DISASTER ON COAST

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17267, 17 September 1919, Page 8

DISASTER ON COAST

5 *__ ' STEAMER BURNED, ' EIGHT OF CREW DROWNED. s 1 SOLE SURVIVOR'S STORY. b .1 ." BENZINE CARGO EXPLODES ! SHIP ASHORE IN FLAMES. '" [BY TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION.] e ' 9 CHEISTCHURCH, Tuesday. The coastal steamer Tainui, a vessel of g 128 tons, went ashore on fire this morns ing at Gore Bay, off the Waiau River, a The vessel carried a crew of nine, and 0 of these eight lost their lives. Their I- names are: — g DEAD. t e Master: J. C. Cowan, of Wanganui. i- Mate :W. H. Stevens, of- Wanganui. '•■ Engineer: F. Greenwood, of Welling- • ton. r Firemen : A. Fuller, W. Townsend, of Wellington. Sailors : C. Williams, D. McLean, J. 8 Haward, of Lyttelton. , SAVED. s Cook: VT. 'Parrand, of Wanganui. 3 i The Tainui, which is owned by the New t Zealand Refrigerating Company, loaded . a cargo of benzine at Lyttleton yesterday r for Wanganui. ; The vessel went ashore about four i miles north of Gore Bay. the spot being i marked by clouds of blac'k smoke. She is 1 lying broadside on the beach, and was a i mass of flames all day, while overhead ) dense smoke blackened the sky. The ex- , plosion of benzine must have been terriffic, ) for heavy timber and wreckage, splintered arid twisted, strews the shore. j Five bodies have been washed ashore and three have been identified as those ' of Greenwood, Townsend and Fuller. - There were no marks on the bodies to indit cate that they had been injured by the explosion. Captain Cowan's body has not yet been recovered. i Vessel's Lifeboat Swamped. | A graphic story is told by the sole survivor, the cook, William Farrand. He was awakened at 2.30 a.m. by the sound ■ of an explosion. He got out of his bunk and went forward to see what had happened. He found all the forward hatches thrown off, and the whole of the forward part of the .vessel on fire. He awakened all hands. The lifeboat was then launched, and all the members of the crew, with the exception of the mate. Stevens, and Farrand himself, got into the boat. There was a very heavy sea running, and the lifeboat drifted away from the vessel before Stevens and Farrand cou'.d get into it. A moment or two later the lifeboat was swamped, and all the occupants were swept into the water. Bid For Safety Fails. Farrand dived from the vessel, and a couple of moments later was followed by Stevens. Those who had got into the lifeboat were hanging on to the capsized boat. The lifeboat was turning over and over in the heavy seas, and the first man to let go and drift away was the engineer. He soon disappeared. The seaman, Williams, struck out from the lifeboat, and called out to the others, " Come on, boys, follow me." The captain immediately followed Williams, and then the others struck out from" the lifeboat. Farrand and Stevens held on +.o the lifeboat, and the others gradually disappeared Stevens was washed off, and also disappeared. Farrand held on with one hand, and was badly battered about, the legs. The Beach Beached at Last. Eventually the boat, with Farrand hanging on to it, drifted on to the beach. He was in a semi-conscious condition, after having been in the water for some three hours. He laid down on the beach for several hours before he was found by two brothers named .Winskill, from Gore Bay. Farrand said the men who were on the lifeboat hung on in the hope that they might be picked up by the Maori on her way to Lyttelton. Farrand, although ' severely nervestrained by his terrible night's experience, is slowly recovering. He says that immediately after the explosion the fire broke out among the 1800 cases of benzine stored forward. He does not know whether the explosion stopped the engines or wnether the captain immediately ordered them to be stopped. He had a terrible time in the breakers before he landed. On reaching the shore he struggled up a steep bank and fell exhausted into some flax bushes. When found he was placed on horseback and taken over the hills to Cheviot. C. Williams, one of the Tainui's seamen, who lost his life, was an ex-naval man, who took part in the Zeebrugge and ostend raids. An inquest will be opened to-morrow. VESSEL INSURED FOB £4000. LIVES OF CREW ALSO COVERED. [ST TELEGRAPH. PRESS ASSOCIATION.] CHRISTCHURCH. Tuesday. The South British Insurance Company's risk of £4000 on the Tainui is reinsured with several other companies. The South British Office also has the insurance on the lives of the crew. DEEP BEQEET IN WANGANUI, POPULARITY OF THE CAPTAIN. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] WANGAKUI. Tuesday. A painful sensation was caused to-day upon, receipt of the news of the disaster to the Tainui owing to the fact that thecaptain and several of the crew had their homes here. Captain Cowan, master of the vessel had resided in Wanganui for several years, and was well known and highly respected, both as a man and a seaman He took a keen interest in public affairs particularly in local harbour developmerits, and an active part in temperance and social reform. It is only a few weeks ago that he relinquished the captaincy of the Canterbury Shipping Company's steamer Storm, with which he was connected for many years. He leaves a widow and seven children. The mate, Mr. Stevens, was also a married man, and leaves a widow and one child. He was also a resident of Wanganui. SIMILAR DISASTER BEOALLED. LOSS OF THE STEAMER MO A [BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] WANGANUI, Tuesday. The disaster to the Tainui recalls the loss of the steamer M °a off the Wanganui Heads, 5J years ago—on February 3, 1914 Un that occasion the Moa carried a full cargo of benzine. While she was awaiting a favourable tide to enter the port, and when about two miles off, a sudden explosion occurred and the vessel in a few moments was a mass of flames from end to end. One man , was killed by the explosion, and the rest seizing lifebelts or anything that would float, jumped into the sea. Fortunately the Arapawa, which wa« also coming into port, noticed the accident and flicked Captain Sawyer and hi, men ' up. The Moa drifted about the roadstead all day and well into the night blazing furiously, and finally sinking three or four , miles off the shore. 1