CRUISING' YACHT SUNK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2860, 6 January 1909, Page 34

CRUISING' YACHT SUNK.

FOUNDERS IN TWENTY MINUTES.

A serious •shipping disaster, bwt happily unattended by loss of life, occurred in the Channel, off Dungeness. during a thick fog at about 8.30 on the morning of September 29, the Sieam cruising Argonaut, owned by the Co-operative Cruising Company (Ltd.), ' being run down and *unk by tha Kingsvvell, j a Newcastle steamer, of 2355 tons, laden I with iron ore. j The Argonaut, a smart and handsomelyequipped vessel of 3274 tons, left Tilbury Docks on the Monday evening on an 18 days' cruise in the Mediterranean, calling at Lisbon, Tangier, Gibraltar, and Algiers, and finishing at Marseilles. The cruise was in connection with Dt Lunn's tourist agency. The passengers numbered 140, and there was a crew of nearly a hundred. ' Early on the Tuesday morning, shortly J efter leaving the Thames estuary, the Argo- ■ naut ran into a thick fog, and was obliged I to jiroceed at a dead-slow rate. At 8.30, I when =he was 20 miles off Dungenefs, , the , Kmgcwell suddenly loomed out of the fog, , and before anything could be done to avert ! a collision crashed into the Argonaut's hows, tearing a sjreat hole in her below J the water-line. I After the collision the Argonaut's crew , Jowored I heir boat«. and all the passengers and the crew were safely transferred to the Kuig^well. As, however, the Kingsweli v.a-, hf:-x'lf seriously injured and leaking, n wa« doomed advisable that the Argonaut's passengers should return to their own boats, and that those should be taken into tow. Later on the Pteamer Southmoor i \wia met wnh, and wkh her aid all were , brought m safety to Dover, whence they proceeded to London by 6pecial train to- , waids e\ ening. j ; J»V INTERRUPTED BREAKFAST. I According to the pae-engers' accounts, til y were at breakfast when the collision <c r arrod. So severe was the impact that tlisv were hurled from their chaiie aerct-s tr-" 1 cabin*, and, naturally, a good deal of { nluim was felt. On rushing up on to the j deck tliev fou»vl that a I < rare steamer had I cia--!ied into tho forward pa-rt of the Argo- , liaut. The c'an;age apptviod to be fc-e'-iou?, j an-cl tLo \e-r>rl w ■!_■> apparently settling down by tho head T!ie captain and officers of | i:ic ship showed (he meat con:anendable c ohiefs in face of the di-'a&tor, arid, whjJsfc e\erything pcs&ib'o was done to aJlay the itlaim of tur> passenger, order-; were given for the immediate launching of the b'fe1 Lo'its and the issua of lifebelts. So quickly did the water gain upon the steamer that after a- few minutes (here could be no doubt that flic «sf doomed. In the meantime the boots had been very promptly launched. the pa&= enters and crew being all assembled on rlcck. The bouts wore filled with pa*?sen- | gers and got away, ia charge of members

of the crew, to the collier steamer. This vessel proved to be the Newcastle steamer Kingßwll, 2355 tons, belcn^mg to the Kingswell Staamship Company. The crew of* the" Argonaut worked hard. in order to get the passengers, to safety, for the situation was becoming every moment one of more imniinen.t peril. _ The last boatloads, indeed, were being shipped! as the" ship had got badly down and threatened every moment to founder. This made it all the more difficult to transfer the passengers to the beats. At last -they had *all been safely dealt with, and the rescue of the crew was then the" object of Captain Reedham, the officer commending, who, with his officers, was the UST TO LEAVE THE SINKING SHIP When the task of shipping the crew was begun there was no hope that the Argonaut could keep afloat jpany minutes longer. Only about 20 minutes elapsed! from the time that the Argonaut was struck until she foundered, and the hast© \yith which she bad to be abandoned by the passengers and crew wa3 shown by ■the fact that they all lost everything except the clothes they stood in. The Countess de Hamil de Manin hadf the misfortune to lose her jewel case, containing jewellery which she values at £6000. Having got on hoard the Kingsweli, the shipwrecked people had a new cause of anxiety, for this vessel was ako very badlydamaged. Fortunately, before long the fog lifted, and the London collier Southmoor was signalled. The passengers and crew of the Argonaut were ' once more transferred,, the Southmoor conveying them on to Dover. Everyone on board the- Argonaut was saved, and with the exception~of on© officer, who had a wound in the head, no one was injured. Five of the Argonaut's lifeboats were sent adrift, in the Channel after the shipwrecked people had been picked up, the others being towed into Dover by the Southmoor. As soon as the Southmoor entered Dover Harbour the shipwrecked people were transferred and landed at the Prince of Wales pier, whenoa they made their way to various hotels in the "town. A POHMEH ACCIDENT. The Argonaut has borne five names since she wa3 launched at London in 1879, having at various times been known as the Norfolk, the La Plata, the Orienta, and tha Norse King. This accident was the second that has befallen the Argonaut within little* mor© than a year. She was on a pleasure cruise* from Hull on August 12 of last year when, she went ashore at Vilnaesfjorden Askeyold, near Tfoondhjem, and: was damaged in her fore part. On that occasion she had on board 140 passengers, and was making the difficult passage of the fjords at the moment when she struck on the rocks. Fortunately the position was not dangerous; the passengers were afterwards taken, off by -a steamer fxom Bergen, and the Argonaut was soon afterwards refloated.