STRUCK A ROCK

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23616, 28 March 1940, Page 12

STRUCK A ROCK

UNION COMPANY'S SHU' SINKS IN FIVE MINUTES NARROW ESCAPE OF CREW [FROM OUR OWN COI«KKSI»O:fI>H>:T]» SYDNEY, March 'JO Tlio Union Steam sliijj C ouipaliy, Limited, lost ;i second small freighter within 10 days when tho Kahika, <>l 1537 tons, struck an uncharted rock off the north-western coast ot Tasmania on Saturday night and foundered in a few minutes. The crew of 2! spent the night in an open hoat. waiting for dawn before; landing at. Marrawah. about six miles •from where the ship sank. The overloaded hoat could not carry all the men. and frequently some had to swim beside it while the men in the boat bailed frantically. The Kahika was built in She had on board a cargo of ore. The impact apparently ripped the ship's hull from stem to stern. Ibe ship went, down quickly after she struck the rock, and the master, Captain A. W. Keith, and members of the crew saved only what they stood np in. The only article saved from the ship was the log. which was carried by one of the officers.

A graphic account of the wreck was given by one member of the crew. He said: "Most of the men were caught unawares, many of them being in their bunks. I could hear water, rushing in while the ship heeled over. 1 put on my dungarees over my pyjamas and made for the deck. "Suddenly there was an explosion, probably because the oil caught fire from the burners. Pieces of wreckage and decking were sent flying all over the place. The men in the water used the wreckage as rafts. If the sea had not been so calm there would have been loss of life."

Tlio master, Captain Keith, who was the last to leave the vessel, said he was on the bridge when the Kahika strnek. "In five minutes I was in the water with struggling (inures all round me." he said. "J managed to hold on to some hoards, which kept ine afloat until 1 got aboard the lifeboat. The coastline was too rugged to risk a landing in the dark, so we rowed about until davhreak."

.Members of the crew said Captain Keith would not allow himself to he picked up until he was assured that all the men had been rescued. He must have been on his plank raft for half an hour.

Captain Keith estimates that the Kahika is lying in 10 fathoms of water.