EXCITING INCIDENT AT SEA;
Her Majesty's ship Tenedos is homeward bound, after four years in the Pacific station. On July 20, according to the English newspapers, she was making for the Gulf of Penas, when the gale sprang up which made Cape Tresinontes on lee shore. .Towards night it moderated, and . Captain Pollard, before turning in for the . night, ordered fires to be banked, aad^ -the ship to proceed under topsail. She went spinning on at nine knots an hour, the shore being supposed to be thirty miles distant. About two in the morning, Lieut Graham, officer of the watch, . roused the Captain, saying he felt uneasy, and asking if the course should be changed or steam gob up. Captain Pollard, how-, ever, ordered to keep on the same course until four o'clock. Soon afterward land I was sighted close under the lee bow^ The ' helm was instantly ported, and the ship . was answering excellently, when the lookout man shouted, " Breakers on the starboard bow." Lieutenant Graham rushed forward, and through the intense darkness saw a gigantic rock right ahead about five hundred yards away. It was instantly seen that she could not clear it by passing towards the open sea, and whether there was any channel between the rock and the mainland could not even be guessed. To venture this was the only chance, however, and Graham, without one moment's reflection, had to act. He shouted, "Helm j hard starboard, square yards, clear lower deck, call the Captain." Every order was I obeyed with lightning alacrity, and there ensued a few moments of intense excitement and suspense. On rushed the Tenedos, apparently to certain destruction. Less than a minute after she swept through a narrow channel, almost grazing the huge rock on one side and within a hundred yards of the mainland on the other. As tea score men rushed up from below and saw how narrowly they had escaped destruction, even hardy sailors burst into tears, and Lieut. Graham was overwhelmed with thanks and congratulations.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW18770310.2.48.1
Bibliographic details
Otago Witness, Issue 1319, 10 March 1877, Page 21
Word Count
337EXCITING INCIDENT AT SEA; Otago Witness, Issue 1319, 10 March 1877, Page 21
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