BERTHING DELAYED.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 740, 19 April 1933, Page 8

BERTHING DELAYED.

Ships Battle With Wind at Lyttelton. BIG LINER STRIKES CRANE. A fresh wind during the night culminated shortly before seven o’clock in one of the most severe nor'-west blows experienced in Lyttelton for thirty years, according to men working on the waterfront. They estimated the velocity to be seventy to eighty miles an hour. Residents of the port were rudely awakened by the rattling of windows and the shaking of their houses and, as is customary in such weather, much interest was taken in the berthing of the ferry steamer Maori, particularly owing to the fact that she was in command of a new master, Captain G. Morgan. Under trying circumstances, Captain Morgan handled his ship with much ability as the wind piped with tremendous force against the side of the ship. The vessel, with a fair wind, had a fairly comfortable passage south and it was not until she entered the heads that the fury of the gale was encountered. The Maori, as is usual, proceeded up the harbour towards the pile light, to come in stern first to her berth. She succeeded in entering the inner harbour and was off No. 3 wharf endeavouring to make the ferry wharf when she was caught by gusts, which forced her master to take her through the moles to the outer harbour and repeat the performance. On the second attempt the wind again got the vessel broadside on just as she was passing between the moles and forced her towards Gladstone Pier. Captain Morgan was then compelled to take the vessel once more into the outer harbour. New Tactics Tried.

Trying new tactics. Captain Morgan took the vessel down to Officers’ Point. He steamed back full speed stern-first and taking a wide sweep, came right into the inner harbour. He stopped when in the middle of the basin, put the ship ahead and then came back to the ferry wharf and berthed. It was a piece of work that only seafarers could fully appreciate, but landsmen were able to understand the difficulty he had experienced when they were forced to grip anything near at hand to keep their feet or retire behind railway carriages. On the boat itself the officers and seamen, particularly those on the bow, had to clutch the ship’s railings to avoid being pushed over. On the wharf itself railway trucks and carriages -were swayed by the gale and the verandah gave onlookers anxiety as it was lifted fully two feet from its supports at times and seemed likely to be blown away. The ferry proved a timely breakwind, but not before one of the heavy verandah beams was split and some roofing iron was unfastened. By eight o’clock the wind had practically died away, only fresh breezes being a reminder of the big blow. During the height of the blow the 16,000 ton motor-liner Rangitata was in trouble. With the wind striking her right on the broadside she heeled over until her superstructure pushed against the under-carriage of one of the Harbour Board’s five-ton electric cranes, noticeably twisting it. -A reminder of t,his episode was damage sustained by the ship’s gangway, one end of which was somewhat crushed, so that a temporary gangway had to be built and a passage to the ship made through one of the port doors. Before this gangway was constructed watersiders had to slide along the chutes into the ship’s holds. Tug Called to Help.

The wharf was damaged when one of the piles was crushed in by a stringer as the vessel’s weight pressed against it and the tug was called out to pull the Rangitata away from the pier. One of the most striking sights during the blow was the presence of small waterspouts forced up by the wind. Long sheets of spray were carried from the breakwater right across the harbour, while about 7.30 the whole of the harbour was enveloped in a cloud of dust. Dwellings that are not usually affected by dust storms received a thick coating this morning. The blowing down of fences and wireless aerials was fairly common. From one section a tent was lifted up and swept away. A window in the office of the Government Marine Superintendent, situated in the Post Office building, was blown right in by the fury of the gale. Roofing iron on the British Hotel was torn up and several chimneys in the Port came down. At Port Levy a chimney in Mr H. Grennell’s home was blown down. The ferry launch was unable to leave for Lyttelton until the gale had subsided. So far as could be ascertained, none of the launches in the harbour were damaged owing to the good system of mooring in vogue. The morning at Lyttelton was beautifully fine, with a slight wind, but the happenings in the earlier hours provided a fruitful topic of conversation. Vessels at Sea. The Union Steam Ship Company reported that the Kiwitea, which left Dunedin for Lyttelton yesterday, had wirelessed that she had run into the storm, and instead of arriving at noon to-day did not expect to reach port until seven o’clock to-night. Kinsey and Company stated that the Port Waikato, which left Lyttelton yesterday for Dunedin, would probably run into the storm, but the company had received no news from the vessel. The Canterbury Shipping Company reported that the Gale and Storm were expected at Lyttelton to-day, but the vessels were not equipped with wireless and no news was to hand at noon. W. W. Toy and Co. stated that none of their ships had been affected by the gale.