FIRE AT SEA.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1716, 18 January 1905, Page 57

FIRE AT SEA.

A BURNING OIL SHIP. VOYAGE OF THE BOUGAINVILLE. ANXIOUS HAYS AND NIGHTS. The French barque Bougainville, from ivew York, which arrived on Thursday afternoon, presented a fine spectacle as she sailed into the stream with her great white wings spread to the gentle southerly wind. There was nothing in the outward appearance of the vessel to betoken the startling experience which befel the crew on the voyage, and which nearly resulted in the complete destruction of the ship and her crew. A ship on fire at sea is at any time terrifying to the crew, but it is trebly so when the outbreak takes place on a ship laden with kerosene, benzine, and naphtha, as in the case of the Bougainville. Captain Frank Le Troquer, who speaks excellent English, narrated the incidents of the voyage last Thursday evening to a ‘‘Mail” reporter. THE FIRST SIGNS OF FIRE, The Bougainville sailed from New York on September 4th, and fine weather, with light breezes, was experienced for the first twenty days. The north-earterly trades were then lost, and for the next eighteen days head winds, with severe thunderstorms and tropical disturbances, were encountered. The Equator was crossed on October 21st in 27 degrees west lorgitude. The south-easterly trades carried the barque till arriving on November 7th about twenty-five miles off the Island of Tristan d’Acunba, midway between South America and South Africa. The vessel was gliding along under full sail that morning, when the man at the wheel noticed smoke issuing from the ventilator over the cabin. The alarm was raised, and the crew quickly battened down the cabin and placed wet bags over the ventilatory Soon ugly volumes of black smoke were escaping and rolling upwards. The captain and crew soon realised the extreme danger of the situation —there was fire and eighty thousand cases of kerosene under the deck. DRIVEN TO THE BOATS. The outbreak had occurred in the storeroom under the dining cabin, right aft. In the storeroom were 5000 cases of petroleum, two barrels of wine, and almost all the ship’s provisions. As it seemed certain that the benzine gas in the No. 3 hold would ignite at any moment, as smoke was coming out of that- hold—having found its way through the partition—the boats were hastily lowbred. Very little provisions were found to victual the boats with. The ship’s sails were clewed up in preparation for an explosion. Peculiar noises were heard from the storeroom, and it was decided to row away from the ship’s side and await developments at a distance of a quarter ot a mile. After remaining for about two hours, waiting for the explosion which seemed inevitable, the smoke seemed to decrease in volume, and the boats returned to the ship. Water was poured through the ventilators, hut more smoke rushed upwards. AN ANXIOUS NIGHT. After working for about an hour the crew proceeded to the sail-room, which was full of case petroleum, and a few cases were removed in order to get at the fire, hut the smoke poured out more heavily than before. Everything was again battened down, and it was decided to wait till next day before doing anything further. The crew went to their quarters for the night; the captain and officers slept on deck. All dreaded every moment the explosion of the highly-inflammable cargo. Next morning the ship sailed round to the weather side of the main island to seek an anchorage. Smoke continued to rise from the cabin and ventilators. In the afternoon a small boat under sail, with three men, put off from the island, in order to exchange fresh meat for ship’s flour. Of course, the fire prevented any ship’s flour being obtainable, and the boat’s crew, on being apprised of the condition of affairs, beat a hasty retreat beyond the danger zone. They directed the captain to an anchorage on the northern side of the island. A calm, however, prevented any headway being made, but next day a small shallow bay, known as Falmouth Bay, was leached, and anchor dropped. FEARS OF THE CREW. The mate went below in order to locate the flames, but had to be drawn up on deck, stupefied and convulsed. The captain deeded to wait another day before taking further action. The crew became somewhat nervous, and on the following day approached the captain with a view to having the doors of the cabin opened in order to discover if there was any danger of the vessel blowing up. Captain Le Troquer vigorously opposed the proposal, knowing that opening the doors would imperil the safety of the ship and the crew, especially as the smoke continued to find its wav out

