DISASTER IN KATTEGAT

Taranaki Daily News, 23 December 1930, Page 9

DISASTER IN KATTEGAT

SINKING OF LINER OBERON SURVIVORS’ TRAGIC STORIES SUDDEN CRASH DESCRIBED HEROIC RESCUE EFFORTS By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copyright. Cogenhagen, Dec. 21. An officer of the Arcturus, which collided with and' sank..the ship Oberon in the Kattegat with the loss of 40 lives, states that the brother captains knew that the Oberon and Arcturus were going to meet and they exchanged Christmas greetings by wireless only ten minutes'* before the collision. They were unaware that the vessels wei e so hear, owing to the extraordinary den-, aity of. the fog. If the collision had occurred a minute later, the Oberon, which was the strongest ice-'breaker in Europe, would have rammed the Ardiiirus.

. .A British ‘ passenger named Vickers on the Oberon dived over in an attempt to' save Mrs. Williams. Both were drowned. '' ■. ; , > '

Survivors say that the Arcturus loomed with appalling suddenness from the fog and, drove straight towards the Oberon amid shrieks of terror accompanied by Captain Hjelt’s shout, “Get the lifeboats clear.” The crew rushed to their stations, but the deck was plunged in darkness' as the Arcturus bows crashed yards deep into the Oberon’s starboard amidships, quenching every light aboard, ripping off the'entire side as far as the rudder, and hurling ' those on deck into the ice-cold water. ' ■ ,

The Oberon was .port side uppermost in 30 seconds and the disaster was complete in five minutes. Many victims must have been burnt to death ‘n the blazing oil.. Others were helplessly 'sucked down.. WIFE’S LAST MESSAGE. Immediately the Arcturus berthed at Copenhagen a sailor called, ‘‘ls Mr. Wilhere?”. Williams came forward ancl the sailor, who had been in Mrs. Williams’? company for a few seconds between the collision and the engulfment, delivered her last message: “Tell my husband that he is in my thoughts to' the end.” ’ ,

Miss Tipping swam to an empty boat and clung thereto till it sank. She then found a lifeboat ; and held up an acetylene'flare, with one hand and. l supported a stewardess with the other‘until rescued.' She said: “I saw.the capr tain holding a child and clinging to a lifebelt with others. Someone talking English was hanging on his back, 'but he must have dropped off and perished.’’ The passenger Martin, interviewed, said::. “Mrs. Williams was afraid of the blaring s fog sirens as the Oberon lay stationary. She wakened, the baby and retired to: the cabin, leaving us in the smoking room. . Some of us went on deck just in time to witness the Arcturus ramming the Oberon! I did not see Vickers again .after, he had.cried, ‘My God,-Mrs. Williams is down there,’ and rushed, to save her, though Miss Tipping had seen her standing at the cabin door •with her baby in her arms. / The English purser Bamford went to certain death when he went to the rescue of stewardesses from the mess room after sawing two! He and Vickers were heroes. . •. ...

“I, with my wife in one arm. and the captain’s baby in. the other, struggled up the sloping deck and climbed the rails on to the side of the ship, which was almost under water. The captain took his' child/as a wave sucked my wife and I down and tore us apart. She was lost in ' the awful' darkness. 1 caught a' lifeboat a quarter of an hour later, and I do not remember more until taken from among the dead aboard the Arcturus. Half my clothing was cut off during resuscitation operations but, hearing that my wife was aboard,' I ran half naked along the deck, only, to. discover the terrible mistake.” The majority of the missing are probably .women, because Finnish vessels carry many stewardesses and female cooks. : "Much wreckage and three lifeboats, two covered with tarpaulins, and one apparently lately occupied, have been stranded on the west coast of Sweden. • THE DEAD NUMBER FORTY-TWO. 'ARCTURUS SEVERELY DAMAGED. Rec. 7.15 p.m. ■ . London, .'Dec. 21. The Arcturus was severely gashed in the bow. Captain Eric Hjelt took his family to celebrate Christmas on board. They were on the bridge with him, but his wife jumped off the opposite: side to the others. The captain after the rescue vainly worked for hours to resuscitate his daughter. Mrs. Qzzi Hjelt, the other captain’s wife, also accompanied her husband. Vickers safely reached the Arcturus and aghin plunged into the sea in an attempt to rescue Mrs. Williams andher child, who were struggling in the water,-and all were drowned. Williams had accompanied his family from Heir singfors but broke the journey at Copenhagen, intending to follow them later.

The total number on board was . 82, 22: passengers and 60 crew, and ,4'2, including 18 passengers and 24 crew, were drowned. The Arcturus picked, up four passengers, Martin, Tipping and two Scandinavian women, and,36 of the crew. She also brought in five dead. A British steamship picked .up four sailors. . . ■ ■