Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), Monday 11 July 1932, page 7


TEN PERISH IN WRECK.

CASINO SINKS IN APOLLO BAY ATTEMPT TO BEACH LEAKING SHIP

ALL ABOARD THROWN INTO SURF

(By Our Special Reporters.)

Ten lives were lost when the old coastal steamer Casino capsized and sank in sight of the Apollo Bay pier just after 9 o'clock on Sunday morning. Seven members of the crew and the two passengers were saved. Some of the bodies have not yet been recovered.

Approaching the Apollo Bay pier in a heavy sea the vessel bumped the sand heavily and damaged her bottom. She drew away, but was leaking, and sank before she could be

beached.

The fate of the members of the crew and the passengers - a married woman and a girl-is set out as follows :

BODIES RECOVERED.

MIDDLETON, John Gilchrist, aged 48 years, master, married, 2 Frogmore road, Mur-

rumbeena.

GILL, Helena L., aged 53 years, stewardess, widow, White Horse road, North Croydon. FOLEY, Michael, senior, aged 42 years, able seaman, married, Middle road, Maribyrnong. MURRAY, Peter, aged 50 years, able seaman, married, 3 Roseneath place, South Mel-

bourne.

MULHOLLAND, Hugh, aged 49 years, able seaman, married, 4 Anderson st.. Yarraville.

MISSING.

BINNIE, Orlando, first officer, married, 71 Radnor street, South Camberwell.

THOMPSON, James, aged 25 years, ordinary seaman, married, 247 Princes street, Port

Melbourne.

KIRKPATRICK, James, aged 44 years, cook and providore, married, 294 Wood street,

Preston.

OWEN, John, aged 65 years, fireman, married, 137 Roden street, West Melbourne. CLARK, Thomas, fireman, 142 Molesworth street, Coburg.

SURVIVORS.

LEES, Henry W., second engineer, 11 Grandview road, Brighton, suffering from shock

and exhaustion.

STRETTON, Stanley E., aged 32 years, purser, unmarried, 28 Edward st., Sandringham. WILTSHIRE, Peter, aged 31 years, fireman, married, 172 Dow street, Port Melbourne. NEWLANDS, William, aged 66 years, first engineer and superintendent, married, Ouisac,

Apollo Bay.

FOLEY, Michael, junior, aged 20 years, able seaman, unmarried. Middle road, Maribyr- ,

nong, suffering from shock and exhaustion.

BELLAIRS, John, aged 42 years, assistant providore, single, 21 Stanley st., Warrnambool. MacDERMID, Edward, second officer, 16 Lyell street, South Melbourne, suffering from

crushed leg.

CONBERY, Mrs. H., passenger, Apollo Bay.

GREER, Joan, aged 11 years, passenger, Portland.

APOLLO BAY Sunday - The Casino is owned by the Belfast and Koroit Steam Navigation Company and for 50 years has been running between Mel-bourne and Portland, calling at Apollo Bay, Warrnambool, and Port Fairy. She left Melbourne at 2 o'clock on Saturday after-noon, carrying, in addition to two passen-gers, about 240 tons of cargo. Half of the cargo was sugar. Bad weather was encoun-tered as soon as the Casino passed through the Heads, but the south-easterly winds, although they caused heavy seas, did not appreciably delay the vessel, and she reached Apollo Bay, her first port of call, soon after daybreak this morning. The Casino draws a maximum of 11ft 6in of water. She approached the long pier at Apollo Bay at about half tide falling into the troughs of the long rollers. As she was manoeuvred to draw into the pier, the bottom of the vessel bumped heavily on the sand several times apparently causing a serious leak. "Bottoming" in this way occurs frequently in heavy seas. Although the impacts were so severe that they threw members of the crew in the engine-room off their feet, they created no alarm.

Efforts to berth were made for nearly half an hour, but had to be abandoned. The captain then decided to draw off the pier and anchor in deep water in the middle of the bay until the seas abated sufficiently for the vessel to come alongside. It was not until the centre of the bay was reached that crew or passengers realised that the ship had been damaged. Then the Casino was put about with the intention of beach-ing her. She sank in about 30 feet of water before this manoeuver could be com-pleted.

