First published in The Age on April 7, 1959
Wrecked Yacht Battered by a Raging Sea
Minister Nearly Drowned in Swim from Yacht Wreck
The Winston Churchill sinks in the heavy swell.Credit:The Age Archives
The Minister for Transport (Sir Arthur Warner) nearly drowned yesterday morning when a trailing line fouled his body as he began to swim ashore after his stricken yacht, Winston Churchill, foundered 150 years from shore near Wonthaggi.
Struggling under boiling seas, he freed the line from around his lifejacket and oilskins and swam 150 yards through 20-feet high waves to the Wreck Beach, five miles from Wonthaggi to end an epic fight against gale force winds and raging seas in the stricken ship.
The six other survivors, including his 33-year-old son, Graham, swam ashore a few minutes later when heavy seas battered the foundering yacht within 30 yards of the beach.
The five other men were: Russell Evans, 33, of Were Street, Brighton; Thomas McInerheney, 42, of Gardiner Parade; Michael Witty, 23, of Lantana Grove, Garden Vale; Russell Reid, 35, of Scott Street, Beaumaris, and Edward Montfort, 27, of Laura Street, Caulfield.
The Minister’s yawl-rigged auxiliary yacht was 10 miles south of Phillip Island about 5.29 a.m. when a giant wave smashed into the port side springing seams. The vessel began to take water rapidly.
The survivors gather on the beach after escaping the yacht. Credit:The Age Archives
The crew baled frantically with a pair of buckets when the rush of water proved too much for the two pumps.
SOS Sent
With the vessel sinking beneath him, Sir Arthur steered it to within 150 yards of “the wreck” beach at 7 a.m.
“By the time we reached 150 yards from ‘the wreck’ beach she was so waterlogged I expected her to founder at any moment,” Sir Arthur Warner said.
“Meanwhile, my son, Graham, sent four distress signals on coastal radio wavelength in the hope that help could be sent before we disappeared altogether.”
A search was organised when the Navigation department picked up an S.O.S. when the yawl first got into difficulty on its voyage from Welshpool to Melbourne.
Unknown to him, an air-sea, was organised in which two aircraft and two freighters took part until being called off at 9.33 a.m.
Describing the wave, Sir Arthur said: “It might have been a whale. The door flew off a heavy refrigerator and a wireless set – an ordinary receiver – was hurled from its mount to the floor.
“The fellows down below, some of whom were sleeping, or trying to in the gale we were having, immediately rushed on deck.
“Water was leaking rapidly into her along the seams on the port side.
“I maneuvered the Winston Churchill so that her damaged side was protected somewhat from the heavy seas and headed for shore 10 miles away.
“I didn’t think we’d make it.
“I drove her hard for the beach.”
With the Winston Churchill caught in boiling surf 150 yards off, Sir Arthur and Russell Evans clambered into the 10-foot dinghy.
Seconds later the dinghy filled with water and the two men jumped for their lives.
Exhausted, Evans managed to return to the yacht while Sir Arthur Warner struck out for the beach.
The crew clung to the yacht while it was swept within 30 yards of the beach.
They then dived overboard and reached safety through treacherous surf and an undertow.
Most Viewed in National
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article