THE THAMES DISASTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2320, 18 August 1898, Page 55

THE THAMES DISASTER.

APPALLING SOJEJS'ES.

THE FINE DEEDS OF HEROISM.

The following account of the terrible catastrophe which occurred on the Thames on June 21, by the London correspondent of the Melbourne Argus, was telegraphed to that journal from Albany : —

A tragic accident followed the launching of the battleship Albion, at the yard of the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, at Blackwall, on June 21. The disaster is comparable only to that which occurred in connection with the Princess Alice 21 years ago, or that attending the launch of the Daphne, on the Clyde, in 1883. An unusually large number of spectators attended, as it was known that the Duke and Duchess of York would assist in the ceremony. Twenty thousand people were admitted to the yard, on the invitation of the company, though only 3000 were accommodated ,on the stagings which had been erected. This alone caused a great rush to every .point of vantage. The manager of the yard has since acknowledged that any respectably dressed person wvs admitted without a ticket, so that it was safe to estimate the attendance as at least 30,000.

The wives, daughters, and friends of the artisans employed flocked in, as great pri:le was felt in the fact that the Thames Ironworks Company had built one of the largest battleships in the British navy, and was constructing the huge Japanese warship, the Shikishima, the largest in the world. It was hopeless to expect a force of 70 policemen to control an excited crowd of such dimensions. The policemen were posted in the specially dangerous places, but the crowd received their warnings jocosely, 1 believing that they M-ere merely attempts to keep the best of the unreserved spots for favoured individuals. Even when the spots where the backwash was liable to reach were repeatedly cleared, fresh swarms of sightseers appeared, and when the moment of the launch came it Mas found impossible to dislodge them.

As a matter of fact no real danger was anticipated. The Japanese warship Fuji had been recently launched there without mishap, and probably the same good fortune would have attended the Albion's ceremony had not the terrific speed with which the vessel went off caused a much greater backwash than was anticipated. The manager of the yard admits that the launch had to be accelerated, as the Albion was going off by herself. A distinguished company witnessed the Duchess of York perform the ceremony of christening the ves.se], and amongst tie guests were Mr Gosehen, First Lord of the Admiralty; Sir William PI arcourt, leader oi" the Liberal party ; the American, Japanese, Turkish, and Dutch ambassadors ; RearAdmiral Lord Charles Beresford, Sir W. H. White, director of the Navy constructiqn ; Lord Brassey and his son, the Hon. T. A. Brassey, and many members of Parliament.

LAUNCHING THE VESSEL

The Albion is a class of warship combining the protected cruiser and armoured battleship. Her length is 390 ft, and her displacement 12,950 tons. The vessel was garlanded, and her yards were gay with bunting. The launch was effected successfully. The Duchess of York severed the silken cord, and as the last blocks under the keel were removed the Albion took the water quietly, but with unusual rapidity. Just as the vast concourse of spectators were shouting to the accompaniment of innumerable whistles and sirens a number of persons, estimated at from 100 to 200, suddenly found themselves struggling ior life in the water.

THE CATASTROPHE,

So swiftly and noiselessly did the thing occur that persons only a few yards away remained in perfect ignorance, while the shrieks of the drowning people were lost in the general clamour of the moment. Many visitors heard only after their return to town of the catastrophe that had occurred in the yard that they had just left.

It seems that between the slip on which the AJbiou was built- and that occupied by "the Japanese battleship in process of construction there was an inlet, or creek, spanned by a light wooden bridge, for the convenience of workmen passing from one part of the yard to another. It consisted of standards, about 9ih in diameter, 6ft in width, and Bft apart. These were fixed tof ether at the top by spalls, strengthened y struts. There was a hand-rail in front to prevent people from falling into the river, and along the top were pitch-pine planks, about 3£in thick, running longitudinally.

