Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1886-06-04
COLLISIONS ON THE OCEAN.
How Easy It Is to Sink Powerful
Vessel.

10" Easy II is TO Sink a IO"eE1ui
Vessel.
Capt. Mckay, of the 'Cunard steam
ship Catalonia, now in this port, has
made some startling statements con-
corning collisions at sea, which are
particularly pertinent now. He has
followed the sea thirty years, of which
be has passed in the Cunard service,
and consequently has had considerable
experience. On being asked if it was
possible for wooden vessel of small
size to cause dangerous break in an
iron steamship, he replied:
''Whv, bless you, yes. It all depends
upon how she is struck. Every vessel,
no matter how strong, has her weak
places, and if she is struck in certain
way she is badly damaged. You would
be surprised to know how small an OBJ
ject will do q serious injury to a steam
er. A barrel Of beef, weighing two
hundred pounds, if striking a steam
ship in her vulnerable parts when she
is moving at full speed will pillow right
through her side. So will floating
spar or even a buoy. a schooner sucl,
as the one that struck the Oregon
would cut into a frigate or a line
of-battle ship. If the Oregon had
hit the schooner stem on she would
have gone completely over the sailing
vessel and scarcely started the paint
on the steamer. The Oregon when
loaded weighs roughly nine thousand
tons. and when you put eighteen mil
lion pounds in motion, at the rate of
nineteen miles an hour, something
breaks if it encounters an obstruction.
remember several years ago, when l
was in command of the Batavia, that
one morning about o'clock we struck
fishing schooner on the banks. We
went clean over her, and the officer OF
the deck said that be could scarcely
feel the jar. The passengers never
knew of it until we told them at break
fast in the morning. The schooner
went to the bottom in no time, but we
did not start bolt. Had she struck us
just right she would have disabled US.
Now the Oregon was struck amitlship,
right at her coal-bunker, and that was
her weak place. Going at the speed
she was, and meeting such solid resist
ance, something had to give. She fill
ed am!dship, aud when she sank, falling
to such depth and striking on her
bow, the weight of water broke her
back. particularly as size was already
weakened by the collision.
''Our rules about a lookout at night
are very strict, and had the schooner
been provided with proper lights do
not think the accident would have hap
| pened. The report says she showcd.a
white light, and if this was so she was
doing what she had no right to do.
| Only steamers carry a white light, and
that at the masthead, They have also
a red light on the port and green light
on the starboard side. Sailing vessels
carry only the side lights. It is /, sin
gu'ar fact that the majority of coils
ions at sea occur just before daybreak.
| One Of the reasons for this is that the
side lights, which are lit at sunset, be-
| gin to burn dim toward morning. On
vessels where the discipline is not very
strict there is the feeling that daylight
will soon come, and 1t is not WORT,
while to trim or replenish the lights
Just for an hour or so, and they are al
! lowed to burn low, or even go out.
There is where the danger comes in.
and as 7 said befo1e the majority of
ocean collisions happen just before day
break and are largely attributable to ne e
!ected side lights. The officer in charge
of the Oregon could easily have avoid
Ell the schooner had he seen her, and
! she would have been seen had her lights
been in proper condition. Capt. Cotter
| is most thorough seaman, and has
| IN, Lo
years. succeeded him in the command
Of the Catalonia. He has made many
friends in Boston. These unfortunate
occurrences will happen, and all we
sailors can do is to pray that we may
be kept out of such scrapes. ''--Boston
| Transcript.