COLLISION IN SYDNEY HARBOUR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 66

COLLISION IN SYDNEY HARBOUR.

FUNERAL OF THE VICTIMS. SYDNEY. January 5. The steamer Dunniore collided •with a pinnace containing 70 bluejackets off Gaixien Island. • Fifteen bluejackets veie drowned. The Dumnore was moving from the north side of the harbour to load for . Woolloomooloo at the time of the colli- " sion. A slight haze overhung tbe water. The disaster was witnessed by the blue-ja-ofcets on the neighbouring warships at Garden Island. The scene is described as terrible. Men ■were shouting and struggling for help. f It is feared that a numbeT were injured "by the steamer's propeller. :- Divers from Garden Island quickly got to "work, and located the sunken boat. ■ They recovered the bodies of Evans, £ Hornsby, Bristowe, Outten, Dorm, Cun- ! mingham, and Gregory. A great crowd gathered -in the Domain, 1 - iratcbing tbe operations. Just what caused the disaster has not i. been levealed. The naval authorities are . , reticent until an inquiry has b?en held, ■while the Durunore proceeded to sea * shortly after the accident. ; The sea was smooth, and the day was el-ear, although there is said to have been . « slight haze at the time. From those aboard the Dunmore it is gathered that the captain gave one blast of the whistle when he saw the boats to indicate the course he was steering. He was satisfied that the pinnace would pass ■under the stern of the Dumnore, but suddenly the towing launch altered her courso and came across his bows. The pinnace was completely turned over by the impact. Those -who were crowded in the centre of her wei'e apparently stunned, and were unable to ; (help themselves. AH were heavily clothed, and weighted with ammunition and accoutrements. The men belonged to H.M.S. Encounter, wlrieh was lying alongside Garden Island. The victims were all Englishmen, and . all were unmarried except Gregory, who ■leaves a wife ar.d daughter in Liverpool. It is clear that many of those loat became entangled in the gear of the boat as she overturned. One body found in i>h« boat was held fast by the hand, and •{ another had his head and the calf of his . leg torn by the propeller. As manj' of the men who were drowned were good swimmers they must have been stunned by the impact. By 5 o'clock all bodies had been recovered with the exception of that of j Marsh. I As each body was found it was wrapped in a Union Jack and conveyed aboard the Encounter. The appalling nature of tine disaster caused a large assembly of people on the sloping ground of the Domain overlooking the scene. .bye-witnesses describe the scene as thrillinig. Men w&re struggling in the water, clutching wildly at floating oars or anything likely to keep them afloat. Fortunately there was plenty of assistance lit hand, and this prevented even a greater less of life. Fourteen men were actually drowned >utright, and the fifteenth (Gregory) was picked up hi a bad way and subsequently died. The survivor? state that when they saw that the situation was dangerous they shouted to the towing launch to cut the painter, but there was not time to do so, the Dunmore passing over the boat and through the floundering men. The disaster is about the worst on (record in Sydney Harbour. It created a profound sensation. An officer on the Encounter states that , it appeared as if the boat was suddenly folded together by the force of the collision. He thought it possible that the «i«u in the centre of the boat were squeezed in such a way that they sank at onoe. The hole in the boat is 3ft in width and 3ft in depth. All those who were drowned were be- . tween 19 and 21 years of age. Another eye -witness states that the boat seemed to be sucked under the steamer, ■■which passed right over it. He saw several throw up their hande, and sink i before assistance could reach them. r ' The- towing launch, though crowded with marines, did excellent rescue work. Many men reached the upturned boat. and clung to her and helped others on to fhft bottom, but the weight was too j inuoh, and ehe sank under them. The ■respite gained, however, was valuable, and enabled the rescue boats to reach them. It is now stated that the men were not : c&rryitfjg ammunition, which was stowed IR boxe« in the bottom of the boat. The funerals will take place to-morrow. Marsh's body has been recovered. ] January 6. Further details in connection with the hapbour collision in which 15 bluejackets lost their lives yesterday show that the i low-line between the launch and pinnace j tras 60ft long, and the steamer struck this and almost immediately after fouled ifce pinnace. 1 Tbe captain of the Dunmore states that 1 b« was going dead slow. When he Paw i what the accident was inevitable the 1 angrae was reversed, and the steamer was fclmopt at a standstill when the struck Hft lioat.

The survivors, after the first moments of consternation, during which a number of those in the water were pushed under in the struggle and had no chance to rise, displaj-eft great coolness and performed many acts of heroism, those able to swim helping tks non-swimmers. One man managed to swim ashore. The rescue boats from the warships were on the scene within three minutes. An inquiry was opened on the Encounter but adjourned. Mv Fishei (the Federal Prime Minister) sent his condolences to the Admiral. The lurcral of the- 15 bluejackets took plate this afternoon, and was a solemn and impiessive spectacle. Between 400 and 500 naval men,dres*ed in white, first assembled at the temporary chapel on Garden Island where the coffins of their comrades lay, and a brief service was held. The wiv»s of the captains in charge of the Naval Depot and the captain of _ the Encounter deposited two beautiful wreaths ' in the chapel to the memory of the men. After a. prayer, the assembled men sang in unison the hymn " Brief life is heie our portion." •Strong men brushed aside tears as the thrilling service for the dead proceeded. The service concluded with the hymn "'For those in peril on the sea," and the white-robed sailors stood a* the " Dead March" in "Saul" was played. Then they filed past the row of coffins out into the sunlight to take part in the landing and burial of their dead. At Manowa staiis the ladies were landed, where marines with fixed bayonets formed a guard. As the coffins, covered with a Union Jack, patsed the marines stood to attention. Then the bugle call MNmded. It was the last solemn salute to tlie dead. The cortege then staited. Dense crowds thronged the route to the Redfern Railway Station, whence the bodies wee taken to the necropolis. A hushed stillness pervaded the gieat '. h: <v,tt. and flags eveiywhere were at halfmask. Colonel Wallace, A.D.C, represented the Governor-GeneiaJ. Detachments of the military forces were present, and representatives of all the shipping lines attended the funeral. LONDON, January 5. King Edward has telegraphed to thefleet his high appreciation and approbation of the energy so gallantly displayed in dealing w ith the situation cieated by the disaster. " ! January 6. ' The Mayoi of Portsmouth, in an appeal in aid of the Naval I

Disaster Fund, remarks that the heroism, iesouioehilnsss and sympathy displayed by the officers and men in connection with the earthquake have made the country prouder than ever of the navy, but tbe tenibLe boat accident at Sydney would necessitate he ah calls upon the funds. The bulk of the amount subscribed in 1908 was allocated to the widows and orphans of the men lost as a result of the Tiger and Gladiator disasters. The public was now asked to put into practical shape the admiration which the King had so graciously expressed and which a'l must feel. MESSAGES OF SYMPATHY. WELLINGTON, January 6. Sir Joseph Ward has asked his Excellency the Governor to convey to Admit al Poore the sympathy "of the Government and people of New Zealand in connection with the disaster at Sydney, where so many brave men belonging to the warship Encounter lost their lives. PALMERSTON N., January 6. In November a large squad of the Encounter's men were in Palmerston for eeveral days taking part in the military tournament. To-day the Mayor, on behalf of the townspeople, dttpatched a cablegram to Captain Fyler «cpree&ing regret at the calamity.