BATTLE WITH GALE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 77, Issue 108, 9 May 1934, Page 9

BATTLE WITH GALE

BERENGARIA IN STORM PASSENGERS’ VIVID STORIES BIG SAEES HURLED TO DECK The 52,000-tons Cunarder Berengaria. the world’s third largest liner, docked at Southampton on the Tuesday even ing of March 13, after battling her way through one of the worst galea which the Atlantic has known for seven years. About a dozen of her passengers received minor injuries for which they were attended by the ship’s surgeon. In addition there was much damage to the- liner’s furniture and crockery. The rough weather began on Satur day, March 10, when tho Berengaria ran into a moderate gale. This in creased to a severe gale on Sunday with squalls of hurricane force. It was a day of drama on board the ship. At 8.45 p.m. there was a deafening roar when two 2-tons safes, each standing 6ft. high and bolted to a purser’s office floor, ripped up their bolts as the vessel heeled over, and went crashing to the side of the room, tearing down a portion of tho counter. Mr. F. E. Owens, the purser, and Mr. M. Ferguson, the assistant purser, had passed the spot where the safes crashed a few minutes previously.

Ten seamen were summoned to the office, and with the aid of a pulley fixed to a stanchion they righted the safes, but no sooner hud they done this than the ship heeled heavily in the other direction, and one of the safes again crashed to tho deck. Eventually both were secured by great baulks of timber jammed between them and the four walls of the purser’s office. In the public rooms tables and chairs and other articles of furniture slithered madly from one side of the room to the other. Eventually they were secured by ropes, and life lines were run across each room so that passengers might move about in safety, by clutching to the ropes when the ship rolled.

The »Sunday morning service was cancelled, because it would have been impossible for the scats to remain in position, and the passengers might have been in danger. On the other days that the storm lasted the cinema performances were cancelled. Numerous articles of furniture were damaged. Glass and hardware suffered a heavy toll, and in addition to the passengers who were hurt a deck steward broke a finger, and the ship’s surgeon had a heavy fall down a flight of stair*.

At the height of the storm the Berengaria was hove to for two hours, and many times the giant waves broke over “ A ” deck, which is 70ft. above tho water-line.

Passengers spoke in high praise of the ship’s sea-worthiness in the face of the terrific storm, and also paid wonderful tributes to the seamanship of Captain R. G. Malin, the commander and commodore of the Cunard Line. Captain Malin, on this voyage, was relieving Captain Sir Edgar Britton who had been granted leave so that he might be invested with the knighthood recently conferred on him by the King.

Vivid descriptions of their experiences were given by several passengers. Mr. C. A. Collins, of New York, said : “ On Saturday and Sunday we could not go on to the decks and the saloon and lounge were closed. Only

the smoke-room was open and there we had to drink standing up as the tables and chairs were roped together in piles. Sometimes it was not possible for tho stewards to bring us more than sandwiches owing to the terrific conditions. Officers and crew were on 24 hours’ duty and all behaved magnificently.”

Mrs. Wall, of Long Island, said : “Although my cabin was well above the sea level the boat rolled so much that my porthole was often under the water, and I moved to another cabin.”