DOWN TO DAVY JONES!

New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 12168, 19 June 1925, Page 5

DOWN TO DAVY JONES!

TAKAPUNA’S LAST RESTING PLACE 170 FATHOMS DEEP

SUNK IN STRAIT YESTERDAY

LAST MOMENTS OF FORMER FAVOURITE U.S.S. CO/S STEAMER

At an early hour yesterday morning two vessels left Wellington - harbour for Cook Strait. Only one returned. The other found her last resting place on the ocean bed in the Strait over 1000 feet below the waves she has breasted so gracefully and speedily in the past. For the s.s. Takapuna had graceful lines, but she had also an enormous appetite for coal, and it is no exaggeration to say that! on more than one occasion there has been difficulty with the firem en on account of the heavy task of firing her.

The s.s. Takapuna was the first Union Company’s ship not built on the Clyde. She was built in 1883 by the Barrow Shipbuilding Company, Ltd., at Barrow, for the Union Company. She was a steel screw steamer of 1036 tons gross, length 220 feet, breadth 32 feet, depth 17ft Sin. On her trial trip she did 15 knots, which at that time was considered a tremendous speed for ocean going vessels. She waa specially built for carrying the ’Frisco mails from Onehunga, New Plymouth, Lyttelton, and Wellington, and was termed in those days an express steamer. Captain F. Jones brought her out to Now Zealand via South Africa, St. Vincent,' and Hobart to Port Chalmers, where she arrived on October 13th, 1883. She carried on the express service till 1903, and her last trip in the service was taken in 1910. She then went on the Napier-Gisborne service, and also did a few Wellingtcn-Nelson

trips. Owing to her great speed the vessel finally had to have several of her fires bricked in. An instance quoted in the papers some years ago is of a man who left Dunedin Post Office at 11 a.m. on Friday morning; took train to Lyttelton, where he joined the Takapuna the same evening. Ho arrived in Wellington at noon the following day, and left two hours later for New Plymouth, where he arrived at 6 a.m. on Sunday. He left New Plymouth again at 7 a.m. and crossed the' bar at Manukau at 6 p.m. the same day, arriving in Auckland Poet Office at 8.30 p.m. after a trip of 57 hours, only nine hours longer than the best time to-day. The Takapuna never met with a disaster of any description, and had a fine, clean run. She was paid off ten fears ago, and has laid off Kaiwarra rom that time until delivered into the hands of the shipbreaker, except for a brief spell when she was docked to take the barnacles off her. A USEFUL CAREER The Takapuna was fast, reliable, seaworthy, and a comfortable boat fo travel on, and would make her tripe in had weather when other vessels were seeking the shelter of the ports, and what was more, she invariably reached her destination to schedule time. If she started late extra speed was always obtainable, although it told its tale on the coal bill. How many thousands of passengers she had carried, how many miles she had travelled, how many ports she bad put into, these things are beyond computation. For about ten years she had been idle. The past tense is used, for she is dead. The life, the heart, the brain had gone from her yesterday when she was towed through the stream by a tug about one-tenth her size. Her machinery had been blown out of her, she had been stripped of her fittings and everything useful, and while the tow rope was made fast in the harbour she rolled helplessly with the sea. Yet many will remember the day when she pulled bravely into the stream under ner own power, the pride of her commander, and an important vessel in the Union Company’s fleet. A short time ago sne was brought in from the anchorage at Kaiwarra where she had l lain for several years tied up at the Railway wharf. The ship breeches were let loose on her,

a charge of gelignite lifted the machinery out of her, and she was stripped from stem to stern until she looked almost like a derelict. Her portholes had no windows in, the smoke stack had a huge hole in it, the bridge was gone. In the great gap where l)er engines had been was a huge Bhip’s anchor, and when a “Times” representative took a last look over her at 7 a.m. yesterday there appeared to be quite a lot of wood and metal which might have been salvaged. But the lack of machinery to deal with it made the cost not worth while. So her death warrant waa signed, and the burial ground was in Conk strait on a spot where several other vessels had previously been sunk, notably the Poherua and the Kini. Her usual run from Wellington in days gone by was to New Plymouth and Manukau, with its wicked little bar, but the Takapuna would negotiate it when other ships bided their time. She has also been on the Nelson run, the Wellington-Lyttelton ferry service, and