The suddenness of the floundering is the most remarkable feature of the tragedy. After the Casino floundered the tide rose, entirely hiding the ship. Because of this fact and because a heavy sea has been run-ning all day it has been impossible to ex-amine the wreck but several members of the crew declare that the ship broke her back. This opinion is based on the fact that the ship turned on her side and sank within 15 minutes of the discovery that she was leaking.

The end came so quickly that the engine-room crew escaped just in time to avoid being trapped. Within two minutes of the captain's order to launch the two lifeboats the vessel had turned on her side and foundered. Displaying great heroism the stewardess (Mrs Gill) supplied and fitted lifebelts to Mrs. Cronbery and Joan Greer, but neither she nor any other mem-ber of the crew had time to fit a lifebelt before they were thrown into the sea.

Thrown Into Sea.

When it was seen that the Casino could not be beached an effort was made to abandon her. The heavy sea prevented the successful launching of a boat. As the Casino heeled over all aboard were thrown into the sea. All but five attempted to

swim ashore. Eight of these either swam, drifted or were assisted into the surf, and were rescued by the residents of Apollo Bay. Captain Middleton and four mem-bers of the crew struck back towards the hull,

which was then lying on its side about 400 yards from the long beach to the north of the township. Despite the intensity of the seas breaking over the half of the vessel showing above the water, they succeeded in scrambling on to it. They signalled desperately for assistance, but efforts to reach them failed. As the tide rose they were washed off, and, with one exception

were drowned.

Comparatively few people were about when the Casino drove up the bay this morning. Mr. A. W. Ash was waiting to assist in mooring. From a hill several hundred feet in height, behind the settle-ment, Mr. H. Conbery, whose wife was returning on the vessel after having spent a month in Melbourne, watched the ship turn slowly into the bay and make for the pier, which reaches nearly 1,000ft. out into the shelving bay. The Casino's unsuccess-ful efforts to moor caused little surprise in view of the weather. Those ashore first learned that the ship was in distress when a series of warning blasts was sounded by the siren as the captain set off for the beach. Then the watchers realised that the ship had settled deep into the water and was listing at a sharp angle. She made slow progress toward the beach, though the wind was nearly directly behind her. A rocket station has been established at

Apollo Bay for some years. The staff hastily marshalled its equipment on the beach when it was seen that efforts were being made to lower the boats. The ship heeled over and sank before many in the town realised that she was in danger. Hurrying to the beach, where the sea was washing up wreckage, a large body of men sought anxiously for survivors.

Rescue From Surf.

When the first rocket was fired, the line attached to it broke. Other rockets

were fired; but the intensity of the wind drove them off to sea, and the weight of the line caused them to fall far short of the wreck.

Realising that the ship could not be reached by rocket line. Mr. A. Fisk volun-teered to swim out with a line to the hull.

The weight of the line and the strength of the waves proved too much for him. After a hard fight in the waves he was brought ashore exhausted. Mr. J. F. Ley, of Apollo Bay, also attempted to carry a line to the wreck. Although he made two at-tempts, he was driven back. He succeeded however, in assisting several of the sur-

vivors from the surf. While assisting to administer artificial respiration he col-lapsed and had to be taken home.

Valuable work in bringing the survivors from the surf was performed by Mr. F. E.

Martin, of Apollo Bay. Mr. Martin recognised the futility of attempting to swim against the sea, and mounting a horse, he rode far out into the surf and drew

exhausted men to the beach.

The local life-saving crew assisted seve-

ral of the survivors ashore. Constable

Mildrum, of Apollo Bay, entered the sea with a line, and helped to rescue the chief engineer, Mr. Newlands.

Help for Survivors

The people of Apollo Bay lost no time in organising relief for the survivors. Motor-cars laden with blankets, hot water bottles, and first-aid equipment were hurried to the beach. One by one those rescued from the surf were brought to hotels and boar-ing-houses in the town. Under the advice of doctors the majority of them were put to bed, where they were kept all day. Several of the men, who were strong swim-

mers and suffered comparatively little from the ordeal, assisted in the rescue work.