unabated in volume. The crew then refused lo work, as- they had become convinced that the vessel would blow up without liny warning. They threatened to leave the ship and go ashore, but the inhabitants of the island assured them that it was their duty to obey the captain, and if they cam© ashore they would get nothing to eat. The crew reconsidered the. position, and returned to their work. Little could be done other than wait till the outbreak was smothered. SO’ the hatches were kept battened down. A few days later the crew became dissatisfied with the captain and officers, because the latter had a small quantity of whoa ten bread with their meals, whilst the crew were compelled to eat their fresh mutton (obtained from the islanders), beef, fish, and potatoes without bread. The crew were allowed to fish two hours daily, and some fine catches were made. The crew eventually obtained permission for two of their number to make an attempt to reach the stores and procure flour and bread. They were only two minutes below, and were compelled to come back empty-handed, and suffering severely from the fumes. A TRIP ASHORE. Tiie glass began to fall- fast, the weather became overcast, and light'fitful puffs of wind gave ominous warning of a gale approaching. The storm broke on the ship early in the afternoon and another anchor was put out, as the vessel started to drag shoreward. Later, heavy seas poured over the starboard bo-w, and swept the vessel lore and aft. The hatch© i oil the cab.ns and the steam exhaust p pc cf the donkey-en-gine were carried away. The captain signalled to the i landers ashore, asking if there was any danger of the veerel dragging ashore with her anchors out, and they answered in the affirmative. A further inquiry was made if it was too late for ship’s boats to reach the bench, and the islanders replied that there was yet time to negotiate the surf safely. The captain and crew put off in two boats, but not without, extreme danger. A landing was effected that night, and they were told by the inhabitants that half an hour later they would have all been drowned in the surf. They said, further, that the ship would not be likely to rule the gale out. Nevertheless, next morning the Bougainville was still holding on to her anchors, although site had drifted inshore to within a length of a reef. In the meanwhile, the crew had been kindly treated and quartered by the islanders. Three- days later the crew returned aboard, and as the gale bad abated the anchors were raised. One anchor was found to he broken, and a spare one was therefore substituted. The ship was moved further out to- a safer anchorage. Before the storm the temperature in the cabin had decreased every day, but after the gale it rose again ten degrees. THE FIRE SUBDUED. The captain then decided to take drastic measures to extinguish the fire, as he did not wish to experience another gale at the island. A number of large holes were bored in the floor of the cabin, and volumes of water were pumped below with the aid of the donkey-en-gine. This process was repeated on a second day. As on the first occasion, the temperature in the cabin rose again, but after a subsequent attack, the temperature remained stationary. The captain realised that he had located the fire. Subsequently the hatches were opened, and it was found that the fire had been extinguished. The fumes were still very strong, rendering any attempt to go below extremely risky. The barometer soon showed signs of another storm, and although a large quantity of provisions had been ordered from the islanders, they were unable to launch their boats from the beach. The ship’s anchors were raised, and after fifteen days’ stay at the island, the vessel put to sea. The captain returned to the vicinity two days later, hut a heavy south-westerly gale "prevented a boat being lowered. That evening, however, four of the crew managed to- row ashore, and next morning, when the weather improved, they returned with a load of provisions, accompanied by islanders with two more boat-loads of provisions. AT SEA AGAIN. The ship then bade adieu to the lone inhabitants, and continued on her voyage. A fair breeze- carried the barque along the easting in about 50 degrees south, and fine weather was made to December 10th. A northeasterly gale, changing to the east and then to the south-east, with heavy snowsqualls, caused heavy seas to sweep the decks. On Christmas Day a number of great icebergs were passed in 54 degrees 3min south latitude and 106 degrees east longitude. The vessel passed between two huge bergs and experienced much difficulty in averting collision with smaller bergs floating between the larger ones. Owing to continuous north-north-westerly winds the vessel had to run to the east of the Auckland Islands before altering her course northwards. Cape Campbell was sighted at 9 a.m. yesterday, and the vessel sailed into the entrance early yesterday afternoon. The crew comprises twenty-four all told, twentv-one of whom are French,

and there are a Scandinavian, a Finn, and an American. THE CARGO. The cargo for Wellington comprises. 45,000 cases White Rose kerosene, 500 cases Tea Rose, 3000 cases benzine, and 250 cases naphtha. The Bougainville is a new steel barque, built two years ago at Nantes by Ch. Nantais de Const, and is owned by Bureau Bros., Nantes. The principal dimensions of the. vessel are — Length, 277 ft; beam, 40ft; depth, 22ft; tonnage, 2315 gross, 1743 net. Messrs W. and G. Turnbull and Co. are the local agents. The vessel has suffered little structural damage, and the cargo is practically undamaged as far as can be discovered. A LONELY OUTPOST. The island of Tristan d’Acunha is in 37 degrees Cmin south latitude. It is twenty-one miles in circumference, rugged and precipitous, rising to a central conical mountain 7640 ft in height. It was discovered in 1506 by the Portuguese, and named after the commander cf the expedition. It was occupied by sealers in 1790 to 1811. In 1817 Britain took possession of the island. On Napoleon’s death, in 1821, all the soldiers stationed on the island were withdrawn except Corporal Glass and two comrades, wlio, with some- whalers, founded the present settlement. In 1829 there were twenty-seven inhabitants, in 1873 eighty, and in 1837 nine-ty-seven.

Captain Le Troquer reports that now there are seventy-one persons all told on the island, but there are only eleven able-bodied men and only thirteen families. They have herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, and grow potatoes, but l ave no grain to make bread with. Consequently any passing ship is asked to exchange flour for fresh meat. There is no liquor oil the island, the principal beverage being milk. There is no money circulated, all trade being carried an by barter. The oldest- member of the community acts as a governor. A cruiser visits the island at long intervals to carry letters. Sickness is practically unknown. Two Italians who were shipwrecked there many years ago- have married and permanently settled on the island.