THE TAINUI WRECK

Waikato Times, Volume 91, Issue 14167, 18 September 1919, Page 5

THE TAINUI WRECK

FIVE BODIES IDEtNTIFIED. THE INQUEST. THE SURVIVOR’S EVIDENCE. •By Telegraph.—Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, Wednesday. Superintendent Dwyer has received the following telegram from Cheviot: The bodies, which have been identified, are: Able Seamen Williams and McLean, Engineer Greenwood, Firemen Townsend and Fuller. No other bodies have been recovered yet. At the inquest yesterday at Cheviot, Mr W. T. Farrand, the only survivor from the Tainui, said that the benzine was stowed forward and aft, with a few eases on dfcdk. The fine, was first noticed forward; there was no fire aft. When witness i\’as awakened by the explosion at 2.30 a.m. he aroused the crew. Haward, a seamen, remained at the wheel until he could stand the heat no longer, and Captain Cowan ordered him to leave. The captain then ordered all hands to the lifeboat. The boat was swamped by the swell of the ship, which was still in motion. The captain then ordered the engines to he stopped, and the captain and three others got into the lifeboat, which capsized with four occupants. The remainder of the crew righted the boat. Witness ran to the saloon and got a tin of biscuits, which he threw into the boat. The boat once more .turned over .and broke awav. The mate and witness clung on. Then Williams, Aleck (a fireman) and Captain Cowan broke away from the lifeboat to trv to swim ashore. They were about four miles from the shore at the time cf the explosion- Witness heard three explosions, following quickly one after the otlr r. It would H about fifteen minutes from the time of the explosion till the Tainui_ was finally abandoned. No one was injured by the explosion.”