LIEUTENANT WILSON'S ACCOUNT Off THE CALAMITY. Auckland, March 31.

Otago Witness, Issue 1950, 4 April 1889, Page 1

LIEUTENANT WILSON'S ACCOUNT Off THE CALAMITY. Auckland, March 31.

Lieutenant Wilson, of the warship Vandalia, arrived in Auckland by the Mariposa, haying beta sent by Admiral Kimberley to forward information of the calamity ' to Washington by cable, In a narrative of the wrecking, Lieutenant Wilson says that at daylight nothing could be seen of the Eber, whilst the Adler was on the reef on her beam ends. The other ships were sawing about under the influence of wind and sea. The Vandalia met strong crosscurrents, and it was with the greatest difficulty that she was brought up head to wind ; but the strain upon her anchors was bo great that she then began to drag. At one time it became necessary to cross the bow of the Calliope, otherwise the two vessels must have fouled. Whilst the ships were crossing the Calliope was obliged to go astern as far as possible whilst the Vandalia was forcing herself ahead. It seemed almost certain that the Calliope's boom would cut through the stern of the Vandalia before the latter warship got across, and she had almost a miraculous escape, the management of both ships being very skilful. As it was a collision was averted by about only one foot, • the quarter of the CalliQpe cutting some 2ft in the light framework on the Vaudalia's quarter gallery. Directly after this the Calliope slipped, her chain and went to sea. This proved the salvation of that vessel and all onboard. The Vandalia continued to drag, and was carried in shore by the wind and sea. It was only by constant watching on the part of Captain Schumacher that she was kept off the reef. An ■effort was made to beach her in tha-safestpos-sible place, and this would probably have been successful were it not that the Olga came up on the starboard beach, and was in imminent danger of crushing into her. In order to save both , ahipa the Vandalia dropped astern, and had just cleared the Olga when she was-struck broadside . on by the sea and carried on to a soft, sandy bottom just beyond the reef. Once in this position all hope cf saving the Vandalia was' over, but the engines were kept going as long as. they had any effect on the ship. The men in the firing room stayed by their fires to the last. . The seaß, which were now running very heavily, swept over the ship from stem to stern, carrying away the boats and clearing the decks. Tne men were forced to take refuge on the topgallant forecastle and on the quarterdeck. The last boat swamped before it could be lowered away, so that all means of communicating with the shore or other vessels was cut off. The idea of firing rockets and shooting a line , by that means was attempted, buff as everybody and everything in th v ship were thoroughly soaked, no means of lighting a rocket could be found. The ship commenced to settle, and every succeeding sea lifted her up and 'carried her further in shore, until she rested on the bottom of the harbour, where heavy seas broke over her, making it almost impossible for anybody to hold on. Many of the men and gome officers then took to swimming, while the captain, executive officers, and others, still remained on the poop deck. The distance from shore could not have been more than 150 yds, but the heavy sea which was running into the harbour made the intervening^ water a perfect whirlpool. One man, coxswain Hanamon, jumped overboard without orders, taking with him the end of aline, and tried to reach the shore. He was a powerful swimmer, but the sea was too heavy, and he was lost before he had got 50yds from the ship. He was soon followed by the boatswain's mate, Merrage, also a powerful swimmer, and a man of perfect fearlessness/ who made another vain attempt to ,£arry a lino ashore, but was also drowned before he could cover half the distance. From time to time a man with a life preserver would leave the ship and attempt to reach the shore, and three out of every four who did so were either drowned close to the ship, or carried put to sea by the strength of the current. A number of men succeeded in reaching the Nipsic, which was beached close to where the Vaudalia lay, and from that vessel it was comparatively an easy matter to gain the shore: Just as Captain Schumacher was about to take to the rigging a sea which swept the poop deck caught him and threw him against a Gatling gun and at the same time carried him overboard, and he was drowned in view of all those who were on the Vandalia. A thousand were offered to any man who could get a line to the ship. One of the natives was , drowned in the attempt to earn this reward, and no amount of persuasion could induce others to make the effort. Many swung from the rigging of the Vandalia into that of the Trenton. Some in their effort to make this precarious leap, being weakened by exposure and by con- . stantly holding on to the rigging, were unable to maintain their grasp on the ropes, fell between the vessels and perished. : Lieutenant Wilson himself narrowly escaped drowning in this way. He fell twice into the water between the Van- ' ' , dalia and Trenton, and would undoubtedly have been lost had he not been gallantly rescued by a sailor from the Trenton, who risked his life and . hauledhimonboard the American flagship. A few seconds after; this the mainmast of the Vandalia '\ went by the board, the mizzen-mast having been previously carried away, and several who were : clinging to it were drowned. Very few of the bodies of those drowned came ashore, and by the latest acconnts only 13 had been recovered, including the bodies of Captain Schumacher and Paymaster Armes. ' . The Calliope,, which put to sea during the gale, returned to Apia the following Monday ' morning, haying sustained some slight damaged She lost two or three boats, sprung the foreyard, and sustained slight damage to this bull. She took in coal as quickly, as possible, aDcl left -•, on Wednesday for Sydney. One of the German i--£ -i officers took passage id the Calliope for Sydney to forward despatches to Berlin. Captain - SehumacHer was an officer of excellent record, and had been 35. ;^ajrBjn^.the^srVice;!i\.He.tcibk.J command of the" Vandaiia about a year ago at "/ '■":, Honolulu. He leaves a wife and three chUdreu

in Kingston, New York. Paymaster Armes was a native of New London, Connecticut. He leaves a wife and two children. Lieutenant Sutton and Pay-clerk J. Roach were both single men. The latter was one of the oldest and most able pay-clerks in the service. He wa<j a brother of Mr Roach, editor of the Boston Pilot. Paymaster Yeoman, who' was also lost, was a native of Baltimore.