SINKING A SHIP.
Sir, Mr. J. D. Mitchell's surmise that the cannon ball found imbedded in a cliff in Otago Harbour may have beert one of those fired at the ship Rahnee, in a futile attempt to scuttle her when on fira while at Port Chalmers in 1890, is incorrect. As an eye-witness of that abortive exhibition of artillery practice and a critical spectator, I can give a circumstantial account of the whole affair. The first shot aimed at the ship at less than a hundred yards' range, hit her side, three feet above wafer. The second—even after a leading spirit on board had himiwlf lowered in a bowline and chalked a round disc close to the 1 water-line—did not result in better ' shooting, but passed through the bulwarks, and ricochetted on the water beyond. By this time a man from the Torpedo Corps depot had arrived on the' scene with explosives, and in less than five minutes the Rahnee rested on the bottom with her decks awasli. Alexander Fkaseb.
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New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21234, 14 July 1932, Page 14
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170SINKING A SHIP. New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21234, 14 July 1932, Page 14
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