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WRECK OF WAR LORD.

NATIVES DESERT VESSEL. ANXIOUS TIME FOR MASTER. THE LOOK-OUT MEN ASLEEP. Details of the wreck of tho auxiliary schooner Teine Yineula, more familiarly known as the War Lord, which went ashore on a reef of! Nukunono Island, in the Onion Group, on July 10, were given by the master, Captain G. George, who arrived by tho Tofua last evening. Mr. J. Denny, mate of tho vessel, and Captain F. A. Stenbeck, of Auckland, who was in charge of tho schooner Greyhound, which went to the scene oi the wreck with salvage gear, also returned. The War Lord was making her first island trip for Smyth and Carruthere, Limited, and was bound from Atafu to Nukunono. Captain George said the vessel had a crew of natives on board and was loaded with about 13 tons of copra. She struck the reel on a calm morning and it was later proved that the two natives who were on the .look-out were asleep up to 15 minutes before the vessel struck. "The mate, the engineer, Mr. Messenger, and I remained on boa.rd the vessel for 65 days after she was wrecked," Captain George said. "The nearest village was five miles away. After a week the crew deserted us and I went ashore to round them up but they were exceedingly hostile and I had to show my gun or I would have been clubbed. Later, I threatened them with letters and they soon came round and want-ad to come aboard again but I would riot have them. Unfortunately there is no act in the islands by which tho crew could be punished." The master and officers lived on fish and coooanuts. Although the War Lord was apparently hard and fast on tho reef, continuous watch had to be kept. Fortunately no bad weather was experienced during the waiting period, although seas occasionally broke right over the vessel. Fifty days after the wreck the Greyhound arrived on the scene with salvage gear. At one stage the War Lord was actually refloated, all sail was set and the engines set going astern. At the critical moment the cable broke and the vessel was again carried hard and fast on tho reef by the swell. Farther attempts to refloat her proved futile. During the salvage operations Captain George received a severe injury to his leg with the result that he was in hospital at Apia for 22 days.

"The War Lord was very suitable for coastal work round New Zealand but was most unsuitable for island trading," Captain George said. "She made a tremendous lot of leeway. In addition to that the island was wrongly placed on the chart. When I left the ship the was split and she was opening up badly." A nautical inquiry was held at Apia and after hearing evidence the Court exonerated Captain George and attributed the wreck to an unusual set to the northeast.

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19261102.2.65

Bibliographic details

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19474, 2 November 1926, Page 9

Word Count
488

WRECK OF WAR LORD. New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19474, 2 November 1926, Page 9

WRECK OF WAR LORD. New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19474, 2 November 1926, Page 9