WRECK OF THE TYRONE,

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15892, 11 October 1913, Page 13

WRECK OF THE TYRONE,

INQUIRY CONCLUDED.

COURT RESERVES DECISION,

The magisterial inquiry into the circumstances surrounding tno wreck of the s.s. Tyrono was concluded yesterday before Mr H. Y. Widdowson, S.M., and Captains Hunter and .Sundstrum,—Mr Eraser, K.C., appeared for the Collector of Customs, Mr J. H. Hosking, K.C., for tho master (Captain M'Lauchian), and Mr A. C. Hanlon for the second officer (Mr Parry). Mr Hanlon said that he did not want to duplicate the evidence more than he could help, but in tho interests of tho mate, he proposed to recal him and the third officer to state what occurred between them in tho chart roo/n at midnight when the Bcoond mate tobk charge, That seemed the only point counsel had to answer, and he was confident that ho could show that the ■scoond mate did all ho could and acted prudently. Gladwin Parry (second officer) said that ho was always under the command of the master. When he was about to take over the watch at midnight on tho 26th ult. he went into the chart room with the third officer. It was customary for an officer in such cases to get information from the officer preceding him of any incidents that had occurred The third officer gave him somo information. lie had pricked the position on the chart by dead reckoning and showed tho distance run—lo2 miles. In witness's presence he went back over the distance with the dividers to Akaroa,; and also did the same forward over the distance 1 to the anchorage at Taiaroa Heads, 'l'ho third officer then said that they should get there shortlv after 1 a.m. Witness knew that Moeraki light would be passed on the way down, and the third officer told him that tliev should sight tho light about 1.20 or 1.30." At this time .tho night was clear.

To Mr Hanlon: Having got that information, and having 6een the third- officer take tho position on the chart, witness did not think there was anything further for him to do except to look out for thg light. If ho did not get that ho would call the master. Up to the time the light was picked up thcro was no danger to the ship of overrunning her distance to Taiaroa Heads. ■ _ . Continuing, witness said tihnt he did. pick up the light at 1.20 a.m., four points on his bow. in goad position for fixing the position of the ship later 7 on. At that timo ho was, going to wait till he got the light abeam,'and then tako a four-point bearing, Tho light got obscured, however, before he got it abeam, which prevented him from taking the four-iwint bearing. _ He had recognised there was a possibility of the light becoming obscured, and had taken tho precaution of taking another bearing by compass. With those two bearings' it was possible to work out approximately tho distance of the ship from the light, He fixed it at about 174 miles. Five or six minutes later he lost tho light, and he called the master and informed hiin of the fact. The master came on the bridge immediately and took charge. Witness told tho master how far off the light he fixed the ship, and also what the bearings were, and tlie run between the bearings. Mr Hanlon: So that you placed tho. master in possession of all tho facts that you were aware of that could ass:st him in the further navigation of the ship?— Yes. I could not liave done any more. I. fo.lowod tho practice* exioting aboard ship. From that time onwards, witness continued, ho was on tho bridge at tho command of the master.

To Mr Fraser: He knew that the master expected to be offl Taiaroa Heads at 4.09 a.m., and accordingly knew, roughly, how far lie had to go.' Ho knew nothing of currents. It would have been his duty to locate the ship's position for tho benefit of the officer relieving him at 4 a.m. He did not read his log after the second hearing. Tho master read it at 3.40 a.m., when it registered 125J miles. The captain gave the order to put the loe over at Altaroa. To the Court: The compass was not swinging for the Moeraki .hearing—just vibrating a little. He did not see any currents marked on tho chart. If they had been marked he would havo known about them. Charles Worth, third officer on the Tyrone, said that what Mr Parry, had told regarding jthe change of watch was tho actual pra'cticc far as ho' had seen. It was not part of his duty to calculate when the vessel would arrive at t!he pleads. Ha merely did it for his own information, What Mt Parry had said had taken place in the chart room was perfectly true, and what had been done was the usual practice. Captain M'Lauehlan was re-sworn to enable him to rectify and supplement some parts of his former evidenco in the liuht of subsequent information as to the abnormal currents. - To Mr Fraser: He ordered the log to be put out at Akaroa Heads, and he knew the exact distance from there to Otago Heads. He knew his distanco from the first bearing to Taiaroa Heads.

