RUSH TO THE TAHITI.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20656, 30 August 1930, Page 10

RUSH TO THE TAHITI.

HELP OF THE PENYBRYN.

FIRST TO ANSWER CALL.

STRENUOUS WORK OF CREW. SERIOUS COAL SHORTAGE.' VESSEL REACHES AUCKLAND. The steamer Penybryn, which was the first vessel to reach the stricken Tahiti before she sank in the Pacific, arrived at Auckland at an early hour this morning. When the Tahiti sent out her first appeal for aid the Penybryn, a Norwegian cargo steamer, was 120 miles away. She was immediately diverted from her course and steamed at full speed to the sinking liner. Some difficulty was experienced in finding the Tahiti, as she had drifted about 100 miles from the spot where the accident happened, and it was only the Tahiti's rockets, sent up at night, that showed her where tho crippled liner lay sinking. The Penybryn stayed by the Tahiti for 15 hours until the Ventura camo up and the passengers were safely transferred, the Penybryn's boats being used to effect the transfer owing to the exhaustion of the Tahiti's overworked crew. "Shouted For Joy." " I am positively sure you know more about the loss of the Tahiti than we do," said Captain Salvesen of the Penybyrn. The greatest difficulty, he said, was to ascertain the correct position of the Tahiti. She was drifting at the rate of about three miles an hour. The Penybryn steamed back about 260 or 280 miles.

It was <a drizzly night and the men of the Penybryn were stationed all over the ship looking out for the Tahiti. "Finally at 10.30 on Saturday night (Sunday New Zealand time) we saw the Tahiti's rockets and everybody shouted for joy," said Captain Salvesen. " Until that time, with the Tahiti changing position I thought it was only a matter of luck if we found her. Boats Lowered Beautifully.'

" We were a little surprised that the Tahiti's passengers were not in the boats, as I thought the captain of the Tahiti would put them in the boats that night. However, he had probably realised that the Tahiti would hold out. The Tahiti's winches were making a great noise, bailing with buckets. " I must say the Tahiti's boats were lowered beautifully. I never thought so many boats could be lowered so absolutely faultlessly from both sides," said Captain Salvesen. " The Tahiti was rather low in the stern, but had no list at that time. The lifeboats were loaded from both sides."

Three boats were lowered by the Penybryn and one from the Ventura. " The Ventura looked like a hen with a lot of chickens among all those small boats, said the captain. The boats were afterwards sunk, and he was sorry he could not have taken some on board. " Very Close Going." As the Penybyrn was short of coal and the Ventura was standing by, the Penybyrn did not wait to see the last of the. Tahiti. Captain Salvesen and his men did not know what had happened to the Tahiti until they reached Suva. To reach Suva the Penybyrn had to steam 970 miles on 91 tons of coal and she had only five tons left when port was reached. "It was close going," remarked the captain. The first mate of the Penybryn, Mr. A. Nielsen, is also wireless operator, and he received the first message from the Tahiti. " When he told me the Tahiti was in trouble," Captain Salvesen said. " I went straight below and told the chief engineer to give her all we had. He gave her all. We did 10 knots."