NINE YEARS AGO

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7980, 11 December 1911, Page 1

NINE YEARS AGO

ELINGAMITE DISASTER TALK OF WRECK AT THU EE KINGS .REVIVED. CAPTAIN ATT WOOD’S APPEAL. A Uttlo more than tine years a^o —ou Xovombor 9th, 19012 —• -Australasia was shocked to hear of the Kliugainito dls•vuster. Tho hue vessel had been wrecked iu a fog off the Three Kings Inlands, und over forty of her passengers and •isrow had been drowned, while others had suffered the keenest privations before being rescued. Tho master of the vessel, f.'uptam Attwood. was found, by tho Court of Inquiry, to have been guilty of grossly negligent navigation, and hie 'certificate was suspended for a year. KarJy in this your, as tho result of surreys by HALS. Cambrian and tho Terra Nova, it was discovered that there had been an error in charting tho islands on which tho Klinganiite was wrecked. Captain Attwood appealed for a fresh inquiry, and, by special Act of Parliament It was granted to him. Ou Saturday a Court of Inquiry constituted under thia Act sat at the Supreme Court to hear again tho story of tho wreck of tho illfated vessel.

His Honor the Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout) was president of tho court, tuid sitting with him, as nautical assessors, were- Captains It. H. Smith and Chrisp. The Solicitor-General (Hr J. AA’. Salmond) appeared for tho Marine Department, and Mr T. M. AVilford for Captain Attwood.

The .Solicitor-General, in opening tho case, explained that tho proceedings were under tho authority of the Elingamite Rehearing Act, 1911, which Act was passed to allow the rehearing, before tho special court, of tho marine inquiry held in 1902 into tho loss of tho Elingamite. The Act simply extended and applied to tho previous inquiry, section 2-13 of tho Shipping and Seamen Act enabling tho .Minister of Marino to order a- rehearing of any inquiry when the discovery of new evidence or similar circumstances Warranted. In this case a special Act was required, as in 1902 there was no provision made for a rehearing. STORY OF THE DISASTER.

Proceeding to give a resume of tho facts of tho case, the ■Solicitor-General said that oh November ''sth,' r * 1902, tho Elingamite left Sydney for Auckland under the command of Captain Attwood ami having on board 101 persons. On Saturday, November tth, at noon, observations of tho vessel’s position were taken. She was then 202 miles from tho West Kings Island, steering a course which was calculated to take her south of tho AVcst Kings at a distance of about seven or eight miles. Sho was steering for tho passage between the West Kings and tho North Cape. On Saturday afternoon tho weather became misty, and on Saturday night the patent log <j£ tho Elingamite was found to bo fouled and not running freely. The speed of tho vessel was guessed at twelve knots an hour, and that was probably an accurate estimate. During tho night tho weather got thicker, and on Sunday morning the fog was fairly heavy, though the evidence was conflicting as to the degree. It was said that sometimes, it was possible to' see as much as two miles distant. At 10 o’clock tho captam reduced the speed of the vessel, which, up to this time, had been going full speed ahead. Tho evidence as to what tho now raw was was conflicting. The captain said four to four and a half knots an hour, but the Court of Marine Inquiry held it to bo considerably more. It was not disputed that tho speed was considerably reduced. At 10 o'clock also tho course of the vessel was changed from S. 86) degrees cast, true course, to N. 80 degrees east, a change of 13) degrees. No very satisfactory evidence was obtainable as to the reason for that change, but it had to bo assumed that tho captain thought he was already past the. AVcst Kings, calculating that he had run 262 miles front noon of tho previous day. Therefore he thought it was safe to change his course to avoid any possible danger from Cape Maria Van Dieman. Tho ship continued on that course, and at that sneed, through what was admittedly a very heavy fog up to 10.13 ou Sunday morning. Then suddenly land was seen very clearly in front of the •vessel. That land was AVest Kings, the most westerly and furthest south island of tho group. Mr AVilford here asked leave to put i.x “ Regulations Regarding Collisions, section 16 of which, he said, reduced the question to one of what was a moderate speed. , . ~ The Solicitor-General, resuming, said that on seeing the land tho captain immediately telegraphed, “ Full speed astern,” and gave tho order, “ Hard aourt.”

