HEROISM ABOARD TAHITI

Taranaki Daily News, 5 September 1930, Page 5

HEROISM ABOARD TAHITI

FIGHT TO SAVE SINKING SHIP DANGEROUS WORK IN DARKNESS. PRAISE FOR ENGINE ROOM STAFF. ,_ _ 5 By Telegraph.—Press Association. Auckland, Sept. 3. The steamer Tofua arrived from Suva this afternoon with the officers and crew of the Tahiti, and first-hand accounts were heard of the disaster which overwhelmed the ship. “Give all the praise you can to the engine room staff who were on duty when the smash came,” said Mr. A. Thompson, the second engineer of the Tahiti, who was in the engine room at the time of the mishap. “I cannot speak too highly of the two greasers and three firemen who were on watch. They were Messrs. Rook and C. Douglass (greasers) and J. Digney, A. Florey and W. Geddes (firemen). “These men behaved like men and did their jobs without flurry or confusion. Everything was carried out in the most orderly fashion under the circumstances. As a matter of fact when the water rushed in through the tunnel to the engine room these men still stood at their posts.' Truly they were wonderful. “When it came to a skeleton crew to see who would remain below the whole of the firemen, trimmers and greasers tossed up. They are the best crowd of men I have ever had anything to do with in my life. MET BY FLOOD OF WATER. “Rook was greasing the starboard engine when she went. I rushed to the after end of the tunnel and was met by a flood of water. The starboard engine was racing madly and Rook was endeavouring to shut off the steam. I rushed to the engine and managed to stop it. Meantime, cool and collected, Rook went to his post and when I called to him he had one of the watertight compartment doors almost closed although the water was increasing rapidly. Every man below stood to his post and did not leave the engine room until he was practically forced. The first consideration was for the passengers.” Mr. Thompson said the position looked very serious at the start. It appeared as if the Tahiti would sink rapidly, but later it was found that on account of the measures taken below she would remain afloat for several hours. When asked if the vibration on the Tahiti was excessive before the accident Mr. Thompson said thati seeing she was a light ship it was nothing out of the ordinary. As a. matter of fact he had been on such vessels as the Lusitania and other Atlantic boats and their vibration, in comparison, was greater even when loaded. The Tahiti had a certain amount of vibration. Those of ’ the passengers who elected to return to New Zealand instead of proceeding to San Francisco by the Ventura are Bishop F. A. Bennett; Dr. A. J. Brass, medical officer at Rarotonga, Mr. Hector McQuarrie/ and Mr. R. Matthews, of Auckland, Mr. Howden, of Rotorua, Mdlle. Blanche Le Jeune, who was returning to France from a visit to New Zealand, Miss Josephine McClymont, and Miss Rona Major,’ of Northcote, Miss L. M. Jennings, Mrs. Jackman and child, MrA D. W. Steel, Mr. C. E. Rackham, Mr. Drufnmond, Mrs. Gillings, Mr. Hopkins and Mr. Pokana. PASSENGERS?, LEAVE-TAKING. The passengers were a happy band as they took leave of one another on the decks of the Tofua. Some of them had lost heavily as a. result of the sinking of the Tahiti with their heavy baggage still on board. All had been through a harrowing experience during the hours they remained on the stricken liner with ■ the crew working feverishly to keep the water in check, but by their disposition to-day it was easy to understand the remarks freely made by the officers and members of the crew that “there was not one trace of panic on the part of the passengers; their cheerfulness and courage were an inspiration.” # The passengers express unstinted admiration for the behavious of the officers and crew. In particular they pay a tribute to the work of the stewards. “Once the true position was realised the stewards worked madly to keep the water from making too much headway,” Mr. McQuarrie said. “They were really marvellous; for hours on end they were keeping the water level down in No. 3 hold, and yet they were always on hand to serve us with meals. The main galley could not be used as alb the oil fuel was needed to work pumps, but the chef got to work in the crew’s galley and everything possible was done for us. “You in New Zealand have probably heard already of the great work of Captain Toten and his officers. However, our gratitude to them is such that we shall continue to express admiration for the fine manner in which they took charge of the situation. They were true British seamen.”

