THE WARATAH

Otago Witness, Issue 2929, 4 May 1910, Page 19

THE WARATAH

THE WAKEFIELD'S SEARCH. LONDON, April 25. The steamer Wakefield reached Kerguelen on the 7th, and reports that she fruitlessly searched the Orozet, Marian, Prince Edward, Apostles, and other islands. • The captain of the Wakefield considers that if the Waratah is still afloat she must have drifted north-north-east, and not in the latitudes of the islands. The Wakefield went to Heard Island on the 9th. MELBOURNE, April 27. A message from the Premier of Natal gives a few additional details of the ! Wakefield's search. The Wakefield is not expected to reach Melbourne till June 20 at the earliest, and probably not till the 30th. May 2. The evidence which has been collected regarding the condition of the Waratah has been forwarded to the English Board of Trade. BOARD OF TRADE INQUIRY. SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS. The following are extracts from the evidence of witnesses, taken in Australia last week, as to the seaworthiness of the Waratah :<- Nicholas Sharpc, an able seaman, of 37 Clarence street, Sydney, stated that he spoke to Mr Owen, chief officer of the Waratah, in London, and asked for employment. Mr Owen replied: "I'll take your name, but if you can get anything else before the 20th take it, because this ship will bo a coffin for somebody." Sharpe joined the boat on" April 23, 1909, for the voyage to Australia. Off Ushant and in the Bay of Biscay he noticed that the vessel would roll to leeward, stop, continue to roll, and then recover. . That was unusual in any ship. The vessel had a list on one side or the other throughout the voyage. While he was engaged in painting the boats the paint ran through the seams. He heard Mr Owen say to the boatswain: "Those boats will be little good to save life in." At Sydney he saw some of the crew attempt to shift one of the boats, but the davits had rusted in. None of tho boats had been taken off the chocks while he was on board, nor had any of them been hoisted into the davits except those which had been there since the beginning of the voyage. He was sick on arrival at Sydney, and received his discharge on that ground. His real reason was that lie thought the vessel was unseaworthy. Another seaman had told him that he was a fool to go to sea in the boat, because she was topheavy. Edward Dischialar, barman, of Selwyn street, Moore Park, Sydney, stated that he was an able seaman on the Waratah on the last voyage from London to Sydney. Seamen in London had advised him not to join the vessel. He was told that Captain Übery liad eaid that either his reputation or the vessel would be lost. Mr Owen told this men not to atep too hard on the bottoms of the boats wh&n they w&re painting them.

At Sydney it was found that the davits had been rusted in. Hie found one boat so soft and ratten that it would not take the paint. Fire drill was never practised. In the Bay of Biscay the vessel was rolling very badly. When she went over on her 6ide she stayed there for quite an appreciable time; then she would come back slowly, and roll over on the other side, and stay there in the same way. He -would not complete his voyage in her, because he considered she was absolutely unsafe. John Latimer, shipping clerk, 5 Queen's avenue, Sydney, stated that on January 8, 1909, Mr Henry, the second officer, said of the Waratah: "I don't like - her at all. Between ouraslves, I think she has a deck too many. When the ship was coming round from the builders' yards to London to load for Australia we got caught in some heavy weathej- in the Channel, and she gave me a scare, because I thought she was going over on her broadside." In further conversation Mr Hemry said: " I am different to a seaman, and an officer cannot throw up his job when he likes, but I intend to get out of her as soon as I get a chance," or words to that effect. At the wharf the Waratah never appeared to be on an even keel.

i George Samnel Richardson, chief mec.ha- ; nical engineer of the Geelong Harbour ! Trust, stated that he voyaged from | Adelaide to Durban on the Waratah on : her last voyage. Her machinery, was as I good as such machinery could be, and was in excellent condition. Her build and conditions were excellent. She rolled slowly, with a distinct pause at the extremity of the roll. In the Indian Ocean he noticed that when she pitched there was a slow recovery, especially from the forward dip. One morning he said to the captain, "I don't like the behaviour of this ship of yours any tco well; she recovers too slowly for me." Captain Ilbery replied, "Yes, she is a little that way, but you must remember there are many thousands of ton* of dead weight to shift. When this once gets into motion it takes some power to stop it, and when stopped it takes considerable force- to start it in the opposite direction." He was of the opinion that the vessel was tender, but not dangerously so under normal conditions. Once when the ship pitched heavily, she took a heavy sea over the port bow, and was an unusually long time in recovering. He said to Mr Saunders and Mr Ebsworth, "One of these days she will dip her nose down too far, and not come up again." This was said in a jocular manner. H. Skarratt Thomas, who voyaged from 1 London on the Waratah, stated that she rolled considerably, and did not appear to recover herself quickly at any time. On one occasion he noticed that her rolling emptied all the water out of the bath. He found himself on the side of the bath, and j the vessel appeared to remain on her side for some time. ! Captain Frederick Tickell, whose son, George Herbert Alan Tickell, was a passenger on the Waratah en her last voyage, stated that he saw the vessel leave Port Melbourne in July, 1909. She was perpectly upright, and had no sign of a list. He saw the Waratah proceeding astern of the Pilbarra, on which he was a passenger from Port Adelaide down the river to Largs Bay on July 6. He watched her with a professional eye, and at no time did she give him am impression of a tender ship. Sbs remained perfectly upright, even when going round the Bends, at a time when the rudder was over, and the tug, which wa6 assisting her, was broad on the bow. Mrs Sarah Jane Ebsworth, of Box Hill, whose husband sailed as a passenger from Adelaide on July 7,1909. stated that her husband wrote from sea, under date July 19: —" She is a fine seabcat, and as comfortable a vessel as one could wish for." She received a copy of Mr Efcsworth's d : ary from July 9to July 24, 1909. The diary had not mention of unusual behaviour on the part of the vessel. Mr Ebsworth was formerly a ship's officer. Mr O. H. Hcerter, of 76 Pitt street, Sydney, was a passenger en the first voyage of the Waratah. In his opinion the vessel behaved splendidly. His conversation with officers showed that their opinion of her was very favourable. She was a very comfortable boat, though he would qualify this to the extent that she seemed to roll a good deal, and was slow in recovering. T. J. Burrin. pantryman, served on the Waratah from Sydney to London and back between December 28, 1908, and April 26. 1909. He saw nothing unusual in the roll- ! ing of the ship. The list of the vessel ! was the only thine? out of the ordinary. Captain John Taylor Anderson, of the Victorian Stevedore and Contracting Company, in his evidence, gave particulars of the cargo put into various holds at Port Melbourne before the last departure of the Waratah. As far as he knew, no coal was put on! board there. The cargo was stowed well and securely, in the usual method. Every precaution was taken to prevent shifting or cha-fing. Carejo was placed in the position directed bv the ship's officers. Thsra was no list when the vessel left Port Melbourne.

Pilot Dowe, of Williamstown, who took the vessel from Port Melbourne through the Heads, stated that she appeared to be staunch, and every way fit for the voyage. He saw no sign of a list, nor did she appear to be tender.