ENGINES REFUSE TO WORK,

The engines immediately stopped but did not reverse. The result was that tho vessel glided on. her course at reduced sliced and gently struck the rock. ' Tho Chief Justice: Why did not tho unglues reverse? Was there no time? The Solicitor-General: That, sir. is tho subject of a very remarkable conflict of isvitience between the deck hands and tho men in the engine-room. The engineers state that tho vessel was already on the rocks before they got tho order to reverse, and that the damage done to tho •propeller prevented her from being reversed. Those on deck say that there Was no contact whatever until tho bow the ship gently struck tho rock. Wr Wiltord : Just reached it. Tho Solicitor-General: Yes. Tho story of those below is that there was grinding and smashing before tho bow struck tho rock, and that did tho damage to the ship. The court accepted the evidence of those on deck, and held that the failure of the engines to reverse was due to some defect therein. On tho vessel striking she _was almost immedjaloly driven broadside on to the rocks. There was a sufficient swell to bump her badly when she got broadside on. A» soon as that happened tho fate of tho vessel was scaled, and she appeared to have sunk within half on hour afterwards. On tho striking of tho vct»el ‘.mats and rafts were at onto got out and most of tho passengers and crew appeared to have got array in ono or the ocher. A. iVv wsio drowned at that time. ■One of the boats, T/rth a number of ®ex-,

sons on board, apparently lost her uaj on leaving tho ship, for she had never since been heard of. From, thirty to forty lives were lost by that misadven. ture. Tho most tragic episode in tue history of the wreck was that a ratt, with sixteen persons on board, got adritt without water, provisions or compasses, und drifted helplessly from kunda> morning to Thursday afternoon, those ou board enduring tho most terrible suffering* No fewer than eight or thorn died as the result of their sufferings, and when tho raft was eventually sighted ami wicked up by HALS. Penguin, only eight of the number that had embaikod were alive. The total mortality due to the wreck was. ho believed, torty-lhiee. CAUSE OK THE HISASTEE.

As to the cause of the disaster, there could be no doubt that the vessel was carried northward by a current, out ox tiie course which she was supposed to be ou. She ran 263 miles or more, intending to go through the centre of a narrow channel, and, in tho course of that day s journev, must have carried eight miles off her course to get where she did. bp that when tho captain at 16 o clock thought ho was steering a safe course, he was travelling straight for the Kings. He would have been safe then it he had not changed his course, but, unfortunately, he chose that very moment when lie was in deadly peril to alter his course more to the northward. Tho disaster was made the subject of a. very elaborate inquiry, and ho proposed to put ui the whole of the report of the court. Jlr Wilford ; I should like to ask my learned friend, in regard to his proposal to put iu the evidence, whether ho wiu also - xmt iu tho evidence of Captain Trotter, taken on commission at Auckland. I have 390 pages of the other evidence. but Captain Trotter's is missing, and 1 wish to hear what he had to say, as -ho passed tho same point in tho lndradevi only a few hours before Captain Attwood. Tho Solicitor-General: I have never seen it. I presume it was never put in ai; the inquiry, but 1 will have inquiries made. . . 'Tho finding of the court was that Captain Attwood had # been S ul ity i grossly negligent navigation: U) Hi travelling full speed ahead through tho fog up to 10 o'clock ou Sunday; (2) in neglecting to sound before and alter IU o'clock; (3) iu altering his course withput any sufficient reason; (4) in proceeding at 4i knots or over an hour without taking soundings; (5) iu not carefully ascertaining his speed and going slow ahead; (0) in guessing his speed trom noon on Saturday at twelve knots when everything pointed to a higher speed. Mr Wilford; It is contested, that there was no evidence at all -in the whole of the evidence hero to support 'the last finding. We contend that there was not one tittle of evidence that pointed to a higher speed. The Solicitor-General said that there ■wore a number of other findings of the court in connection with the conduct of Captain Attwood and members of the crewafter the wreck. It was found that a grave error of judgment had been committed bv Captain Attwood m allowing No. 1 bout to leave the ship with only twonty-five people .ou board when she. was capable ot carrying double that number. She left iu command of Captain Held, a passenger om the Elmgamite. Captain Ileid. thought they .were ou the Great Kings and said ho knew of a landing place and .would land tho people already in the boat and then come back. Ho found a landing place alter cruising about for soino time and then made a courageous , effort to get back to the shin. ~ _ , Mr Wilford; Ho said he knew, of a landing place and would return, immediately, and Captain Attwood said he must return at onco. , . _ J _. . The Solicitor-General continued that the court also found that the master and first officer were to blamo for not having tho boats properly equipped, the tackle in proper order and tho crew sufficiently exercised in l-oat drill. ■ The rafts were abandoned by the boats when the master and officers should liavp kept both together and arrived at some distinct plan of action. ' ... Tho court ordered that Captain Attwood'e certificate bo suspended for a year and that he pay «£SO, the costs of tho inquiry. Tho certificated of the other officers wore returned to them. THE ALTERED CIIXRTS. . The question for the court, now was how far those findings were justifiable* It had recently been found that tho Admiralty charts in use at the time of the wreck were not correct and that all the islands of the Throe Kings group were somewhat out of position on tho charts. Tho position, had been altered by charting the islands a third of a mile to the east and one and a quarter miles to the .Mr Wilford said he understood that as a result of thirty observations it had been found that the sc ithernmost point ot Great Kings was placed three miles too far to the north- That had been gazetted and never corrected. Tho Solicitor-General said that more careful surveys had been taken by the Cambrian and the Terra Nova, and it had been found that the discrepancy that existed was not nearly so great as was taken to bo tho case as tho result of the first snrvev by the Cambrian. ihe altered positions as stated were published in the “Gazette” of May 11th, 1911. If tho islands had really been where the chart .showed them to be, the Lhngamite would have passed slightly to the south of them and would have escaped. On that ground Captain Attwood now appealed for a reversal of the adverse finding of negligent navigation made against him iu 1903. I have given the matter anxious and caieful consideration,” said/ the Solicitor : General, and endeavoured to view it with perfect impartiality. but I regret that I can only come to the conclusion that tho error in tho chart is irrelevant in judging the captain's conduct." He viewed tho •duty with considerable repugnance as it was impossible not to feel sympathy for Captain Attwood, but he felt that it was his dutv to put it before tho court -chat the finding of the previous. court bad been justified. Had the islands been chartered correctly tho Elincaiinto would have escaped; but she would have escaped by the skin of her teeth. Captain Attwood would have been wioro fortunate but equally negligent. Iney had to consider not where the Inree Kings were, hut whore ho supposed them to be. , , , Mr Milford : And what reason he had for supposing them to be there. The Solicitor-General: Yes, the chart. That is what ho was tried on in 1903. THE POINT TOR DECISION-