the Gisbome-Auckland run. An old member of the “Times” editorial staff, who has travelled on her many times, described her as a fine, seaworthy boat, and, used to cross Manukau bar when no one else would look at it. The shell, for that was all that was left of her, was to have been taken out some days ago, but the southerly galo made the tow impossible. With every promise of good weather for the next day, it was decided on Wednesday that she should make her final journey early next morning. “Go and see the last of the old ship,” were the instructions received by the “Times” representative at midnight on Wednesday. SHROUD OF FOG So at 7 o’clock yesterday morning the pressman and photographer joined Mr E. G. F. Zohrab’s tug Cowan (200 tons), in command of Captain Goldie, and a few minutes later were on the way from ferry wharf to railway wharf. Running alongside the few remaining minutes were availed off to walk her promenade deck once more, but she was in a grievous state, her outer shell covered with mussels from jend to end. While at the wharf the . early morning mist hung over her like a shroud to hide her gaping wounds from the few spectators assembled to see the vessel off. A couple of ropes from the tug were attached alongside, . and, almost imperceptibly, the blinded, , crippled., dismantled steamer wended its way into open water, guided bv the tiny tug blowing off steam with all the vigour of youth. i Captain Peterson, of tho pilot staff. saw her finally made ready, and paid ! his last tribute to the vessel by taking , her into the harbour at 7.55 a.m., and 1 was taken off by rl.e pilot boat in the customary way. A 100-fathom tow--1 rope was attached to her forward end, 1 1 and so she started on her last trip of ■ 16 miles. The city Was enveloped in ; fog, and only a few high buildings, 1 such as Ford’s, Bryant and May’s, the I Town Hall, and one or two others, I could he seen rearing their heads above it. Towards the east the sun was shin- ; ing brightly, and Tinakori hill was , . bathed in brilliant sunlight. So also ; j was Point Halswell, the pyramid over i i the grave of the late Prime Minister , [standing out in bold relief. Away to

the right the prison was clearly outlined, with the surrounding plantations almost covering the once bare hillside. Aboard the tug was Mr Nalder, father of the skipper of the Kohi, which picked up the Maoris with the coffin from the rocks on the other side of Cook Strait a few days ago. Another passenger was a gentleman who had made many trips in the Takapuna. When the vessel left the wharf a gull settled on the top of the foremast and remained there until well out to sea. For a while another gull occupied the rear mast and then came and settled on the mast of the tug. As the Takapuna went down a flock ,l f gulls flew round, their screams rend ing the air as if they realised what was happening. White frost glistened on the hillsides in the early morning sun, and the southern side of the harbour made a very pioturesque view. The toll-gates at Point Halswell, which were open in the morning, had been closed in the afternoon. Some were wondering if the road had been opened to the public. The 8.9. Rakanoa lay at Pipitea wharf, tied up owing to some difficulty with the crew on the subject of repairs to the ship. The Mararoa passed by, on her arrival from Lyttelton, and the passengers on deck gazed curiously at the procession of two ships going by, pos-ci'-lv aware of the sad errand. The Duchess also passed before the stream was reached, and the peonlo of Muritai and Eastbourne were able to take a last look at the Takapuna. Proceeding at three knots an hour, the Heads were not reached till 11 o’clock, and half-way through a swell put such a strain on the tow rone that it snapped, and the helpless Takapuna swung round, presenting her broadside to the stream. As she did so the sun shone right over her funnel and was reflected in the rippling water, and for the moment the picture was a beautiful one. A stronger rope was soon attached and the journey resumed. At the Heads the journey was made past Pencarrow to Baring Head,

from which a course practically due south was taken to a spot 8J miles south-east of Pencarrow. A PROUD FAREWELL It was 2 o’clock in the afternoon ero the spot was readied, the rope was cast off, and the tug swung round and went alongside. Two charges of gelignite had been placed in the engine-room quarters, and as soon as the tug was alongside a match was put to the fuses, her seacocks were opened, and the three men who had been aboard her left her to her fate and joined the tug, which pulled away to the westward for about 150 yards. There lay the Takapuna, ready for her long rest, her outline on the water a picture in spite of her internal condition, for her two steel masts and funnel still remained. Boom! One charge had gone off, tearing a hole in her side, and she began to settle slowly by the stern. Three minutes later a heavier boom. The second and bigger charge had rent her side below the water line. Tons of water poured into her, and she began to heel over to starboard. Her rudder and propellor disappeared and her nose rose slightly. Still more she heeled over and presented her decks almost broadside to the tug, and one could almost see down the funnel. The sea plunged in at the portholes, and she rolled as if she would turn over. Her stern was dipping. Suddenly, as if with a last muscular effort she almost righted herself as the weight of water vvas distributed. TTp went her head, and at an angle of about 45 degrees she went down to her end, resting on the .bed of the sea on which she had travelled for so many years. Her funnel crashed as she went down, and the . old lifeboat crashed against the steel mast, tangled in the wire ropes, and disappeared from sight. A slight swirl of water showed for a few seconds to mark the plaoe where she had disapappeared. A considerable quantity of wood and a couple of companion ladders floated to the surface, and three minutes later the tug steamed over the spot and blew a blast of farewell. Ten minutes elapsed between the explosions and her disappearance into over 1000 feet of water. So went the Takapuna to her watery grave.