To Mr Hosking: Where t!he current was going with the ship tho log did not show the extra speed given by the current. In' answer to further questions Captain M'Laucldan stated that the current affected the ship most after leaving Moeraki. That was shown by the fact that the log showed that they had gone not so far as they really had gone. The log showed only 146 miles,'and it should have shown 155 miles. The ship got ahead of him because of the abnormal current. He slowed down to anchor and was waiting for the next fog-signal to get a bearing for anchoring. The fact that lie hauled the log in showed that ho intended to anchor. The evidence of Captain Ryitel in regard to tho current was unsolicited by him. ,

INSURANCE. Charles Henry Hughes, secretary of the Union Steam Ship Company, said that at the timo of the wreck tho Tyrone was the property of the company, and carried a policy of £110,000 on hull, machinery, etc. lie could hardly assess her value. She was a very good ship for the trade, and it would cost from £150,000 to £160,000 to replaco her. ' ' MR HOSKING'S ADDRESS; Addressing tho court, Mr Hosking said that there was one very satisfactory thing about the evidence, and that was its free and ingenuous nature. Tho captain had revealed tho wholo state of his mind from the time of leaving Lyttclton. This and tho nature of the officers' evidence would commend itself to tho court as a factor in considering the case. The evidence of the rest of the ship's oompany had been of such a nature that no comment would have any effect on its credibility. There wore four things which called for special note. The first was about the fo£ signal. From the evidence it seemed to be ineffective for tho purpose for which it existed. It was of such a height that even the man in the crow's-ncst could not hear it. The sound of the signals went up into tho air instead of through the fog in flic direction of approaching steamers. The signals only went oft at intervals of six minutes. Where it had been demonstrated that the signals only carricd a distanco of one mile or more, while a modern steamer would go nearly two knots in six minutes, it was plain that the interval of six minutes was too long, 'l'ho evidence in regards to the signal was that it was ineffective on the occasion of a fog at the Heads. Captain Ryffel had pointed that out unsolicited, and Claptain Sundstrum, as one experienced in the vicinity, would particularly see the force of it. It was a point for the notice of the Marine Department als'o, that the maehino was in the habit of missing fire, and that the lighthouse man had to sit by it all night when a fog was on to mako up for any misfires.

Mr Fraser: There wa3 no evidence to show that.

!Ir Hosking, continuing, said that that had been shown. They only discovered where f.iults were after accidents, and lie did rot know why his friend, objected to these faults being pointed out. There they bad an accident which demonstrated the futility of the fog signals, and it was quite right and proper for him to bring the incident before the court. Further, the lighthouse was placcd at a considerable height above the 6ea (where Land fogs were common), and gave a red light, tne least penetrative of all. With a red light there and the fog signals as he had dcscribcd thorn the position was more of a trap than anything eke. Then there was, although lie did not place great reliance on it, the error in the chart, which showed that had the point been where it was charted the Tyrone would have been in deep water whiyi she struck. Again, there were the currcnte._ It w.-m perhaps unfortunate that the evidence as to the currents had not been produced earlier in the inquiry, but he considered that it was highly important to their case. The posi--1 ion proved was that! it had boon genuinely shown by Captain ItyfTcl that the ourrcnt was jotting to the north cn Friday and Saturday, and that the witness himself had boon delayed two or threo hours by it. This current was ah unusual one, and it was evident that the currents svere very conflicting on the night preceding the accident. For example, a fouthcrly current was met with for a certain distance, but when the ship enmo to rt eertah point she'ran into a northerly current. Independent evidence had clearly CKtabliahed tho unusualness of this current. Tho next- important point was that of the bearing taJccn at Moeraki. It waa a fact that the hearing taken oorrobo-