The Chief Justice : The point is—What was tho distance off land that a careful navigator should keep? The Solicitor-General: _Kot exactly, your Honor, hut whether it was careful navigation to run 2C2 miles with tho intention of running through a narrow channel without taking soundings. His Honor asked what was tho width of tho channel, and one of the assessors replied thirty miles; but the SolicitorGeneral said that was not tho actual width acrossThe Solicitor-General contended that tho court had to answer tho same questions ns had been before tho former court and on the same suppositions. His Honor: Supposing tho islands had been five milos tno far south. Ohio Salicitoi'.GenOi'ul: It would h-We been the same thing. His Honor?* Thsa ho would have run

on tho islands while steering a proper course, when he should have had plenty of room.

The Solicitor-General: No, that is not it. He should not have gone on. He should have stopped. His Honor: Tnat is a different position. You mean that ho should have stopped or gone very slow. Tho Solicitor-General : And sounded.

The Solicitor-General xmt in the evidcnco heard at the previous inquiry (covering 206 pages), tho “Now Zealand Pilot," 1991 edition, in use at the time of tho wreck; charts on which the course had been marked by Captain Blackburn, nautical adviser to the Marine Department; and the original xdan of soundings taken by tho Terra Nova. EVIDENCE AS TO SOUNDINGS. Evidence was then called, tho first witness examined being Captain Stevens, one of Captain Attwood's witnesses who wished to get away early. AVillla|n Slovens, master of the Maitai, which position he had held for eight years, said he knew the particular locality mentioned in this inquiry. Mr \Vilford said lie desired to call Captain Stevens to show that tho soundings in the charts in use at the time of tho wreck were unreliabloand inaccurate. As the Solicitor-General had put in the survey plan prepared by the Terra Nova there was really no need for Captain Stevens' evidence, as the chart lyant much further. ’’ . Tho court examined tho charts aild his Honor then said that the soundings on the old charts were no uso for tho guidance of marinersCaptain Stevens agreed with thisMr "Wilford asked that the. nautical assessors, point out the deep gutter between the island and the mainland where a man might find no bottom and think he was anywhere. His Honor: We just been speaking of that. MARINE DEPARTMENT*S WITNESSES.

