HEROISM AT WRECK

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19454, 13 October 1937, Page 8

HEROISM AT WRECK

SURF BOAT RESCUE STRANDED MAN SAVED SYDNEY, Sept. 1. Daring and seamanship of a high standard were displayed by the crew of the Taree surf boat in their heroic rescue in the early hours of this morning of Mr. J. E. Pornoe, a seaman who had been left on board the Steamer Urana, which was wrecked on Tuesday night on a sunken reel JOOyds. off the beach at Old Bar, Planning River. When word was received by Mr. vV. A. Scahill at the Royal Hotel, x'aree, that a man had been left on die ship, and that the ship's boat could not go out, he immediately got in touch with Mr. V. Rushby, captain of Taree Old Bar Surf Life Saving club, and asked him if he could go to the rescue in his surf-boat with Me crew. Mr. Rushby said, "Give me two minutes." The club's boat had been brought to Taree, 10 miles from Old Bar, to be scraped ready for varnishing, in preparation for the approaching surfing season, and was immediately put on a lorry and taken to Old Bar, leaving Taree at midnight. At 1 o'clock this morning the boat was manned by V. Rushby, the skipper, Alf Gaggin, A. Bennett, J. Strangwidge, and Andy Northam, and pushed off in the darkness, with only a hand torch to light up the approaching waves. For three hours the marooned sailor had been ringing the bell on the stranded ship and waving lights, and these proved a guide for the surf boat. When the little craft neared the ship, Rushby had to keep it 30 to 40ft. away, as there was a big swell. Eventually the sailor was persuadeci to swim to the surf boat. A big wave brought the boat to within a yard of him, and he was grabbed by Gaggin, who, however, was unable to pull him aboard. Then the boat lurched away and he nearly lost his grip of the sailor, who, before leaving the ship, had tied a rope round his body to make sure that if he missed the surf boat he would be able to drag himself back to the wrecked ship. Eventually he was pulled into the surf boat and the boat returned to the beach. The sailor was in a state of collapse. None of the five men who manned the surfboat had ever taken it out to sea in darkness, and the handling of the craft by Rushby has been warmly praised.