Wreck of hte s.s. Taranaki at Tauranga.

Thames Star, Volume IX, Issue 3056, 30 November 1878, Page 2

Wreck of hte s.s. Taranaki at Tauranga.

Friday, 5 p.m. No: farther particulars are as yet obtainable respecting the wreck of the Taranaki. A dense fog has prevailed the last three days. The Karewa Island is five miles outside of Tauranga Heads, in a N.N.E. direction. The rock is very rugged and about 350 feet high. It is in very deep water, about three miles from the mainland. It is said the Taranaki is insured altogether foe £16,5C3, but the only insurances obtainable at present are :— dputh British.. t £2Goa ; New Zealand, £750. ! , '.' '" . v '..'.,: ;^ • -■■■ - -■■; Later. ~ Great excitement was caused in Tauranga by the news that the s.s.,Taranaki, due early in the morning; had been wrecked in a fog oa Karewa, a small island five miles outside the harbor. The news was brought by. part of the crew, headed by the mate and purser,- who rowed up in a ship's boat. The following is a verbatim account of the disaster: —I am a fireman on the Taranaki; We left Auckland at 4 pm. on Thursday afternoon, with about eighty passengers. The weather was very thick, and at midnight the ship came to anchor somewhere near the Hole-in-the-wall. About 4 in the morning the' weather cleared, and we proceeded, but later it thickened again. I was on duty from 4 to 8 o'clock, at which time I tufted in. I had been asleep about an hour and a-half when^Vl heard some one shout "Stop her,!'land then '^Full speed astern." Altiufat immediately afterwards the steamer struck. There, was no great shock. l The engines were then turned on a-head for a minute or two. When I went on deck there seemed to be no confusion. Every one kept quiet. The passengers behaved remarkably well. Capt. Malcolm told us to lower _ the boats directly. In a few minutes this was done, and we then proceeded to land the passengers on the island. At eleven o'clock all the passengers were landed, and a portion of the port watch, under the mate, despatched to Tauranga for assistance. The Taranaki lies on.her beam end, only a small portion of her nose being out of. the water. The hatches are, of course, battened down, and being under the water it will be impossible to save any portion of the cargo. .