THREE MEN MISSING

Waikato Times, Volume 194, Issue 22243, 12 January 1944, Page 4

THREE MEN MISSING

PLEASURE LAUNCH ‘SINKS ONE SURVIVOR IN HOSPITAL RESCUED BY FERRY STEAMER (By Telegraph.—press Association) NELSON, Wednesday ' Three men, all of Wellington, are believed to have been drowned when the pleasure launch Warrigal, : bound from Tory Channel to Wei-! Imgton. sprang a leak in the Tera- j whiti rip and sank. One survivor was picked up by the ferry steamer Matangi after he had been over seven hours in the water, clinging to a partially sulynerged dinghy. Those missing areMr W. Nesbit, a married man, of Lower Hutt, director of vocational training for disabled soldiers. Mr E. W. R. Haldane, a solicitor, of Lower Hutt, married with one son. Mr R. I. M. Sutherland, aged 38. a solicitor, of Wellington, married with two daughters. The rescued man is Mr Tasman G. Taylor, aged 39, solicitor, of Hahaitai, Wellington. The launch left Tory Channel yesterday morning and soon struck heavy seas. The boat sprang a leak and sank quickly at 2.45 o'clock in the afiernoon. Mr Haldane was last seen clinging to a lifebelt. The other three clung desperately to the dinghy, which was awash, but after about an hour Mi Nesbit disappeared and about an hour later Mr Sutherland, who was apparently suffering badly from cold, was carried away by a huge wave. Mr Tavlor maintained his grip on the dinghy until at about 10 o’clock at night he saw the lights of a passing steamer. Wind Carries Voice It was very dark, but with assistance of a wind which was blowing toward the Matangi on its way to Nelson, Mr Taylor managed to make his voice heard. Ke was thrown a line and with the assistance of two men from the Matangi was pulled aboard, given treatment ana brought tc Nelson, where he was admitted to hospital for treatment. Ke was stated to be in good condition today. THe story of the mishap was told by Mr Tavlor-this morning at hospital. "Getting clear of the Tory Channel we found clear sailing- water for about an hour an«l a-half We then ran into wind and heavy sea. The seas were so hltrh that It was Impossible to make any distance toward Wellington and we kept her head Into the weather. The -waves were so hig-h that occasionally the boat slid off tb* top and it i- to that I attribute the mishap. ‘•We made fair time until we reached the first rip and at 2.25 Haldane who was In the forward cabin, told us that we had sprung- a bad leak. The water poured In buckets and the'pump made no Impression. = eein? the boat was doomed, we lashed tog-ether empty oil drums and tied them to the dinghy. We had just completed this when she sank nose first. Trouble Freeing Dinghy ‘We had a bit of trouble freeing- the dinghy as she was going down. When the dinghy ram* up there were three of ns clinging- to it. Sutherland. Nesbit -and mvself. Haldane had one or the two liTobel»s and was some distance away. The waves kept breaking- over the dinghy, causing us to change position as she turned and with three oj us hanging on it was alwd\ s awash or under water. After about an hour Nesbit. who had trans- j fer red his hold from the dinghy to one . of the drums, told us he. could not hane- j on mu eh longer. At that time he was I about 20 yards from the dinghy. After | a short while he released his hold on the ! drum, we watched him for a while but it was difficult on account of the break ers. When we looked a second tirptf he was ?on«. jhat lert .Sutherland and myself hanging on the dinghy. ‘Sutherland must have been suffering very badly from the cold, because he found it difficult to retain a hold on the j dinghy and he was unable to talk Twice 1 he in-u hi- grip and I went after him and ‘ got trim hark with great difficulty. A j huge wave broke over the boat and car- | rled us both under. When I came up he : wa~ about ?o yards away. He remained! pn the surf are for only a few moments and diappeared. From sundown onwards I was able to keep my hea l above water all the time.”