“I was looking through the watertight door into the engine-room,” said W. Geddes, an oil-burner attendant whose home is in Glasgow, “when I heard a terrific noise. Instantly a rush of water came through the propeller tunnel, and I shouted out, ‘Stop the starboard engine and shut off .the fires!’ The second engineer, /Mr. A. Thompson, who was on duty, was standing at the dynamo. Before I had the words out of my mouth he had jumped down and turned off the throttle, and the engines stopped dead. He then rushed round and shut the watertight door. It was all done in a minute, and if he had not acted so promptly I have not the slightest doubt the ship would have gone down in half an hour.” QUICK WORK BY ENGINEER. W. Digney, another oil-burner attendant, who resides, at Wellington, said the second engineer, Mr. Thompson, was the hero of the occasion. “You cannot praise him too highly,” he said. “He did exactly the right thing in the twinkling of an eye, and I dread to think what would have happened if he had made a mistake. Having shut off the engines he rushed into the propeller tunnel to see what had happened, but was thrown out by the force of water which was pouring through it. He then ran round and got the pumps started. He had done everything necessary in the space of a few moments., “Of course Mr. Thompson knew the ship from bow to stern, and the crew and passengers owe their lives to him more than to anyone else,” said Digney. “It was because he understood the ship and everything in the engine-room that he was able to do what he did. “No one ever saw the damage that had been done in the tunnel,” he added, “We do not know how the propeller came off, but it did, and the engines started to race like mad. Then the propeller shaft broke and its swinging motion must have torn a great hole in the ship’s hull. It is only surmise, of course, but the ship shook terribly as the engines raced, and the noise was deafening. “Volunteers were instantly called for to work in the engine-room, which was flooding badly. The watertight door was

pretty firmly shut, but the bulkhead dividing the tunnel from the engine* room started to. give way, the plate* bulging inward and water streaming through the cracks and crevices. We shoved bottle jacks up, against if and supported it with 8-inch wood and iron stanchions. I am certain the bulkhead would have been broken in but for that, WORKED LIKE TROJANS. “The watch that went on duty fronj midnight to 4 a.m. had left their work’ 1 about a quarter of an hour when the accident happened, and they were, immediately called on to work on : th#., dangerous bulkhead. They worked like'B Trojans, together with the rest of the engine staff, during the remainder' of that night and the following night without sleep. When the last life-boat left the ship on Sunday the water had risen, to the tops of the cylinders and.the men who were working below were in> constant danger of their lives. The rising water forced the floor plates up, and as we were working waist deep and could not see where we were going ' men were continually slipping and fallin under the water. Three men . fell through shifted plates into the bilges and were hauled out by their mates. It was very lucky someone’ was there; otherwise they would have been, drowned. “The news about the precarious bulkhead was suppressed from the passengers and only the officers and engine greasers, wipers and oil-burner attendants knew;'; how near it was, to breaking through. We would have Been in a regular trap if it had given way. We stayed down there until, it was impossible to stay any longer. Just when the third lifeboat was being launched, and we thought ; it was all over, the chief engineer called for volunteers from among the firemen . to go down again and prop up the bulkhead, which was giving again. They found the refrigerator bulkhead was giving way, and by the time we left it had gone.” >' William Brown, of 40 Dublin Street, • Lyttelton, another . oil-burner attendant, described hoW the men worked in pitch darkness with the help of electric torches when the dynamo went out of action. “It was extremely uncanny creeping about in the dark in water up to our waists,” he said. “A few torches were used and matches were struck at intervals, giving- the staff the appearance of < ghosts. The water seemed to rise and fall occasionally, according to the working of the pumps, and the bulkhead moved and shook like a partly inflated water-bottle. It was continually leaking, and we worked in a shower of spray. The morning before we took to the boats the old ship started ■to shudder, and we knew it was all up. At 12.30 p.m. I was told off to act aS messenger to the wireless operator, and at 1.10 p.m. I heard that the engine-room bulkhead had burst.” ’ AH sections of the crew praise the ship’s carpenter, George Bothwick, of Wellington, who worked continuously in the engine-room propping up the bulk head. . . ' . -, . ,