THRILLING SEA STORY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18265, 7 December 1933, Page 10

THRILLING SEA STORY

RACE TO xm SEaqUE STRANDED STEAMER REFLOATED A thrilling story of a race to the assistance of a ship of the same line and company is told in letter by Mr. Alfred Bennett, son of Mr. and Mrs. A. A. Bennett, of Ne\V Plymouth, and an old boy of the New Plymouth Hign School, who has been wireless officer on tho Greek steamer Pauline for some time. The letter was written from Loudon oil October 20, but the story told of an occurrence while the ship was in Mediterranean waters. While proceeding around the coasts of Cyprus and Crete and sailing to Suda Bay an account of bad weather, a startling call about midnight awoke Mr. Bennett, who lend from his radio set the message:— •‘S.V.B., 5.0.5., 5.0.5., Pauline, Pauline. Pauline: Yvonne here of same company; going on rocks off Carnlia. Help us. Hovy soon can you arrive?” Mr. Bennett said: “I lumped up; put in all swithcHes. in every direction, answered the call, telephoned to the skipper and the Paulino woke to life. The ship’s head went round and off we went. After the first urgent work had been cleared I left the cabin to deliver the message officially to tho bridge. The skipper nearly knocked me over rushing to wake, the chief engineer, I suppose to see kcHv much speed he could get. '

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OFF AT TOP SPEED “A little further forward the second engineer was racing down the stokehold lander shouting, ‘Fire up! Fire up!’ 1 do not think he calmed down and stopped yelling for half an hour, for much later 1 could still hear his muffled shouts coming from below. So off the Pauline went at full speed, quivering until I could scarcely work my apparatus. “Clouds of smoke and sparks were leaping from the funnel and off she went —B—l8 —10—12—14—15 knots, which Was live more than anyone knew she could do. I. heard tho skipper speak to the chief engineer in Greek* saying, ’Never mind your coal; never mind your engines; never mind your bed-plates; give her hell.’ The result was nioro 3uivering until my apparatus absolutely anced in front of me and there wore messages galore. “A salvage tug from Pireaus had also picked up the message and was speeding over. Then came a message from the Yvonne, ‘Anchors fouled; nearly ashore, hurry.’ Again to the bridge, and the order was given, ‘All hands get below and firo up; cook, steward, everyone,''and there were only the captain and myself on deck. It then became a race to see whether the tug or the Panlino would arrive first. The next message came, ‘Gone ashore: missed the rocks; aground ou haul sand; safe for tlie present.’ THROUGH ROUGH .SEAS “After receiving that message tho Pauline slowed a little and left the race tp the tug, and ‘thunk goodness.’ All this time we were running through heavy seas, and that is beyond a joke when a ship like this tries to do 15 knots. The decks fore and aft had been cleared out, nothing moveable left; the