Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Saturday 15 March 1890, page 14


INQUEST.

THE HARBUOR COLLISION.

The inquest into the circumstances attending the death of frederick Taylor, late mate on the schooner Colonist, who was drowned off Bradley's Head on Saturday last by the collision between the Colonist and the steamship Adelaide, was continued by the City Coroner, at his Court, Chancery-square, yesterday

morning.

Mr. B R. Wise and Mr. Campbell appeared on behalf of the captain and owners of tbe Colonist; and Mr. Heydon and Mr. Edmonds on behalf of the captain

and owners of the Adelaide.

Henry Lindberg,' one of the crew of the Colonist, recalled, stated that he had had 28 years' experience at sea; on the 1st March was on board the inward bound schooner Colonist when she was beating up the the harbour; at about a quarter to 6 o'clock the schooner was off Bradley's' Head ; all the crew were on deck ; Captain Wilson was steering, and the mate, Frederick Taylor, was'on the lookout forehead. The Colonist was then ' heading for Garden Island, to clear Fort Denison on the south side; she was on the port lack, and the wind was blowing squally ; saw the steamship Adelaide outward bound when the Colonist was just clearing Bradley's Head about a mile on the lee aide ; was nearer Bradley's Head than Fort Denison ; the Adelaide was between Robert-son Point and Fort Denison; the schooner was going at the rate of four knots ; the two vessels wore then .bout a mile apart ; the Colonist continued on course, and a collision took place about midway between Clarke Island and Bradley's Head ; his vessel did not alter her course in the leaxt ; raw that the collision wus likely to happen; tbe Adelaide had good headway on, and struck tho Colonist about amidships on the starboard side ; a considerable opening was made in tho side of tho Colonist, which went down In about 30 seconds ; deceased was in the forerigging on the starboard aide, and when the vessel wa« sinking he was coming down; the Adelaide stood by and did all she could to sayo tbe crew; witness and one of the crew (Swanson) climbed an to the Adelaide ; the Colonist wa« a stanch vessel ; could not tell whether the Adelaide altered her course

or not; the witness pointed out tho positions of the

vessels on a chart when he first saw the Adelaide and when tbe collision occurred.

By tho jury : Did not alter course, because It appeareù that the Adelaide would clear his vessel under the stern ; the Adelaide had plenty of room to clear the Colonist; deceased was a good swimmer.

By Mr. Hoydon : Tho schooner WSB lying as close to tho wind as she could go; thero was plenty of room to pass on tbe left side of the Adelaide if the Colonist could have been got round in time ; there was plenty of room for the Adelaide to have gone betwoen the schooner and Bradley'a Head: the Colonist waa loaded with blue metal ; the harbour was crowded with small sailing craft on that afternoon ; thora was nothing for the Colonist but to keep »n her course; if she had eased she would havo gone into the Adelaide's bow ; when he heard the whistle from tho Adelaide that vessel was about two and a-half ships' lengths off tho Colonist.

By Mr. Campbell : He knew nothing about the rules of tne navigation ef the harbour; never heard of rule 16 of the Harbour Regulations, relating to a steamship giving wav to a sailing vessel; was an A.B.

By the Coroner: Did not see any ropes or life-bnoys

thrown from the Adelaide.

William Wilsen, master of the schooner Colonist, trading between Kiama and Sydney, having been duly cautioned, deposed that he had had about 34 years' experience at sea on both sailing vessels and steamships: hud had . master's certificate from the Marine Board about 13 years; on the 1st March was off Bradley's beating up the harbour, and was at the wheel on the Îort tack, heading for the northern end of Garden

sland ; the wind was southerly and squally ; had just opened Bradley's Head, when he noticed a large steamer, the - Adelaide, outward bound, between Kirribilli Point and Pinchgut (Port Donison) ; [the witness at this stage pointed out on a chart the relative positions of tho vesselsj ; cleared Bradley's Head by about half a cable's length, as close as ho could safely go; the Adelaide was beading toward* Robertsons Point to clear it : did not think the steamer was going down the harbour, as sho was on the north .ide of Fort Denison, heading inside Bradley's;

witness was as close hauled as ho could be, and kept on' his course without any alteration ; the collision took place between Bradley'a Head and the north of Garden

Island, about three and a-balf cable's lengths from the j

former point, not quite halfway between the two ; .11 sail was^et except the squsrcsail, and the vessel was going at a speed of from 4 to 6 knots; when the Ade-laide was about hor length from the Colonist witness saw that a collision was imminent; believed that the Adelaide Blackened speed ; sho had one or two knots' headway on when the collision took place; she knocked a hole In the Colonist about amidships and up to the mainmast; last saw deceased at the stern of the ship's boat on the main hatoh just at the time the Adelaide struck ; somo of the crew were trying to get on to the A delaide, crying, " For God's sake throw ua ? rope," but witness saw no ropes thrown ; be with three of his crew and MB dog were drawn into the vortex, and when he ro«e to the top was held up by his dog, and was very shortly after-wards rescued by tho sailing boat, Tiounp; Oscar; two of the crew were rescued by the same boat; there was nothing to prevent tho' Adelaide, as far as he knew, from going between (lie Colonist and Bradley'a Head ; there were some small craft astern* of bim ; if he hnd eased off he would have run into tbe port bow of the Adelaide; could not have luffed; the Colonist was a schooner registered at 109 tons, and loaded with blue metal; there wore six hands all told ; she was perfectly sound in every respect ; was not acquainted with the captain of tho Adelaide; could not Bay whother the Adelaide altered her course or not ; one of the crew drew his attention to the position of the two vessels about the same time that he heard a blast from a whistle ; about lo seconds afterwards the collision took place (witness maikcd the position of his ship on tbe ohart at the time the collision took place] ; as it was too late to got to Johnson's Bay I that afternoon, he intended to anchor between Garden I Island end Mrs. Macquarie's Chair; as the wind varied

his oourte varied; while on the port tack the Colonist made very little leeway because of tho ebb tide.

By Mr. Wise : Know the sailing rules ; the fair-way for a vessel going out of the harbour would be

to keep on the south side of Fort Denison.

Alexander Grav, chief engineer of the Adelaide, re-membered the 1st March, the date of the collision, between the Adelaide and the Colonist ; the orders were

transmitted to him by telegram; after leaving the wharf had many orders, such as "stop and slow "; about the time of the collision the Adelaide was going slow ahead, andthen full speed astern; did not feel any bump; the Adelaide was going at the rate of four knots ; went full «peed astern for about a minute ; if she were going slow ahead when he got the order " Full speed astern," she would have stornway on in a minute ; _ the effect of going astern would be to turn her some points, he could not say how many, to starboard.

The inquest was then adjourned tilt Monday, at 10

a.m. _____________________