rated the estimate of distance made by the captain under a mental error, but this had no great importance. In whatever degree that bearing showed the captain to be out of tlio course he had originally laid, it showed him to be out of, the course on the safe (or 6ea) side, and gave him no cause for alarm. What counsel did suggest wa6 that the master had no reason to doubt the accuracy of the bearing, given him by tho 6econd officer. The second officer, who gave the information, would himself have acted upon that information as being authentic, and counsel held that it was shown that this information was such as either the captain or tho second officor was justified as a careful navigator in acting upon. It was apparent that though a course might bo laid down by a pair of parallel rulers it was not always possible to keep to that in actual practice, and a bearing (such as that taken at Moeraki), which showed a difference of 3i miles from the course laid down, could cause no alarm, especially as tho error was on the safe side. What counsel urged with confidence was that tho captain accepted the information given by the second mate, noted upon that information, and was quite justified in acting upon it. Tho fact that, the captain did accept ar<] act upon the officer's information was shown in the evidence that at 3.40 a.m. he ported his ship to bring her towards the Heads. If he had not been satisfied that he had Eca room, would lie have ran tho distanoe lie did on the port tack to come to tho anchorage? It was a superfluous proceeding for the captain to chart his distance. Tho captain was justified in tho extent of the precautions he had taken. He submitted that as the captain was over the ground before ho was not obliged to elaborately pare over d : stances, •nor was it an offence that his memory had misled him. The next charge was that the captain was guilty of careless navigation in not taking soundings and reducing speed when Moeraki light was lost and Taiaroa not picked up. lie submitted that whether 6Uch action should be taken must depend on the circumstances as they presented themselves to the people on the ship at the time. All the circumstances existing at that time must bo considered. Tho question wag not whether, if the captain had <fano such-and-such, tho accident would not have happened; but- whether ho ought to have done it. Tho evidence was overwhelming that up to the moment of striking it was clear seawards for three or four miles. It was imsee the invisible white fog covering Taiaroa Head. There was a view for three or four miles ahead, which gave no occasion for the ship to, employ fog signals itself. Bearings were taken at tho only possible placo aftor sunset—namely, from Moeraki. The compasses were accurately chocked. It was said that they should have taken soundings or rcduccd speed after losing Moeraki.. That would mean that from 2 a.m. (when Moeraki was lost) they should have started and kept on taking soundings all the way down the coast, and reducing speed ako, which was absurd. Ho therefore took it that Iho question of procautions referred to when the first fog signal was heard. The fog was lying like a cap over the Pleads —aiot an unusual phenomenon, it seemed. One of tho most reliable testimonies to the fact that there wao no fog round tho ship, and that tho master was manoeuvring in a clear sea, was that tho chief engineer, within two or three minutes of the ship striking, having received the order for "dead slow," and having como on deck to discover the reason for this order, had said "Is it fog?" in such a way as left no doubt that ho saw no fog. In circumstances where there was no fog, and tho captain believed himself some die--IJce Otago Heads, oould it be reasonably urged that there was need for soundings or for turning the shin's head to sea? On tho court resuming at 2.15, Mr Hoscontinuing, addressed himself to the question of fog, and whether the vessel should have been turned to 6Ca. The first fog .corroborated tho distance the captain thought he had to run. His experience was that ho could hear such a ,fog signal for nine miles, and, not knowing of the cap of fog over the land (which stifled the sound), he assumed his position from his bearing, and concluded that he was seven miles off the Heads. In fact, the fog signal proved a trap to him. In relying upon the fog signal the captain was relying upon what it was customary to steer vessels from point to point by. ' But the fog signal at tho Heaas was not reliable. Counsel argued that the question whether one should stop the ship depended upon tho hearing of the signal and the bearing he expected to be on. In the circumstances which hfjd been revealed there was neither occasion to anchor nor to turn to sea. He did not know if lie could elaborate the question any further, Tho evidence was simplo. The Akaroa miscalculation was cancelled by the bearing taken at Moeraki. He had so far dealt with three points put to the court. With regard to the master's certificate, it would be seen in the Act that in order to canccl a certificate tho mishap must, be proved to he due to the roaster's wrongful neglect or default. It did not follow because the captain might bo answered • against on any of the points that that implied him guilty of wrongful, neglect or default. (Counsel quoted "Morton on Wrccks" to elucidate tills contention.) In determining whether the captain had btwn guilty of n&gligenoc, the court, he submitted, would have to judge whether a reasonably careful navigator would have taken any further precautions than_ the captain did. In conclusion, ho said that the evidence was affirmatively in favour of the captain having dono what a careful navigator might have been expected to do in the circumstances. , THE SECOND OFFICER'S POSITION. Mr Hanlon asked whether, in view of the evidence given by the second and third omocrs, there was any necessity for hini to address tho court.