The launch tool? place at high water, and at that time the platform-staging was about 3ft 6in above the water-level. The gangway would be from sft to 6ft wide, and the piece that subsided was from 80ft to 100 ft long. This bridge, never having been intended to carry a crowd, was conspicuously marked "Dangerous." Moreover, a wall inside the area was also declared dangerous on account of the great wave which the launching ship would inevitably produce. The policemen did their best to enforce the regulations and -warn the people off the bridge and the dangerous area, but the crowd refused to give heed to their warnings. HOW IT HAPPENED. 'Accounts differ as to what actually happened, but the best authenticated version is that the backwash swept up the narrow inlet and carried away the structure with its living load. So mighty was the uprush of water that a man declared that it- went clear over him while he yet stood on the bridge. An eye-witness of the catastrophe writes: "I was on the stand, commanding a splendid view of the launch. The ship was coming straight towards us, and when about half her length had entered the water there ,arose a series of most heartrending shrieks. which could be heard distinctly above the loud notes of the sirens screaming on the steamers. Attention was immodjatoiy turned in the direction of the slip, and there, on the port side, the huge platform, with its load of liumau beings, was clisau-

pearing beneath the backwash of the vessel. Women fainted in all directions, but were pased unnoticed in the intense desire to know what had happened. I pushed my way along the Avharf, and came to near the end of the quay. Here, with the aid of a field-gla&s, I could see hundreds of people struggling in the water. Dozens of men jumped from the platform and quays and swam to the assistance of the unfortunate people, while steamboats, police-boats, and every available craft were piloted past the great ship to the spot. As fast as possible unconscious persons vere handed to willing helpers on the shore. Many hundreds sought to render, to the apparently drowned, first aid, as laid down by the Royal Humane Society. I saw three women taken out in succession, all apparently dead, though the efforts of those on shore were requisitioned to try and restore life. A child was also brought ashore, and a painful sensation ran through the crowd as the little body was carried into a shed. Many boats, with two, three, and even more unconscious forms in them, were towed, out into the river, and rowed as fast as possible to the Greenwich Hospital, and to points up and down the river."

THE RESCUE WORK.

The Duke and Duchess of York remained chatting after the ceremony for nearly half an hour, then rejoined their steamer and returned to Westminster, oblivious of 'lie terrible accident which had cost 36 lives, including 25 women and girls. A scene of the wildest confusion followed. People rushed about shrieking and calling for help. The fact that these cries were not heard by those taking part in the launching ceremoivj- only a short distance away was no doubt due to the enthusiastic cheers which were being given, and some little time elapsed before the rescue work began ; but as soon as attention was drawn to -what had happened the men on the tugs and the other boats set to work with great energy, and rescued a large number of the struggling people. Several of the spectators, with great courage, dived into the water and rescued many people. One brave rescuer relates the following story: — "My brother and I took off our coats and waistcoats and jumped into the struggling mass. I kept diving under the spars and anywhere where I thought a body might be found, and my brother and I brought up five people, three of whom were alive and two dead. One woman pulled me

beneath the water, and I should probably have been drowned, but assistance was at hand, and we were hauled up just in the nick of time."

There were several persons taken out in an apparenily lifeless condition, and immediately conveyed away to the sheds in the yards and attended to.

PATHETIC INCIDENTS.

Within half an hour eight bodies were recovered and taken to a shed, which was turned into a temporary mortuary. Half-drowned girls and women were removed to the fitters' shed, and attended l.y the firemen and several nurses, who were soon on the scene.

A mother with a baby in her arms was rescued, but she was wild with grief when she discovered that the baby she thought she had saved was dead.

A young sailor with the greatest pluck saved five or six drowning persons. Another declares that, with men, women, and children all around him in the water, he found one woman clinging to his neck and himself desperately trying to uphold the woman and her baby.

Heartrending scenes meantime had been taking place at the approaches to the yard. The wildest rumours had got afloat, and people ran wildly about asking for news of friends, while many touching scenes were witnessed when some lost one was found to be safe.

A man who was at work on the Albion saw the accident without knowing that his own son was in the water. This ignorance on the part of one section of the crowd of what was happening to the other is the saddest feature of the disaster.

When the electric lights were turned on in the mortuary a young working engineer who had helped to instal the lamps saw the bodies of his mother and his newlymarried sister arnontr the corpses. His fathei and brother-in-law presently came in and witnessed the same awful spectacle.

SYMPATHY FROM THE QUEEN.

The Queen promptly sent a message, in which she said that she spoke for the whole nation in her expression of sorrow at the disa&ter.