, 1911-10-25

cruiser Hawke OFF Castle Point, Cowes ina.
before one o'clock to-day. So slight an 4f4ot
ala the blow dealt by the Hawkes. stem havo
upon the enolmou bulk of the Olympic that
the passengers thought their vessel hod
merely bumped a sandbank.
The Olympic is the largest ship in tbo
world, with a tonnage of $4,000. The
Hawke is of over 300 tons, and she struck
according to eyewitness, a very hard
blow. Yet a great many Of the liners pas-
sengers did not know that anything had hap.
pened uutn half al hour after the collision
had taken place.
Why the collision did take place is At
present q mystery. Everyone agrees-both
those who were on board and those who
SAW the accident from boats near by-that
the two ships were steaming parallel With
one another, neither at a high speed, and
that suddenly, unaec0untabiy, amazingly,
the Hawke swung round and crashed into tue
OIympic's starboard (rjght( side near the
stern. Mr.. Reuben Speed, a Cowes boat
man, who happened to. he close by at the
moment OF the collision, told me this eve
ming
4 Tremendous blow.
II was with a photographer who had
Just taken Il picture of the liner. She had
come out Of Southampton Water, rounded
the West Bramble buoy, and proceeding
eastward, when we saw the Hawke comiun
up from the west. She had been down for
some trials and was stenming pretty fast,
but slowed # little as she came up with the
Olympic. They steamed alongside Of enc
another for some little way, then all Of a
sudden the Hawke turned IL. | said to nay
companion, There's going to be 4 collision.
Look, look. He'll hit her. He said, NO., not
The Hawke VIII 60 under her stern
'IJust at that moment she hit the Olympic
a tremendous blow, so it loOkod to us, ON
the starboard side some seventy or eighty
feet from her stern. When the Hawke be
gan to turn she was about abreast Of the
OIympic'a foremost funnel. So You can see
that very little time passed before size struck
her. 1t was then ten minutes TO one, aud
the weather was clear except for il Slight
drizzling rain
"After the collision the Hawke dragged
her nose, which was very badly smashed.
along the side of the liner, and | should be
afraid her ram may have damaged the pro-
peller. The Olympic reeled over q bit.
Then we saw that the hole, a tremendous
great hole, fifteen feet wide ut least, was
lust abaft the mainmast, The stem Of the
cruiser brought away a lot Of cabin furniture
with it and some luggage too. Part Of this
was picked up in the afternoon and brought
INTO Cowes.. The Hawke got her collision
mat out at once and sisuaIIed for tugs.
Then she slowly steamed towards Ports
mouth
The Olympic went up TO Osborne Bay,
but she did not go ashore there rs was sud
She turned and came back to Cowes without
touching ground anywhere and dropped an
chor to northward of the Prince Consort
Buoy, about three quarters Of a mile from
the shore"
How can YOU explain the sudden turn OF
the Hawke?" i asked Mr. Speed, who has
twenty years experience of the sea.
Il cannot believe he replied, 'ethat any
navigating officer could have starboarded hrs
helm at such a moment. l cannot help
thinking there must have been a strong sue
ton and that the Hawk was drawn irresls-
tubly towards che other vessel '-Lbjd.