HARBOUR TRAGEDY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23955, 2 November 1939, Page 6

HARBOUR TRAGEDY

SINKING OF TRAWLER EVIDENCE OF BATTERY ATTENDANTS SERGEANT-MAJOR’S ALLEGATION CHANGE IN GUN SETTING (Per United Press Association; CHRISTCHURCH, Nov. 1. The inquest concerning the death of Mr F. J. Brasell, owner and master of the trawler Dolphin, was concluded at Lyttelton before the coroner (Mr F F. Reid, S.M.). The deceased met his death on October 12 when the Dolphin was shot at from Battery Point arid sunk. He received injuries which prevented him from saving himself, and he went down in the trawler. His companion, Mr W. H. Willman, was rescued. ~ „ The coroner found that Mr Brasell died at Lyttelton from drowning, plus shock. He added that the -signal from the battery was seen but not understood. A warning shot was fired which struck the launch in the engine room, a piece of metal from the engine striking Brasell. The coroner said it was not his duty to comment on the procedure adopted by the examination vessel or whether there was any negligence. Mr Willman had done everything possible for Mr Brasell. Instructions to Fishermen Giving evidence, Captain James Plowman, harbour master at Lyttelton, said he, was chief examination officer. Two advertisements had been inserted in the Christchurch newspapers giving instructions to fishing craft. It was stated that if the examination vessel was not at its station the man in charge of a small boat should wait its arrival Instructions had been received that the vessel was to come into port each day, but no provision had been made for relief when she was off the station Mr Brasell had called at his office and he had been told what was required and was fully aware of the procedure. Mr C. S, Thomas (for Mrs Brasell): Knowing your allegation that some fishermen approacliea you ueiore uie accident for instructions, Mr Martin, of the Seamen’s Union, called a meeting of all fishermen in port. The men present said they had not asked >ou for such instructions before the accxdGCaptain Plowman replied that he rememoered some fishermen approaching Henry Willman said the Dolphin was returning to Lyttelton about 1.45 p.m. “As we proceeded down the harbour,” added witness, “ we were on the lookout for-the patrol boat. We could not see anything of the vessel. We decided to steam towards Battery Point for the purpose of calling out to those in charge at the battery and give our identity, as well as to inquire if it would be all right for us to proceed into Lyttelton. We were not flying any signals as the examination vessel was not present and we did not know what signals we were required to fly. _ Signalling From Battery "At that time I could clearly see men at the guns at Battery Point.” witness continued. “ I could also see that some of the men were waving flags, and 1 took it to mean they may have been calling on us to stop. We had been steaming at an angle towards Battery Point for a distance of about two miler before there was an explosion on board When the explosion occurred we would be approximately 75 yards off Battery Point, “Following immediately on the explosion,” witness said,, “ Mr Brasell spun round and said, ‘They have shot me.’ He then drew my attention to the fact that the port side had been shot away amidship. Witness saw Mr Brasell’s left leg bleeding profusely. Mr Brasell drew witness’s attention to the fact that the launch was sinking fast. He asked me to take my sea boots off. Mr Brasell added: ‘ We are done; she’s sinking by the bow.’ He then fainted. The launch sank, and I had to grab the mast. The last I saw of Mr Brasell was as he was being washed into the engine room. I came up amongst the wreckage, and then saw a buoy, to which I clung until rescued by members of the examination vessel about half an hour later.” During the last war, if the examination boat was not present they approached the fort, witness said. He had told Thomas Brasell he was very nervous of being shot at, but had not said anything of asking Captain Plowman for instructions. Battery Officer’s Orders Second-lieutenant V. A. Smith, of the 23rd Battery, said he was on duty at the battery observation post on October 12 when a trawler came inside the heads and approached the examination area. He instructed the signallers to send “ Stop ” both with lamp and semaphore and to send it slowly. The trawler did not make any indica-

