FOUNDERED AT SEA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17483, 29 May 1920, Page 7

FOUNDERED AT SEA.

FATE OF SCOW KAHU.

LOST WITH ALL HANDS.

NAUTICAL INQUIRY HELD.

A nautical .inquiry into the fate of the missing auxiliary scow Kahu, which left '. Motiti Island, Bay of Plenty, for Auck- : land on March 26, 1920, and has not been heard of since, was conducted yesterday before Mr. E. C. Cutten, S.M., in the Magistrate's Court. The assessors were Captain W. Reed and P. Highara Mr. S. Mays appeared for the Marine De- < paxtment. Harold Jubilee Gantry Allan, a store- , keeper at Tauranga, gave evidence that he loaded a shipment of maize for Auckland into the Kahu at Motiti Island on, March 25 and 26. There were 592 bags of maize 0f.2001b each. The vessel had 505 bags below hatches and 87 bags on deck, and her Plimsoll mark was bin or 7in above water. She left the island on March 26 with four men aboard. The sea was calm, with a slight easterly breeze. Witness said that he left -the island for Tauranga immediately after the departure of the Kahu, and when he had been out for half-an-hour the wind commenced to blow hard from the south-east. He watched the Kahu out of sight, and she had practically a fair wind. The gale lasted all Friday and Saturday, and abated oh the Sunday. Regarding the statement that fish with maize inside them had been caught in the vicinity, witness said that maize was always spilt in small quantities during loading operations. William Charles Berridge, a fruit in- ! spector, residing at Auckland, and the ; father-in-law of Gerald Erward Sampson, the engineer and owner af the Kahu, desi cribed the vessel as a good, staunch boat, always well found and well looked 'after. She had been employed in the coastal trade for ten years, and had never shown any defect or unseaworthiness which would cause him to regard her as dangerous. When he became anxious about the vessel's safety he interviewed the masters of all vessels that were in the vicinity that night, and learned that the steamer Tasman could make no headway I off the Aldermans on the night of the : 26th, and that the steamer Ngapuhi stood .by her that night. So far as he could : ascertain the master of the Tannin was I the last person who saw the Kahu afloat. She was then on the lee side of the Aidermans, and the sea in the in i which she was heading was the heaviest the captain had seen during 40 years on j the coast. . Witness judged that a heavy sea had broken aboard, and smashed in the hatches, causing the vessel to founder. In his opinion the vessel was fit to jjarry the cargo described. There was a general insurance over the crew of £1000 and the captain was insured for £500. Walter George Scott, a Government engineer-surveyor, gave his opinion that the vessel was sound, seaworthy and fully equipped. Charles Martin Renaut, a Government surveyor of ships, also described the Kahu as a sound vessel, thoroughly seaworthy, and well looked after. He identified the ship's boat/found recently on Little Bar- . rier Island as the one with which the , Kahu was fitted at "the time of survey in November, 1919. He agreed with Mr. Berridge that probably a sea had burst the hatches, causing the vessel to foun- ' der. Taking all circumstances into con- ' Bideration, he did not think the crew 1 launched the boat, or were in it. i The finding of the Court was that the Kahu foundered with all hands during . exceptionally bad weather, on or about March 26, 1920, while on a voyage from ! Motiti Island to Auckland; that prior to 1 .her loss the ship was seaworthy and fully 5 equipped. , b The following persons lost their lives , by the casualty :—. Leafberg, master; Gerald Edward Sampson, engineer; Lini coin Taylor, able seaman; A. Stevens, ordinary seaman.