The President replied that the court did not desire .to hear Mr Hanlon. MR ERASER'S ADDRESS. Mr Fraser regretted that ho could not allow any feeling of sympathy for the captain to interfere with his duty. If as his friend Mr Hosking said, tho captain had done all a competent and expericDcod navigator could do, it was a 6orry look-out for life and property afloat on this coast. The master had given a very straightforward story. He had apparently concealed nothing and had told his story with a frankness thai carried conviction with it, and had not his evidence been stamped with that characteristic he (Mr Fraser) was very much afraid he could not have accepted his statements as to the method bv which he had arrived at tho distance between Akaroa and Taiaroa Head. He (Mr Fraser) was pre- ' pared to accept tho statement, but ho could pot refrain from expressing tho opinion that it was not a right and proper method for a prudent master to adopt to ascertain his distances. To take a glance at a partially opened almanac was not a proper way of arriving at an actual fact. Moreover, he had had the chart before him. The court would bear an mind that lie (Mr Fraser) had beforo him the chart- belonging to the steamer upon winch tJie course was worked. The court must bear in mind that tho log was put over at Akaroa, and that any master commercing his voyage look his distances by his log and by observation, and at subsequent dates ho had the distances logged upon the chart. He charted tin's distanco forward from the last log lie took, so that ho had before him the distances ran, in this qsc 147J miles. The master in this case had in his ewe 70 souls, and a valuable ship and cargo, and ho could scarcely complain if he was judged by the standard of ordinary prudence. As to the bearings, that was a matter ho (counsel) must leave to tho nautical assessors. Whether they were correctly taken or not, he could not express on opinion. The log had run with accuracy from Akaroa to Taiaroa Head. His (Mr Frasor's) friend's position was that tho captain had run 149 miles by the chart, and had logged 125£ miles, so that assuming the bearings to be correct it was clear that lie was 'facing a currcnt that was registered by tho Jog. Then there was tho curious fact that tho master did not appear to have hauled m the log for observation. He had held. on to the course in which ho intended to come to an anchorage. The final reading of it was 146 miles, His friend put it that the vessel had gained seven miles by tho curand he (Mr Fraser) was not in n position to say whether that wns a contributing cause. He thought it wn« quite possible that there was a current. It might be a contributing cause, but it wr.it not in any way accountable for tho loss of tho vessel. , It was admitted that when abreast of Moeraki the light was shut out. and there was apparently some doubt in the master's mind as to how far lie was off shore. He was then going 11.5 miles, and there was not the slightest necessity for him to keep up a hirrh speed. When ho got within a radius of Taiaroa light he knew that also was obscured. He was familiar with any weakness of tho light. Yet lw went on at full speed in complete ignorance, is far as any lights were concerned. The lino was charted from Moernki light downwards, and the captain had d deep sea pounding apparatus which ho could Imvo used with nnv speed whatever. He had at his disposal the means of determining his position. He knew tho running of the vessel was 11.5 miles, yet lie had neglected to take the precaution of usmg tho means at his disposal. nnd had ended up where he had. With all lights obscured the master was rushiilg along within ti 10 mile radius. Ho wns apparently Spending upon tho fog signal. The coast ins

shrouded in fog, and the captain was unable to get any indication of his position from tho land. He was relying upon his 'bearings and heaving, which at best ,was hazardous work, while below him he had tho certain determination of his position, and it was surprising that he had neglected to use so obvious a precaution as sounding. Locating the sound of the signals on the starboard bow should have indicated to him that he was out of his course or that he was to tho eastward. If ho heard the sound l on the starboard bow he should have known that he-was to tho eastward, and it was his bounden duty to take soundings. The question as to whether Waliinc Point was out one way or another liad nothing to do with it. Latterly he was going dead slow, and could have cast his hand lead. But the only soundings taken were taken after _ the vessel went ashore. Giving the captain the benefit of the current, ,it did not help him. Counsel commented on tho fact taking a master's responsibilities into consideration, his position was not ■ adequately. remunerated. Ho contended that with lights shut oui; it was the master's duty to take soundings all the way. If he mm taken sounding? within 15 miles of iaioroa Heads lie would have saved his ship. Counsel concluded by asking that all costs of the inmiirv be borne by tho master,

Mr Hosking said costs might bo ordered to be paid by (he Minister, cr the person charged, or they might be apportioned, or dealt with as the court might think fit. Tf the result of tho inquiry was that something further should be> done at the hrr' 1 - and the captain was ordered to pay the costs, the Government would be getting •tho benefit of , a snec.al inquiry at the captain's expense. The President reminded Mr ,Eraser'that he had made no reference to the second officer. ' t Mr Eraser replied that tho charged a-gainst the second officer lad boon justified (n the first evidence given by him, and answered by his second evidence. The President said the court would make a formal pronouncement as to the second offirer, and. it would endeavour to give its decision next morning-.