WRECK OF THE PENGUIN

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 6810, 5 May 1909, Page 8

WRECK OF THE PENGUIN

A SUPREME COURT INQUIRY. THE MASTER'S CERTIFICATE. APPEAL FROM A SUSPENSION ORDER. (Before His Honor Mr Justice Coooer (President) and Captains Lake and Gray (Nautical Assessors.) Tho hearing of Captain Francis Edwin Naylor's appeal from the decision of the Court of Inquiry which suspended his certificate for twelve months on account of allegedly .wrongful'acts and default in connection with the navigation of the s.s. Penguin from Picton to Wellington on the night of February 12th last, was continued yesterday by the Court constituted as stated above. THE GROUNDS OF APPEAL. : The grounds of apocnl were as follow: —• (1) That it was not proved that the casualty was duo to or contributed to by the negligence or the wrongful act or default of Captain Naylor. (2) That it was not proved that under tho existing weather conditions at anv time after 9 p.m. on Friday, February Mth, IAO9, shelter should have been sought or the vessel's head put to sea instead of her course being continued to Wellington. (3) That it was not proved that Caplain Naylor, under the existing conditions, was guilty of a breach of article sixteen of the Regulations for Prpventiug Collisions at Sea. (4) That it was not proved that under tho circumstances shown by tho evidence Captain Naylor ■ should nave taken soundings. (5) That there, was no evidence to indicate where the vessel struck, and in particular there was no evidence to indicate that she did not strike an uncharted reck or submerged wreckage. C 6) That generally there was no evi-

deuce to warrant the Court in suspending or in interfering in any way with the master's certificate of the

captain. THE APPELLANT'S EVIDENCE.

When the Court resumed Mr Herdman called Captain Francis Edwin Naylor, who was in command of the Penguin on her last voyage. He said in answer to counsel that tho ship was forty-six vears old and had not a double bottom. Consequently, if she struck, submerged wreckage she would be seriously damaged and a hole would bo made in her plates. On the night of the accident, after tho ship' struck, she went ahead full speed for three or four minutes, and. then she. was slowed down:. for eleven or twelve minutes. Tho engines were stopped just when .the first boat was ready to be lowered. AYhe-n'ho i»ot abreast of the s.s. Kennedy ho kept on his course. S.E. by E. He had patent sounding ■ gear on the' ship; ■ In answer to Mr Myers ■ the witness said the patent log on the Penguin was in good working order, and it was "set" when the ship got out of the tide-way of Tory Channel, and tho log'was towed all the way. A man was sent to. read it every hour. At 9.30 the' hand on the dial of the log had dropped - down to "50." Those were not the figures that it should have shown, but in witness's opinion the fault had arisen through the man who went to read the log inadver-

tently loosening the hand. Witness only used the "atent log as a check in crossing the strait on account of the tide-way, which,' of course, made the navigation of the strait tho more difficult; ■ but the log was taken or read every bonr. Every man in charge of a vessel crossing Cook Strait wa» careful in his navigation, but ho had to rely, mainly upon his "deadreckoning." ' SUBMERGED WRECKAGE. His own. opinion was. that the Penguin struck "something" when she was three miles off Sinclair Head. The ship had hand steering gear, and it took two men to control the wheel if the weather was at air bad. He had allowed for a twoknot current, and on the course he had s&t ho should have been well off the land. He was now of opinion that his ship did not strike "Tom's Rock," but some object out and away from the coast. He had come to this conclusion after hearing the evidence given at tho previous inauiries. The wind and tho sea were.off the land, and tho ship after she struck would have half-an-hour's ' drift,' which would bring her closer, in' shore and' in shallower water, and in that case her masts should' have shown above water after -her hull- rested oh the bottom. Mr Myers: Then isn't it surprising, that she has never been found?—No, not at all,-because the Marine Department has never' looked for her. ' Captain .Watson had told witness that he came along on the same S.E. by E. course two nights earlier and found his ship was set two miles further seaward than he expected to be. That was only two days previously, and tffe tide wouid. in all probability bo the same. That experience went to show that the witness had steered' a perfectly • safe course. If he did strike Tom's Rock .some phenomenal tide must have taken the .ship there. .... Re-examined by'Mr Hcrdman, witness said there was practically no impact at ail-mere 1} a scraping "lide on the starboard side, which "would be the side of the vessel that would touch Toni'sßock if the-shin were inside that danger. .. Captain J. W. H. Holmes, master of the U.S.S. tug Tcrawhiti, stated that-he was out with his vessel in'Cook Strait on' February 14th. They' passed a- lowermast floating ' about two miles ,S:E.. of Sinclair• Head. , The.mast was not painted as the lower' masts of ,the Tf.S.S. Company's steamers usually were. 'They were painted a lead colour, but this spar was. painted "mast' colour," and' the upper part was white. On the Friday following the .T-erawhiti tried to tow one of the Penguin's boats, which ho could not wt aboar-» to' Wellington. A heavy S.E. gale came along, tho quick'y. a'lie- "painter" -.of the Penguin's boat carried away, and • he decided to let it go, as.there-was too 'much-sea.to admit of .picking it up.. -It went ashore within about half a mile of where the other boats of the Penguin were smashed' on the rocks! In answer to Mr : Myers, the witness said ho reported the floating wreckage to the. Collector of Customs, who said he would report it to the Marine Department. Witness made no attempt to secure the mast, as' ho' was 'engaged in picking up the boats at the' time.■'-.," ' ' '''•".' , THEjRIO'LOGS.'- :,■";■.' ■ George Melville. Rustbn,' chief 'officer of tho. barque Weathersfield, stated'that.ih January, he 1 was chief officer of tho Komata. and'wheh'in;Cook Strait he-igw the iron'brigantine Rio Loge on"the 10th of that month'. That "ship was laden with kauri timber from Kaipara'to Dunedin. Shedid/not arrive at her destination, and was "regarded-aa-"missing.'•*•' If this ship became water-logged her load of" timber would help-to keep her-afloat.. She would probably .keep' "awash" and not sink ; Carl vendore", ;captain. of .the'.Wairau, stated bis vessel traded 'to.' Nelson,' and when, four days''after-the loss -of the ,Penguin, . : he' was. crossing .the '--strait, lie saw a lot of ;eawn kauri timber ; floating between Sinclair r . Head and Cape Terawhiti. : He had seen timber floating "there on more than, one ; trip, and it looked like wood about twelve'-. by two . and.' fourteen

