Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1886-03-24
COLLISIONS ON THE OCEAN.
The Weak Points of Large Vessels De
scribed by Captain Mckay Of tn,
Catalonia.
From the Boston Ira nscrint March

From the Boston Ira nscript March 1S
Capt. Mckay, of the Cunard steamship Cata-
lonia, now in this port, has made some startling
statements concerning collisions at sea- which
are particularly pertinent now. He has fol-
lowed the sea thirty years, twelve of which he
has passed in the Cunard service and conse-
quently has had considerable experience. On
being asked if it was possible for q wooden YES
sci OF small size to cause dangerous break in
an iron steamship, he replied
Why, bless you, yes. 1t 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
ject will do serious injury to a steamer. A
barrel OF beef, weighing two hundred pounds, if
striking steamship in her vulnerable parts
when she is moving at full speed, will plow
right through her side. So will a floating SPAR
or even buoy. A schooner such as the one
that struck the Oregon would cut into frigate
or line-ot-battle ship. If the Oregon had hit
the schooner stem on she would have gone
completely over the sailing vessel and scarcely
when loaded, weighs roughly nine thousand
tons; and when you put eighteen million
pounds in motion, at the rate OF nineteen miles
an hour, something breaks if 1t encounters an
obstruction. l remember several years ago,
when 1 was in command of the Batavia, that
one morning about four o'clock we struck a
fishing schooner on the banks. We went clean
over her. and the officer of tine deck said tina t
he could scarcely feel the jar. The passengers
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 struck
amidships, right at her coal bunkers, and that
was her weak place. Going at the speed she was
and meeting such a solid resistance, something
had to give. She filed amidships, and when
she sank, falling TO such a depth and striking
on her bow, the weight OF water broke her back,
particularly as she was already weakened by
the collision.
"Our rules about a lookout at night are very
proper lights, l do not think the accident would
have happened. The report says she showed u
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 mast head.
They have also Il red light on the port and a
sells carry only the side lights. Now it is singu-
lar tact that the majority of collisions at Oc-
cur juSt before daybreak. One of the reasons tor
this is that the SHE lights, which are lit at
set, begin to burn dim toward morning. On
vessels where the discipline is not very strict,
come and IL is not worth while to Trim or replen-
ish the lights just for an hour or SO, and they
are allowed to burn low or even go out. There
Is where the danger comes in, and, as l said
before, the majority OF ocean collisions happen
just before daybreak and are largely attribu-
charge OF the Oregon could easily have avoided
the schooner had he seen her, and she would
have been seen had her lights been in proper
condition. Capt. Cottier is a most thorough
seaman, and has been in the Cunard service for
fourteen years. l succeeded him in the COM
trips to this port, and has host of 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."