BLAZING SHIP DRAMA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22114, 18 November 1933, Page 17

BLAZING SHIP DRAMA

CREW’S GALLANT FIGHT THRILLING RACE FOR SHORE. A blazing ship in a Heavy sea; gallant efforts by the crew to subdue the flames; the beaching of the still burning vessel; the rescue of the 24 members of the crew by the Gorleston lifeboat and two explosions and sheets of flame in the darkness of the night. These were the elements in a sea drama which thrilled a watching throng of holiday-makers at Yarmouth on September 14. The ship was the British steamer Porthcawl, and the fire broke out in her cargo of esparto grass. Great heroism was displayed by the wireless operator, Mr M'Mullan, of Glasgow, who, despite the flames, continued to send out messages throughout the afternoon. Finally he was driven out of his room by the lire. The Porthcawl, a vessel of 2481 tons, was on her way from North Africa to the Firth of Forth. The cargo was found to be on tire when lu miles southeast of Cromer. The grass, which is highly inflammable, blazed up at once, and in a few minutes the ship was a raging inferno. The crew got the hoses going, but the fire spread all over the bunkers, and eventually reached No. 2 hold. When that began to burn it was decided to turn the Porthcawl back to Yarmouth. Tfte S.O.S. messages were picked up by a Harwich tug, and the Gorleston and Cromer lifeboats went to the Porthcawl’s assistance.' Just before the beaching of the vessel abreast of Caister, near Yarmouth,"the crew took off in her boat and were rescued by the Gorleston lifeboat, Captain Harrison, the skipper, being the last to leave the ship. The Porthcawl continued to be a “ huge bonfire,” after she was beached, and provided a magnificent spectacle for the people who crowded the promenade. Two loud explosions took place. No tugs could remain near her because of the intense heat. Flames leapt from stem to stern, lighting up the rough seas. Early the following morning she was still blazing fiercely, and was expected to continue burning for many hours. “One and a-half miles away at our station we heard the roar of {lie fire, and then there was a terrific explosion,” a Yarmouth coastguard said. “ W T e thought one of the masts had crashed, but they were still standing. It was probably the ship’s supply of rockets and signals. Her sides were red hot, and tongues of flames leapt from the holds. The hatches had probably burned away. Grass which was loaded on deck burned like a haystack, making the ship appear like a roaring furnace set in a black sea.”

Lloyd’s agents at Yarmouth, who had been instructed to co-operate with Captain Harrison in efforts to extinguish the fire, went out in a tug equipped with powerful pumps. The tug tried her best, but could not get near enough to do anything effective. A graphic account of the crew’s fight with the flames while trying to reach shore was given by the second officer, Mr William Lyle. “We were just passing the Cockle lightship, to the north of Caister,” he said, “when smoke suddenly appeared from the port bunkers. The fire alarm was given at once, yet before the hose-pipes were brought into action great tongues of flame appeared. We made desperate attempts to isolate the fire, but the breeze fanned the blaze in spite of our efforts and we decided to try to get back to Yarmouth. “ The crew worked like heroes. Clouds of smoke made our eyes smart and hampered our efforts, and as we moved slowly toward Yarmouth on our own power the heat became unbearable. We threw off our shirts and pumped water continuously on the fire. The captain said he would remain until there was not a hope left, and the whole of the cargo and the forecastle was.blazing fiercely before wo beached the ship and took to the ship’s lifeboat.” The rescue of the crew was described by Mr W. Halsnagth, coxwain of the Gorleston lifeboat. “The men were in a terrible state of exhaustion when we took them aboard from the Porthcawl’s boat,” he stated. “Many of them were as black as negroes with the smoke. Their eyes wore running 'and the perspiration was running on their sootblackened faces.

“It was an awe-inspiring sight to see the blazing ship coming slowly through (lie water. Wo stood by for about half an hour before the crew left, and we could see them battling with the Haines. They stayed until the very last minute possible. Then the Porthcawl was beached on Caister sandbank, and the crew put off in their boat and we picked them up.” Tribute was paid to Captain Harrison for getting his vessel within a few hundred yards of the shore. Mr F. F. Roberts, a member of the crew of the Caister lifeboat, said that only a man who knew the coast well could have done it. “To reach the inner shoal, where he beached, Captain Harrison had to get round the difficult Barear sand,” said Mr Brown. “It was a fine bit of seamanship.”