tion that she had seen the signal, but continued on over the examination area. Witness rang Major Mitchell and received instructions to carry on. He gave the alarm signal, witness added, and carried on the normal procedure. The orders were: “ Target, trawler moving right. Plugged shell. Right deflection two owe (20) minutes.” This was corrected by the ser-geant-major at the command post, who gave “ Right deflection two degrees.” Witness did not think it necessary to cancel his last order as he heard the sergeant-major give the order. Witness then sent the order to lire and observed the shell strike the vessel. He communicated with the Navy Office, and the examination vessel after several minutes came into the harbour. He did not see anybody on the trawler. Two degrees was the standing order. He expected the reading on the sights to be two degrees in accordance with his orders. No efforts were made to render assistance from the battery as they had no facilities, added witness. He had confidence in the gunlayer, but he did not know much about the gun setter. If the orders had been properly carried out the shot would .not have hit the vessel. Mr Thomas: You really have no doubt that some error crept in. Witness: I would not bo prepared to say that. “A Mistake was Made ” The coroner, entering his notes of the cross-examination of Second-lieu-tenant Smith, then asked witness whether, and witness agreed, his statement on this point could be correctly set down thus: “I offer no explanation than that a mistake was made in the execution of the orders given, although I cannot say what the mistake was.” Mr Brown, examining witness, asked; The order passed on from you by the sergeant-major was a reasonable and proper order? Witness: Yes. It was, definitely. The order I gave down was an error, but I know the sergeant-major passed on the correct one. Sergeant-major’s Actions Sergeant-major James Patrick O’Connor said that he was advised by Second-lieutenant V. A. Smith that there was a boat coming in that might have to be stepped. He had the battery manned. He placed Bombardier Mclvor as No. 1, Gunner Grundy as layer for line, Gunner Cotton as layer for- elevation and Gunner Rolton as setter. Witness went to the position of sight setter and personally set the deflection at “ Right two degrees, and instructed the setter he was not to move it under any consideration. Witness then gave the order “Cartridge only, load,” and 1 then proceeded to the command post to act as section commander and receive the fire orders Witness gave out the fire orders, which were “Target, launch moving right, two degrees.” He next ordered No. 1 to check the setting of the deflection scale and to move in the rear of the gun and check the gun for fire. He then ordered “Fire” and he looked ahead for a splash. A moment or two later he observed that the Dolphin had been hit. He advised the officer to call a tug. , His first examination after the accident, witness said, was that of the scale, which read “Left 10 minutes. He questioned the setter if that was where he had set it. He replied No. Witness then turned the deflection scale to “right 2 degrees,” He made the remainder of the detachment move clear. Lieutenant Symons and Major Mitchell arrived on the gun platform and witness requested them to test the sights for line. The setter, on examination, said he had altered the setting but gave no explanation for his act. Wheo witness examined it he had expected to find “ right, 2 degrees.” There was an order from the battery commander as “Two owe minutes.” This was incorrect, and witness gave the order “ two degrees.” The order " two owe minutes ” was not passed on to the gun. The actual check for line was made by No. 1 in the rear of the gun. Witness first inspected the deflection scale. The time would not be,more than three seconds from the time of checking to the time of firing. It would not be possible for the layer to take off “two degrees right.” The shell should have passed at least 20 yards ahead of the ship at that range. In witness’s opinion the cause of the vessel being hit was that the deflection scale was not set correctly or that the layer was at fault. It was quite impossible that the deflection dial would move when the gun was fired. The gun crew did not leave the gun after firing. They were amazed. “ Someone must have got bustled and made a mistake,” witness concluded. He had tested the equipment on the previous afternoon and it was in order. Signalled Fifty Times Leslie Fosbender, a gunner in the 23rd Heavy Battery, said that in • accordance with instructions he signalled the fishing vessel in semaphore to stop, but received no recognition of his signals. The boat was about on the examination line when he started signalling. He sent the word “Stop” more than 50 times. Maurice Henry Quinn, a bombardier in the same battery, stated that he was keeping the depression range-finder on the bow of the boat. He was concentrating on this and was not paying attention to anything else. When the ship came in she appeared to be making for Little Port Cooper and then appeared to come straight for Battery Point. Here witness’s statement, which was being read over in court, referred to his having signalled the vessel. Witness interrupted the reading and said that he was not signalling. Mr Thomas Ho the coroner): That is just what will happen. Suppose a nervous witness was in the box and his statement was read over to him and he said “Yes. that’s right,” when it was in fact wrong?