BLAZING SHIP DRAMA

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 286, 4 December 1933, Page 9

BLAZING SHIP DRAMA

CREW’S GALLANT FIGHT INFERNO IN HEAVY SEAS THRILLING RACE FOR SHORE. A blazing ship in a heavy sea; gallant efforts by the crew to subdue th* Hames; the beaching of the still burning vessel; the rescue of the twentylour members of the ciew by the Gorleston lifeboat and two explosions anu sheets of flame in the darkness of the night. These were the elements in a sc:, drama which thrilled a watching thron K of holiday-makers at Yarmouth o. September 14. The ship was the British steamer Porthcawl, and the fire broke out in her cargo of esparto grass. Great hero ism was displayed by the wireless operator, Mr MacMillan, of Glasgow, who, despite the flames, continued to send out messages throughout the afternoon. Finally he was driven ouof his room by the fire. The Porthcawl, a vessel of 2481 tons, was on her way from North Africa to the Firth of Forth. The cargo was found to be on fire when 15 mile ■ south-east of Cromer. The grass, whir., is highly inflammable, blazed up a once, and in a few minutes the shi;> was a raging inferno. The crew go. the hoses going, but the fire spread all over th© bunkers, and eventually reached No. 2 hold. When that began to burn it was decided to turn the Porthcawl back to Yarmouth. A Magnificent Spectacle. The S.O.S. messages were picked up by a Haiwich tug, and the Gorlcston and Cromer lifeboats went to the Porthcawl's assistance. Just before the beaching the vessel abreast « Caister, near Yarmouth, the crow took off in her boat and were rescued by the Gorleston lifeboat, Captain Harrison, the skipper, being the last to leave the ship.

The Porthcawl continued to be a “huge bonfire” after she was beached, and provided a magnificent spectacle for the people who crowded the promenades. Two loud explosions took place. No tugs could remain near her because of the intense heat. Flames leapt from stem to stern, lighting up the rough seas. Early tho following morning she was still blazing fiercely, and was expected to continue burning for many hours.

“One and a half miles away at our station we heard the roar of the lire, and then there was a terrific explosion,” a Yarmouth coastguard said. “We thought one of the masts had crashed, but they were still standing. It was probably the ship’s supplies of rockets and signals. Her sides were red hot, and tongues of flames leant from the holds. The hatches had probably burned away. Grass which was loaded on deck burned like a haystack, making the ship appear like a roaring furnace set in a black sea.”

Lloyd’s agents at Yarmouth, who had been instructed to co-operate with Captain Harrison in efforts to extinguish the fire, went out in a tug equipped with powerful pumps. Tho tug tried her best, but could not get near enough to do anything effective. Strenuous Tight with Flames. A graphic account of tho crew s fight with the flames while trying tu reach shore was given by the second officer, Mr. William Lyle. “We were just passing the Cockle lightship, to the north of Caister,” he said, “when smoke suddenly appeared from the port bunkers. The fire alarm was given at oucc, yet before the hose-pipes were brought into action great tongues of flame appeared. We made dospeiate attempts to isolate the fire, but the breeze fanned the blaze in spite of our efforts and we decided to try to got back to Yarmouth.

“The crew worked like heroes. Clouds of smoke made our eyes smart and hampered our efforts, and as we moved slowly toward Yarmouth on our own power the heat became unbearable. We threw off our shirts and pumped water continuously on the fire. The captain said he would remain until there was not a hope left, and the whole of the cargo and the forecastle was blazing fiercely before we beached the ship and took to the ship’s lifeboat.” Staying Until Last Minute. The rescue of the crew was described by Mr. W. Halsnagth, coxswain of the Gorlcston lifeboat. “The men wore in a terrible state of exhaustion when wo took them aboard from the Porthcawl’s boat,” he stated. “Many of them were as black as negroes with the smoke. Their eyes were running and the perspiration was running on their sootblackened faces.

4 ‘lt was an awe-inspiring sight to see tho blazing ship coming slowly through the water. We stood by for about half an hour before the crew left, and we could see them battling with the flames. They stayed until the very last minute possible. Then the Porthcawl was beached on Caister sandbank, and the crew put off in their boat and we picked them up.” Tribute was paid to Captain Harrison for getting his vessel within a few hundred yards of the shore. Mr. F. F. Brown, a member of the crew of the Caister lifeboat, said that only a man who knew the coast well could have done it. “To reach the inner shoal, where he beached, Captain Harrison had to got round the difficult Barcar sand,” said Mr. Brown. “It was a lino hit of seamanship.’’