STORMS AT SEA

Stratford Evening Post, Volume IV, Issue 121, 4 May 1936, Page 6

STORMS AT SEA

SHIPS IN TROUBLE. Wahine's Fight At Lyttelton Harbour Mouth. TWO HOURS' STRUGGLE. • Press Association —Copyright. Christchurch, May 3.

Shipping was imperilled by the high gale of Friday and Saturday. The Wahine at Lyttelton was blown on to a tug, which was slightly damaged, and the crew of the coastal motor-ship Port Waikato had an anxious time when the the cargo shifted. The Port Waikato, which left Lyttelton for Dunedin on Friday afternoon, met very heavy seas south of Akaroa on Saturday and had to return to Lyttelton.

Captain Holmes decided when 35 miles south of Akaroa to return to Lyttelton on account of the violence of the storm. The sea was too big to permit the vessel to enter Akaroa harbour for shelter. About three hours after the ship had been turned a big sea came over the stern, smashing in the door of the messroom and flooding the galley and officer's cabins. It also shifted the ship's boats slightly. The flagstaff at the stern and gratings were carried overboard. Alarm was caused by the cargo shifting, causing the vessel to list to starboard. However, the vessel reached Lyttelton Herds.

Wrenched hither and thither by ■unpredictable squalls of more than gale force and by a flooding tide, the interisland steamer Wahine manoeuvred for more than two hours off the moles in Lyttelton harbour yesterday morning, attempting to make an entrance to the inner "harbour and if it had not been for tireless determination and superb seamanship of the master, Captain Basil Irwin, who never relaxed his fight against both wind and water, she might have been outside for another hour. Captain Irwin, who was almost exhausted by the time he had berthed his ship, said he had made many attempts to enter the moles, and had never been prevented before.

Tug Damaged. The most material sufferer in the storm was the tug Lyttelton, which was sent out to assist the Wahine, without being able to give her much help. On one occasion the hawser with which the tug was attempting to steady the steamer's bow was snapped and on another while the Lyttelton was in the Wahine's lee the steamer was flung ovei and smashed away ten feet of the tug's bulwarks. The Maori arrived to-day at 12.45 p.m., her departure from Wellington having been delayed till 11 p.m. on Saturday. The vessel met the full gale and tremendous head seas and was heavily buffeted until off Kaikoura, after which the wind and sea moderated. The Canadian Challenger from Dunedin reached the Tirnaru roadstead at 3 a.m. on Saturday, but the master decided it would be dangerous to attempt lo enter the harbour. He rode out the storm at sea till this morning. ■ The Karu reported heavy squalls three miles out on Saturday night but berthed safely. The Storm arrived from Dunedin and worked the port as usual. The departure of the Matangi for Nelson was delayed from Saturday night until midnight to-night. Captain Holm, of the Holm Shipping Company, reported on Saturday that the company's vessels were remaining in port or had taken shelter.