None of those rescued from the wreck is considered to be in any danger. Three only were seriously ill to-night. These were:- Macdermid, who was suffering from a crushed leg; Lees, who is suffering from shock and exhaustion; and Michael Foley, jun., who is suffering from shock, and is

deeply affected by the death of his father.

Toward noon the sea became quieter. The Casino had disappeared from sight. Queenscliff lifeboat corps, the Air Force, at Point Cooke, and the chief engineer oi the ports and harbours branch (Mr G. Ker-mode.) A seaplane was despatched from Point Cooke. It arrived after noon, when most of the steamer had disappeared. No lifeboat was despatched from Queenscliff, as it would have been impossible for it to arrive to be of assistance.

from the shore. Wreckage was strwen along the beach for about a mile and a half beyond the town. It is not yet known

whether it will be possible to salvage the hull, and the likelihood of refloating it is considered to be remote.

Seaplane From Point Cooke.

When the wreck of the steamer was re-ported calls for assistance were made by the postmaster (Mr. W. Phillips) to the

SURVIVOR'S STORY.

LIFEBOATS SWAMPED.

WATER POURED INTO HOLD.

APOLLO BAY, Sunday. Of the sur- sur-vivors none was able to give a more de-tailed account of the loss of the Casino than the purser, Mr. Stanley Ernest Stret-ton. He was on the bridge with Captain Middleton before the first attempt was made to berth at the Apollo Bay jetty, and he remained on the bridge until the vessel

heeled over.

"When we headed toward the pier," he said, "I saw that we would have trouble berthing the ship as a strong south-easterly was driving heavy seas right into the bay.

We approached the jetty slowly, and as we were off its head the ship dropped deep into troughs between big waves, and we bottomed heavily. We could tell that it was only the sand which the vessel had struck. We were not alarmed, as it is

a common experience to touch the bot-tom in a very heavy sea. Captain Middle-ton attempted to bring the ship alongside, but the sea proved too strong, and he de-cided to anchor in the bay until the sea abated. The ship behaved normally until we reached the anchorage a few minutes before 9 o'clock. i remarked to Captain Middleton that the bow was low in the water. He said that he had noticed this, and was puzzled. The ship's two cats came on to the bridge in obvious distress, and a few minutes later we could hear through a saloon ventilator the sound of water pouring into the hold.

Attempt to Abandon Ship. "Captain Middleton immediately gave orders for the passengers and all members of the crew not required below to come

on deck, and he put the Casino about with the intention of beaching her. Immediately

we turned the ship began to settle down.

Engine-room hands were ordered on deck, and directions were given to launch our

three boats. One could not be handled owing to the sea and the list of the ship,

but two were swung out, and the two women passengers were ordered into the first. But both boats capsized in the water. Simultaneously the ship sank on its side, and we were all thrown overboard.

FORTUNES OF CREW.

FATHER OF 11 DROWNED.

Four Began Leave Last Week.

There is more than the usual tragedy in the death of Peter Murray, able seaman. he had joined the vessel only recently

after having been unemployed for two years. He leaves a widow and a family of 11 young children. Michael Foley, senior and junior, were father and son, who had shipped together as able seamen. The son was saved, and the father was drowned.

Orlando Binnie joined the Casino only a week ago, replacing David P. Sinclair, the first officer, who left on annual leave last Tuesday. Binnie, whose body has not been recovered, was formerly the captain of the

Casino. Three others of the regular com-plement of the Casino had left for their

annual leave in the last week and were replaced by temporary men, and the second engineer, George Newlands, who is a

nephew of William Newlands, one of the survivors, left the vessel on sick leave on Friday.

Peter Wiltshire, who was also among the survivors, was a fireman in the Kooringa when that vessel took fire and exploded in Bass Strait, in 1926, with a full cargo of

AS SEEN FROM THE AIR.

Flying over the wreck of the Casino early in the afternoon, a representa-tive of "The Argus" noted from a height of 200ft. that both masts of the steamer and the funnel had dis-

appeared. The upper deck works and bridge had been carried away by the heavy seas.

