SURVIVORS RETURN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21515, 12 June 1933, Page 10

SURVIVORS RETURN

LOST/ TRAWLER SERFIB , " LUCKY TO BE ALIVE " CAPTAIN DESCRIBES ESCAPE / NARRATIVE OF ENGINEER Wearied by the ordeal of shipwreck and a 15-hour motor journey, the crew of the trawler Serfib, which was lost off Waipiro Bay, East Coast, on Thursday afternoon, arrived from Gisborne at nine o'clock on Saturday evening. The few clothes they had managed to save when they abandoned their ship were augmented in many cases by garments which they had procured on reaching land, but few of the men had any further possessions, beyond those they could carry in a small paper parcel..

The survivors were met in the city by Mr. J. Enwright, manager of Sanford, Limited, owners of the trawler, and by the master of the Serfib, Captain J. A. Flett, who had arrived earlier in the day by the motor-vessel Margaret W. The wives of some of the men were there to meet them also. No time was lost in dividing the men into parties and sending them home in taxicabs. Lifeboat Fills with Water

Captain Flett, who returned by sea in order to ascertain whether there were any''signs of the stricken vessel, said no tiaces of the Serfib were seen. He believed she had sunk. Following the discovery of the leak it was "touch and go, the damage done to the lifeboat when launching it under difficulties being-the last straw," he said. In spite of strenuous baling the water rose to within 7in. of tho top of the lifeboat. j '

It subsequently proved that it would have been next to impossible to land in the surf of Open Bay, where they -were heading, and they were lucky to be alive. Had it not been for the fortunate presence of the launch Huia, which towed them into Tokomaru Bay, they would probably not be here to tell their story. .After confirming the report that the Sernb was, leaking the captain ordered an immediate change of course to the nearest point of land. The three pumps were set going, but still the water gained. Crew Don Lifebelts When warned, the crew at first thought the captain was joking, but t'hev were soon convinced and were ordered to don lifebelts. The Serfib began to/ siijk rapidly by the stern and he ordered the lifeboat to be swung out. Owing to the southerly roll the lifeboat crashed against the trawler and had to be lowered again to the deck. It was useless to attempt to use the derrick again, so the lifeboat was lifted by the men, a Strenuous task, and put out over the stern. The stern rail by this time was sinking rapidly toward ' the water. Then, to their horror, it was found that the crashing of the lifeboat had caused it to leak. The engineer shut off steam and, with two men baling and five rowing, they pulled away from the ship's side. In view of the precarious condition of the lifeboat they had to throw overboard all heavy gear, including the mast. Curious Sounds Reported The fireman who reported that the trawler was leaking, stated Captain ' Flett told him that he heard two small sounds, which he described as being like grunts. Only three men heard them, the mate, the cook, and the fireman who reported. The leak appeared to be at the after end of the engine room, although it was impossible to make an investigation. At the time the leak was. discovered the engineer, Mr. H. Samuel, was in his room. "The first I knew of it," he said, "was/when the fireman Elliott reported to me that the ship had struck something and was making water fast. I went down to the engine-room and put all tne available pumps on the engine-room bilges. The water was gaining, however, faster than the pumps could deliver. The dynamo was then started to give us enough light to try to ascertain where the water was coming in. "Could Do No More" "Another fireman, Taylor, was sent into the stokehold to assist the fireman - on watch to get as much steam as possible to drive the ship toward the shore. In ten minutes the water was running through the stokehold and flooded the ashpits, so I ordered the firemen to go on deck as they could do no more. The skipper had been down to see me and we could not ascertain where the water was coming in. "Then the cranks splashed the water on the dynamo and put it out of action, throwing the engine-room into Kemi-darkness. I stayed down there to give the ship all steam possible. When I left, the water was up to my knees. I made another visit to the qngineroom to look at the steam gauge, but the water by this time was level with the dynamo bedplate. I then went on deck and helped to launch the boat. "The last thing I did before getting into the boat was to shut off the main stop valve on top of the boiler, as there were then several feet of water in the engine-room and it was impossible//to shut off steam from there. By that time the engines were just turning over, but not enough to give the ship headway." Mr. W. Taylor, a fireman on the Serfib, was a member of the crew of the, trawler Thomas Bryan when it was wrecked on June 10, 1928. The Thomas Bryan, which also was owned by Sanford, Limited, struck the rocks on the Peninsula in a northeasterly gale.