Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1894-01-25
STRUCK BY 4 TIDAL WAVE
Thrilling Experience of tho
Steamer Normannia.
PASSENGERS IN DEADLY PERIL
Steel Bulwarks Crushed Like
Pieces of Wood.
Swept by Wave That lowered Half as
High as the Mastheads--State
Flooded and Passengers Nearly Drowned
in tho Saloon--Seven Men Badly Hurt--
In an Awful Panic.

ANhN 1ohh1 JAM AO.-Cllp huEN
comber of green water, towering half as
high as the mastheads, plunged aboard
the big Hamburg American Liner Nor
MAMMA, early Sunday morning last,
In the twinkling Of an eye it did $780,
900 damage to the boat, as much more
to the cargo, badly injured seven men,
and put the 400 odd souls aboard in
state of intense panic as they scrambled
about in water up 10 their necks trying
to get footing.
The ship was at once stopped, and
then Commodore Hebich began to in
vestigate 1t did not take him long to
find out that the NoImannia was in an
exceedingly dangerous condition, and,
should she be struck again by similar
wave, would founder surely. So, after
talk with the passengers, and after
reading petition signed by go OF them,
agreeing TO turn back provided the ship
could go to sea again in 4S hours, he
gave the order to return to New York,
where they arrived this morning
In the accident no one was killed out
right, drowned in the rush of the sea
which half-tilled the ship, or washed
overheard, but this was due not to the
mildness of the accident, but to the fact
that it was barely dawn, and every one
not actually on duty was below decks
asleep. As it was, Second officer Kad-
ing was so badly hurt that he may yet
die. He is in the hospital aboard ship,
semi,conscious and only lowering be.
tween life and death. Six seamen were
also badly hurt.
Had the wave come aboard when the
Iaplr a
1t might have been, for the weather was
not stormy-there is no telling how
many lives would have been lost
The Normannia left this port on
Thursday last, bound for Naples, AL.
giers and Genoa, and carried 105 cabin
passengers, lao in the steerage and as
many more in the crew. There were at
least 400 persons aboard, which is about
one-third of the vessels capacity.
While bound for southern European
ports and smoother seas the Normanna
had at least 2, 900 miles Of winter weather
ahead of her before she could reach the
semi-tropics. For the first day out,
therefore, no one thought 1t strange that
it was wintry weather or that there was
a southeast swell. The going was fairly
easy.
On Saturday, however, it roughened
up badly and high seas came rolling in
on the port bow, accompanied by gale
which only fell short of a hurricane. On
Saturday night Commodore Hebich
ordered half speed, and the screw, in
stead of doing 100 revolutions a minute,
was kept down to 81. After midnight
the sea quieted somewhat, and after 2
O'Clock on the morning of Sunday, the
2lst, full speed was resumed. The sea,
while agitated, did not threaten any
thing unusual, and Third Officer Lange
paced the bridge unmindful Of danger.
THE GIANT coMBER.
The first glimmerings of dawn APP
peared at about 6.15 O'clock. Almost
simultaneous with its appearance Lange
saw huge wall of water--a tidal wave
rise on the port bow. 1t lowered half
again above the bridge where LANCE
stood, but the ships PROV breasted it
CALAMITY and rose safely to the summit
of the crested comber, pausing for an
instant before taking the declivity which
lay before it. Then sight met Lange's
eyes which made him fall flat on the
bridge, grasping a rail and clinging for
life.
Right behind the first wave, and fol-
lowing swiftly upon it, was second,
even higher, which lowered above the
crows nest in the foremost. Tango
saw that the ship could not get down
the slope of the first wave in time to
surmount the second one, and so
grabbed for hold and yelled to the
few Of the crew on deck to hang ON for
their lives.
Like an avalanche it fell upon the
Normannia's steel PROV, slightly to
port. The crash of the thousands of
tons of water as they fell shook the ship
from stem to stern, and for an instant
stopped her in her course. Then the
water plunged forward down the decks,
after bending and twisting the steel
rails at the bow, built to stand the fury
of any tempest. The steel flagpole, two
inches thick, bent like reed.
The next thing to oppose the wave
were the steel bits, on which the anchor
| chains are bent when the anchors are
out, These We're broken squarely in
two across the bottom, although they
presented but a couple of square feet OF
surface to the rushing water,
From this point to the forward deck
house the wall Of water, still 20 feet
high, had full swing. With crash it
fell against the first big obstacle in its
way. The half-inch steel plates of the
deck-house curled up like paper before
the irresistible force and left a hole big
enough to drive an ice wagon through.
The woodwork, of course, was smashed
to matchwood. In the deck-house,
Second Officer Ernst Kading was sleep
ing. The water hurled him from his
bunk, dashed him against the steel sides
OF his room and then dropped him,
more dead than alive, to the floor.
Lange's room was alongside his. 1t was
swept away, but Lange, being on deck,
Was unhurt.
HAVOC IN THE SALOON.
Behind his room was the ladies' saloon.
a beautiful apartment, finished in plush,
with hand-painted pannels, plenty Of
gliding and artistic woodwork. Rich
furnishings made it the daintiest and
cosiest room aboard ship. But the re-
lentless wave, still unopposed, swept
through it, and in second it was
stripped Of its prettiness and, water.
soaked and ruined, made a picture of
desolation.
The force Of the sea was still unsnent
for it broke down the rear partition OF
the room and fell into the mushroom
just behind. Nothing was left of tile
partition and little more than the -four
walls of the MUSHROOM when the water
got through in there.
PANIC OF THE PASSENGERS.
But there was more water aboard than
the saloons, big as they were, could hold
SO the balance, which would have
foundered vessel not so big as the
Normannia, kept Oh down the passage.
-. Nil. l,l ~. s.