CHANNEL DISASTER

Otago Witness, Issue 3897, 20 November 1928, Page 52

CHANNEL DISASTER

LIFEBOAT SWAMPED IN GALE.

SIXTEEN OF CREW DROWNED. . , LONDON, November 15. A lifeboat at Rye (Sussex) was swainped when returning from an attempt to succour a Latvian steamer.

Sixteen of the crew were drowned, including the coxswain (Head) and h:s two sons, four of a family named Dutting, and four of a family named Pope. There was a very violent gale in the Channel at the time. The steamer Alice, laden with bricks, sent out a distress signal. The lifeboat put out at 5 a.m., though the seas were the heaviest known for 30 years."

Another vessel rescued the Alice's crew leaving the steamer to founder at Dengemarsh, but the lifeboat when returning overturned nearing Rye Harbour, where the crew constituted practically the entire male fishing population. There were very distressing scenes as nine bodies were quickly washed to the feet ..of the mothers and wives, who were stupefied with grief when they saw the boat disappear in the terrific seas, which made it impossible for the other boats to be launched.

RESCUERS FORM HUMAN CHAIN. RUGBY, November 15. An aspect of the loss of the lifeboat at Rye is that, five minutes after it had put to sea, a message was received that the crew of the Alice had been taken aboard the German steamer Smyrna, and that no assistance was required The watchers on the cliffs who saw the lifeboat capsize raced to the little village, and doctors, nurses, and first aid men raced to the gap in the cliffs leading to the shore. A human chain was formed, and, up to their necks in boiling surf, the volunteers fought to rescue the floating dead bodies from a Channel grave. Later, the lifeboat itself was hurled ashore by the waves, with two of the dead crew beneath it. Ten bodies have so far been recovered. WORST STORM FOR YEARS. LONDON, November 16. The storm was the worst for 30 years. Sobbing women knew nothing was left for them but wait until the tide brought in the bodies. Fishermen from nearby villages tied ropes round their waists and put on lifebelts, and whenever a body was seen in the breakers they dashed in. By 3.30 p.m. nine bodies were recovered. Women gathered round, and heart-broken sobs showed when a husband, son, or a brother had been recognised. Most of the bodies were dreadfully battered. The overturned lifeboat was washed up on a beach a mile away. Two more bodies were found benerth it. The hamlet of Rye Harbour has now lost every able-bodied male. Every home has been, bereaved. The crew included the coxswain, Herbert Head, and his two sons, three brothers nemed Pope, and two cousins named Downey. The lifeboat was not a modern type, but a stout sailing boat, and liable to capsize. The brave women of Rye Harbour are bearing their losses with stoical calm, but their saddest thought is that their men died in a gallant attempt to save a crew that had already been rescued. There are 10 fatherless children in the village, seven in one cottage.

THIRTEEN BODIES RECOVERED. LONDON, November 16.

There have been tragic scenes at Rye. The village is denuded of menfolk, and the distracted women hardly realise the force of the catastrophe. One young wife to-day wandered hatless on the wind and rain-swept beach. She saw a group weeping and asked them what they were crying for. She remarked : “ My husband is late in coming home, but I have his dinner in the oven.” Her friends led her gently homeward. Subscriptions are already coming in from all over’ the country. On Monday the 13 bodies which were recovered will be buried in a single grave.

THE SMYRNA |NOW ASHORE.

BERLIN, November 16.

The German steamer Smyrna, which collided with and sank the steamer Alice, and picked up the latter’s survivors (in needlessly going to the succour of which the Rye lifeboatmen perished), is now’ ashore herself off Flissingen with the Alice’s crew on board. The fierce gale present salvagers from approaching her.

TOWED INTO FLUSHING HARBOUR.

LONDON, November 17.

The- German steamer Smyrna,' which collided with and sank the steamer Alice, has been towed into Flushing Haroour with the crew of the Alice on board.

EVIDENCE AT INQUEST. LONDON, November 18.

An the inquest on the victims of the Rye disaster witnesses gave evidence that the lifebelts were waterlogged and heavy, and would have prevented the victims from getting ashore. They would have drowned any man. They had not been tested for three years and must have become perished. A verdict of accidental death was returned.