TRAGEDY OF THE SEA.

Waikato Times, Volume 97, Issue 15230, 5 May 1923, Page 5

TRAGEDY OF THE SEA.

LOSS OF THE AMY TURNER. SURVIVORS' NARRATIVE. TERRIFIC CYCLONE" ENCOUNTERED Australian and N.Z. Cable Assn. MANILA, May 3. The survivors of the briganline Amy Turner have arrived here. Their names are:— ' Charles West, a ship's mate, who was working his passage as a seaman; Cliff Cornish, boatswain; V.' Tracy; Frank Lindholm. They give the following account of the disaster:—

On March 23 they encountered a typhoon, which swept the ship out of its course. On the 26th, in the raging seas and wind, all the canvas was stripped off the vessel, which floated close to Guam, but the distress signals were not noticed, and the ship drifted away again.

The storm intensified, and reached ils height on the morning,of the 27th. The Amy Turner was "now badly battered, and the pumps were manned constantly. About noon the seams opened and the ship sank suddenly. Two boats were launched, but Captain Neilson and his wife stood on the poop as the vessel nose-dived', and were not seen again.

One boat with- nine persons capsized. . Only one, Lindholm, was a swimmer, and he reached the remaining boat, which already had three in i'.

The boat, was headed for the Philippines. The provisions consisted of liimed goods and water, which were sparingly apportioned.

On the fourteenth day they caught a dolphin, which helped to spin out the food supply. The, men took watches at bailing- and steering. On the 26th day the water became exhausted, and a gingle tin of meat remained. That night it rained, and the next day they made land, and reached, Port Surgiao almost naked and in an exhausted condition. The constabulary supplied food and clothing.

The British Consul at Manila is sending the men to Melbourne. West saved the ship's log, but nothing else. Charles West, one of the survivors of the Amy Turner, is an Aucklander.