The Casino was then on her beam ends In five fathoms. She was on the edge of a sandbank.

petrol and oil under the hatches. He was one of the last to leave the Kooringa, and was one of three who suffered terribly from burns. He was rescued with the remainder of the Kooringa's crew by the collier Koo-

Insured for £6,000.

The Casino was insured with Lloyds, Lon-don, for £6,000, which represented three-quarters of her value. The remaining £2,000 of the risk was carried by the owners. She was listed at Lloyds as 100A1, the highest classification, in spite of her age.

CAPTAIN MIDDLETON.

Popular Coastal Master.

Captain John Gilchrist Middleton had been master of the Casino for about seven years. He was born in Glasgow. About 27 years ago he came to Melbourne, and entered the service of the Union Steamship Co. He became chief officer of the Moeraki,

the Mokoia, and other vessels of the Union line. After some years as master of ves-sels of the Newcastle and Hunter River Steam Navigation Co., on the north coast of New South Wales he transferred to the Casino. He had a charming person- person ality, and was one of the most popular of the master mariners on the coast. He leaves a widow and three daughters, Greta, Helen, and Janet, the eldest of whom is aged 17 years and the youngest 9 years. Mrs. Middleton is a daughter of Mrs. and the late Mr. Berend Hansen, of Murrum-beena.

FIFTY YEARS OF RUN.

Jubilee Ceremonies Arranged.

Preparation for the celebration of the jubilee of the Casino, and of the Belfast and Koroit Steam Navigation Company, which owned her, were almost complete when the ship was lost. Next month would have marked the 50th anniversary of her first run. Celebrations were to have in-cluded complete furbishing and refurnlshlng of the ship, and much of the refitting had

been done.

For half a century the ship has provided cheap transport for the primary producers of the Western district. The company was formed by farming pioneers, and the Casino was its only vessel. Even in the most recent freight list some produce was car-ried from Portland for 8/ a ton. The Casino was built by Gooly Bros., of Glas-

gow, for the Newcastle and Hunter River Steam Navigation Company of New South Wales, but before that company had put it into service the present owners bought it in 1882. Since then the Casino has been running continuously between Melbourne and Portland, and when the traffic war-

ranted it the Sphene, owned by Australian Steamships Pty. Ltd. provided a joint ser-vice. The Casino was 425 tons gross. De-spite her slight draught, the Casino had had several severe mishaps. The most serious was in October, 1924, close to the place where she sank yesterday. She struck on Howdern's Reef, a mast and much of the top-hamper broke, and went by the board, and most of the cargo had to be jettisoned before she could be floated off. In February, 1929, she struck a submerged object outside Warrnambool Heads and ran for the shore in a sinking condition. She was beached 13ft. of water in the engine-room on a sandbank 50 yards from

the shore.

The Casino was always a steamship, but in her earlier years she was rigged as a topsail schooner. She had accommodation for a limited number of passengers.

CONTINUING THE SERVICE.

Sphene Will Sail To-morrow.

Arrangements have been made for the Sphene to continue the service between Mel-bourne and Western District ports, and to complete contracts with shippers. It is unlikely that the company will relinquish the advantage which the Casino provided for its shareholders and other primary pro-ducers in the Western District of cheap transport of products. The directors will meet as soon as possible to decide whether they will purchase another vessel. The Sphene will run to the agency of Howard Smith Ltd., and will leave Melbourne to-morrow for Warrnambool only. on Satur-day she will sail for all ports on the run. The Sphene has no passenger accommoda-tion.

Mountainous Seas Without Warning

Apollo Bay lies in one of the most treacherous parts of the Victorian coast. Experienced navigators said yesterday that mountainous seas rose on that coast with-out warning, and receded as suddenly. This occurred yesterday morning. There was only a moderate wind, but the seas were phenomenal, lifting the vessel and drop-ping it as though it were a cork. On many occasions the Casino has been forced to steam away from the pier and stand off for calmer weather. On other oc-

casions the swell has risen while the ship was alongside, and snapped the heavy mooring ropes, and even torn the bollards to which the ropes are made fast out of the

deck.

In this photograph, which was taken from an aeroplane of the Larkin Aircraft Supply Company, Melbourne Air Port,

the wrecked Casino is seen lying on her beam with the heavy seas breaking over her.