or sixteen feet long. He also saw 6ome U.S.S. Co. mattras*e« floating. To Mr Myers: Ho did not "log' any of these incidents, as there was no danger to bo apprehended from these floating substances. , ■ ■ , . Captain Naylor, recalled, stated that there was no sawn timber in the loading of the Penguin on her last voyage. Any kauri timber that could have floated from her wreck must have been portions of the ship's furniture or. construction. _ Mr Herdman, before closing his evidence, put in reports from shipmasters and other persons to the effect that wreckage had-been sighted in Cook ntrait, and that a lifebuoy, upon which the words "Rio Logo" were painted, had been picked up near Island Bay.

CAPTAIN BLACKBURNE'S EVIDENCE

Mr Mvers called only one witnessCaptain Harold W. Blackburne, nautical advisor to tho New Zealand Government, who said ho had had thirty-four years' experience of the sea, and had been in the P. and O. Company's service for about twenty years. He edited the lide Almanack,"' and collated the information which he received from shipmasters. He knew-." Cook. Strait m-etty well, although he had not navigated it, and had carefully gone through the evidence taken in this case' at the inquiry. In his opinion, when a shipmaster, was half-an-hour out from ' Tory Channel and had lost the lights he' should - take ; every precaution when approaching, a dangerous coastline, and should take soundings. He would know the speed his vessel was travelling at.'from his previous experience of her whether he had a patent or an ordinary log: He. would know her- speed- from the revolutions of her nropellor unless somethi,ng'had happened to her engines, YVitness had never seen such a course as that described by Captain Vickerman taken by a-coastal, vessel outward bound from "Wellington, and if the course had been steered he would have expected to see the fact recorded in the Kennedy's log. In witness's .opinion no . tidal, predictions could be relied upon -in any. part of tho ■world within; say, half-an-hour, and his department had never, received any. reports as •to anyone experiencing six or seven-knot currents in the strait. . THE CASE FOR THE APPELLANT. This closed the evidence, arid Mr'Herdman addressed'the Court at some length. He said' Captain Naylor only took exception to that part of the judgment given by the Court below- which found that' he had been guilty of a wrongful act in his capacity as master, of the-Pen-guin. In the evidence nothing had been said to show that Captain Naylor was anything other than a careful, capable, and entirely trustworthy officer. Furthermore,' the evidence had not'shown.where the steamer struck, and tho evidence given before the Court clearly showed that there was good reason for believing that the steamer was not wrecked on Tom's Rock at aIU but had encountered submerged wreckage; it went.to show that Captain • Naylor was steerine a safe course, and that the Penguin was brought to her end through no fault on his nart. Moreover, it went, to show that he was-anian of courage well worthy of the name of a British-seaman. (Cheers rang out, for a moment at. the close of Mr Herdman's address.) ' The hdur_was late and the further -hearing .of. the case, was ajTjourned until this afternoon. . . ...