Arthur Calvert, Government inspector of machinery at Wellington, said he had had lengthy experience with niaiut.tMjry. including fifteen years at sea as engineer. He gave evidence as to the calculation of speed by counting revolutions and,said that forty-four revolutions per minute would mean a speed of seven knots an hour. To Mr Wilford: A vessel of the type of the Elingamito could be stopped, whem travelling at four and a-ha|»t knots, in one length from the time at which the engines began to work full-speed astern. Captain H. S. Blackburne, nautical adviser to the Marin© Department, said that the alterations nVade in the charted position of West King Island wore the result of the observations taken by Lieutenant Renwick, of tho Terra Nova, and Lieutenant Smyth, of HALS. Cambrian. The alteration to tho chart which Captain Attwood was probably using brought the island one and a-nalt miles to the south* and. ono-third of a mile to the , east of the previous charted position. The course steered by Captain Attwood would, in. ordinary circumstances, have, carried him about eight miles south of the island. The deviation was duo to a northerly set of the current which ,in twenty-three hours must have carried tho vessel somethink like seven miles to the north. This was not an unusual circumstance,, and should have'-been taken into consideration by a careful navigator.. WERE THE GHAUTS MISLEADING. To Mr Wilford; The true-position of the Three Kings was not known to Captain Attwood at the time of the wreck and there was no method by which, however prudent he might _ have been, he could have ascertained it. Until the recharting took place witness had no idea that the charts given out by the Marine Department contained erroneous _ information. The course set by Captain Attwood before the change was such as a prudent mariner would have taken. Though the court of inquiry found that Captain Attwood should have taken soundings, no soundings he could , have taken would have been of use to him so far as determining his position went; but ho would have been able to y find whether he was safe.

Mr Wilford; But he might have been in this gutter and thought himself in open sea and the next minute on the edge in, say, fifty fathoms. The witness agreed. Mr Wilford: If you take the course steered by Captain Attwood, you find that the altered chart brings the island right in his track.

. Witness: That is so. In reply to furthers questions witness said' that the soundings on the cnart were very little uso as they were so sparse; and the direction of the current could not be regularly indicated. The Elingamite could not go much less than 4i knots an hour without stopping; that was a moderate speed, but he would not say it was safe. It would have been safer to have stopped. This concluded the evidence called by the Solicitor-General. A SURVIVOR FROM THE RAFT.

Henry Weatherilt, engineer-surveyor, called by Mr Wilford, said he was on board the Elingamite at tho time of, the disaster, and was one of the survivors from the raft. Just prior to the vessel striking ho was on deck and his attention was attracted by hammering and knocking. Immediately prior to that he had heard tho telegraph go, and then he saw that the engines were stopped. The engines did not move one way or the other after the Stopping. The vessel went on with the helm apparently over to port and just struck, apparently oh the stem. That shock should not have extended past the water-tight bulk-head. There was a slight rebound and then the vessel was brought sideways on to the rock. Witness should estimate the speed at the time prior to the stoppage at about 4) or 4 knots, her lowest speed. Asked if ho could account for the stoppage of the engines, witness said that his theory was that a wedge—used originally to stop play —had become jambed in such a way that the engines could go neither one way or the other. It was impossible for the vessel to have struck aft. If the engines had gone astern after striking there would have been no disaster.

To the Solicitor-General; Ho preferred his own estimate of the speed of the vessel to the engineer's statement that she was making forty-four revolutions. To Mr Wilford : The last witness saw of Captain Attwood he was standing on the bridge cool and collected.

The Solicitor-General: Do you approve of boats leaving without provisions and compasses?

Witness replied that there was a great deal to be taken into , consideration at such a time, and he could not say that anyone was to blame. He could not say whether provisions were placed in the missing boat, though he noticed stewards carrying stores on to tho deck. It was his impression that .not all of the persons supposed to have been in' the missing boat actually were there. He thought a number of them were drowned off the vessel. There were no provisions on his raft. ,

To Mr Wilford : There was no regulation in regard to provisioning rafts until after the Elingamito wreck.

At this stage the inquiry was adjourned to 10 o’clock this morning.