap' ''.. he steered two or three miles outside the I m usual course. 'In. fact 'ho always steered M outside the course at night. The only ex- >'$ planation he could give as to why he* was Hi off the course he set was that there must:(-! have been a set of the current V vardsiv the shore. He had nothing on deck thafc wpuld affect the compasses. The place § where the vessel struck was about a mile V from land. The mails -which the steamer -: carried were lost.

Edward Zohrah, a member of the com- \ pany which owned the Himitangi, stated = v/ that the vessel was insured for £8000, j the declared value for .insurance purposes -l being £9000, an amount which the com. ! I pany had refused for her. ... • i Ludwig Walen, A.8.. who was at the wheel, said the vessel was. dead on -Jim course when she struck, while Martin Sanraelson, the- look-out, said he kept a . ••; careful watch, and saw nothing to in.. •■ dicat* that the conree was dangerous. • \ «H Counsel for the captain read several de- ; : clarations by fishermen at the islands, in •. ! which it was stated that it was impossibla ■': always to gauge the speed or direction of ';•;• the set at the Chatham Islands. One said X that on the day of the stranding he had p noticed a particularly strong current. f.l The finding of < tho Court was as fol- ': lows:— Court, having considered m the evidence and the declarations presented > | to it, is of opinion that the wreck \vb3 •',.' caused through the vessel striking an un- |f charted reef near Mohan, on the west side of Cape PattiEon, during a squall on |,:.'-■ the night of July 28, while running tween Waitangi Bay and Kaingaroa, and •'•;-: that the position of the vessel at the time of the wreck was due to a strong inset ■!■ of the current from the north-west, which '.''l? carried her inshore, and off the course eet'ga by Captain Thompson. The Court considers that there is no evidence to show §§ that the 'wreck' was caused or contributed to by the •wrongful act or de- ifis fault of the master or any of his officers'.'.? or crew. The Court is also satisfied .that h the courses set by Captain Thompson were -1 safe courses under ordinary circumstances, but thinks some record of these courses 7 should have been kept by him. The cap- '; tain's certificate will be returned to him, - and no order will be made as to costs.".''' kl

CHATHAM ISLANDS' HEAVY TOLL, > §

LONG LIST OF V HECKS.

A resident of the Chatham Islands has ' compiled the following record of vessels wrecked at the Chathams:— Gloria; ' 1858, name riot recorded; 1839, J. Bart; 1839, Eric; 1841, James; 1842, Lookout; 1845, Chelcia; 1846, Launceston; 1848; Ocean; 1861, Flora Macdonald; 1852,' Antarctic; 1853, Rudolp; name not.recorded ; Resolution; 1855, St. Peter: 1856, ' Marmora; 1857, Helen; 1857, V Panama; 1657, Adelaide Packet; 1858; , Elizabeth; 1858, Leveret; 1859, Eliza; 1859, Terror; 1859, Franklin; 1860,. Sebastopol; 1861, Edward; 1863, Seabird; 1863, Empire; 1864, Sicilia; 1865, Alabamai 1866, Catherine; 1866,*> Sea Serpent; name not recorded; Wild Wave; 1867, Lizzie Scott; 1867, Empress; 1868, Florence; 1885, Ocean Mail;S 1885, Island Lily; 1885, Plegaden; 1887, Omaha; 1893, Jessie Roadman. Th» Himitangi stranded at the Chathams on"' February 11, 1912, and was towed off by, f the Gertie on March 28. „V'