UNSOLVED MYSTERY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23178, 26 October 1938, Page 13

UNSOLVED MYSTERY

BRITISH SHIP'S FATE r . PUBLIC INQUIRY HELD LONDON, Oft. 24 The Court of Inquiry into the disappearance of the British tramp steamer Anglo-Australian ruled out the theories that it had either struck a mine or that a boiler explosion or collision had occurred. It expressed the opinion that the shelter deck had buckled and subsequently there had been a complete fracture from the deck to the keel.

The Anglo-Australian left Cardiff on March 8 for Vancouver. A message announced that it had passed the Azores on March 14, but there was no further message. The ship should have reached Panama Canal on March 29. Wives of members of the crew demanded a public inquiry into her fate, and an aerial and marine search of the South Atlantic owing to the possibility of her having broken down and drifted off the shipping lanes. This the Admiralty and Air Ministry said was impossible owing to the vast area to be covered and the limited range of aircraft.

On May 16 a radio message from Cristobal stated that two hatches with the words "Anglo-Australian" burnt on them had been sighted. It was then thought that the ship had been destroyed by an explosion. After further reports had been obtained the company announced that the covers did not belong to the missing vessel.