SAVED BY WIRELESS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17973, 28 June 1920, Page 6

SAVED BY WIRELESS

(Feom Oub Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, June 16. It is not pleasing to imagine what would have been the plight of "the disabled steamer Havre if she had not been equipped with Marconi apparatus. She would have become one of those historio cases of the mysterious disappearance of a vessel, and she might have drifted for many weeks on the high seas without being picked up by other vessels. The plight of a vessel drifting helplessly, unable to make her position known or_ call for any assistance, is a very serious thinsr to contemplate. Being unable to steer, and so keep head on to the seas, she might at any time be caught beam on in the trough of a wave and capsized, and oven if she remained afloat her crew would suffer the terrors of hunger, thirst, and cold.

Fortunately this vessel, although of only small tonnage, and manned with a few hands, carried a Marconi equipment bv means of which she was able to notify her plight instantaneously to the wireless stations on shore. -

Immediately the news was received arrangements were made to send out relief from Sydney in the form of the tug boat Ohampion. A remarkable engineering feat was performed by Mr P. Moore Farmer and other members of the staff of Amalgamated Wireless (Limited) in equipping this tug boat with a complete wireless' installation in the space of eight or 10 hours. In order to .be certain of maintaining communication with such a small vessel, Mr Farmer volunteered to man the Champion's wireless, station' himself. The tug boat maintained communication every day from the time she left Sydney with the wireless stations on shore, and she was able to bd kept informed of the position of the disabled ship. She was also in frequent communication with the Havre, but that could not be regularly maintained because thq Havre had to conserve her electric power for reporting her position to Sydney. This information, however, was easily relayed from Sydney to the Champion. The extreme difficulty in picking up a disabled vessel on the high seas was shown by tho fact that, even with the aid of wireless communication, the tug boat was at sea for several days before she actually took the disabled steamer in tow. This, of course, was due to_ no shortcoming in thd wireless, but the difficulty of navigating a small boat on tho high ecas and steering to a ccrtain position of latitude and longitude. Unfortunately, the Champion's departure from Sydney could not bo delayed long enough to equip her with a wireless compass. If she had had the benefit of this marvellous invention, by me.ans of which the direction from which wireless messages aro sent pan bo ascertained, she could have 6teered direct to the Havre without having to rely upon the usual methods of observing the sim, the stare, and the magnetic compass.

On Thursday, June 10, a further call was made upon tho Amalgamated Wireless Company to meet an emergency in equipping tho tug boat Heroic, which was to put to sea to assist tho Champion. As a result of the splendid efforts of Mr D. Campbell, equipment superintendent of the company, the Heroic was completely fitted with Marooni apparatus in a record time, and one of the company's most experienced operators (Mr W. J. Washbourno) volunteered t<j go to sea in charge of the equipment. Although hurriedly fitted, and with nemo of the special _ arrangements necessary fop permanent equipment, both these tug boats hayo done excellent work in maintairmg daily oommunicaton with Sydney, in spita of their small size and the distance they had to cover. ' !