[?]Her Wrecks On Rossel

Bits of "St. Paul" Are Still There

[?]T There Have Been

The account in May “PIM” of the celebrated cannibal feast on sel Island, Papua, 100 years ago, when the natives there ate up t of the Chinese passengers on the wrecked ship “St. Paul”, has ight a long, interesting letter from Mr. Hugh F. Osborne, and an rant of the more modern history of this island in the little-visited isiade Archipelago of Papua. He says :

uncle, Frank Osborne, landed on Rossel in 1901, when re turning Rossel Island natives iated from the Australian cane hat time it was necessary for ;e man to be aboard the vessel returning time-expired labour [ their respective Islands to s their safe return and to pre he crews from landing their gers on the first Island they to, and from confiscating the gers’ belongings.

Frank’s arrival at Rossel, he urprised to renew acquaint hth a native who had assisted n the Mambare (NG) gold a few years previously, ik was impressed with the and as gold was being mined sfully on Sudest Island, some es away, he arranged with his r, Harry, to settle on Rossel. landed in Yonga Bay, where ve the last European had been red some years previously. He escribed as a diver who had ixploring that Bay for shell, ik planted an area of coco it a place on the southern ne called Abaleti, and his r Harry (my father) settled in 1903. It seems that up to me, the Government had very (if ever), visited Rossel, due isolated position and treacher raters, hence the completely int customs to other Islands Louisiade Archipelago, m the brothers made enquiries 3 regarding the St. Paul in the natives remembered very )f the affair except that there een a massacre many years i today the winches and a her parts of the ship can still in on the reef at low tide, i they are heavily encrusted oral and other marine growth, recently as 1949, natives ex d sovereigns and odd French adjacent to Cannibal Island »f Refuge). the St. Paul gone aground Adele Island, the survivors have existed indefinitely. On ry 6, 1922, the Japanese ship Maru ran aground approxi -7 three miles north of Adele i. Strangely enough, the

Skipper had not been able to take a fix for three days and like the St. Paul she, too, was wrecked at 3 , , . , , .

The crew had no idea of their position until daybreak, when they were taken off by another Japanese shi P- The Inaho Maru was on a voyage from Japan to Newcastle to load wheat to relieve the food famine in .Japan and she had on board sufficient coal for the complete voyage. //p ~, . r , r n .th Sunk During Coral Sea Battle My people salvaged quite a lot of gear and stacked it ready to be transported ashore, but a storm blew up suddenly and they were forced to abandon their task and, to their disappointment, the ship broke in

half during the night and all was lost.

The American Air Force bombed this old wrecked vessel and quite probably she was one of the ships “sunk” during the Coral Sea Battle, An unexploded bomb lies about six feet off the starboard side of the wreck and right under the bridge.

About three miles SW of Adele Island lies the wreck of the Ameri can submarine 5.39, which was com manded by a Lieut. Brown. It ran aground on the night of August 13-14, 1942, and although they fired a dozen torpedoes onto the reef, jettisoned fuel and ammunition while the engines were run full astern, all attempts to refloat her were fruitless.

She was left to be destroyed by Allied bombers, and I might add that a direct hit was scored both fore and aft, rendering her abso lutely useless.

I am told that the Australian Corvette Katoomba took off all sur vivors. Only one man was cut by the coral while swimming through the break to reach the Duty Boat on the inside of the reef.

There is still another local wreck which seems to be a mystery. Even today the anchors, windlass and chains are most conspicuous at low tide, situated only about 100 yards from the submarine. (Over)

was an all-wooden vessel, with steel rigging wire and ently went aground before the charts were first made in 1887, r bows then stood 20 feet in lir and are marked on the as a “Boulder 20 feet high”. le cutlery and a few other odds *nds of wreckage were being cy the natives on the Eastern of Rossel Island in 1903 when ,ther established himself here.

Methodist Overseas Mission ished a Mission Station on I Island in about 1923, manned ic white man, but he stayed a few years. Native teachers continued this work. nk Osborne died in Sydney in as the result of a motor int; and my father, Harry, re id here until forced to leave the Japanese had captured il and were bombing Port by in 1942. father and I returned in 1947 -establish the plantation and a 60-ft boat to replace the Gili lost by the Australian , My father died in 1950 and led on Rossel Island.

Rossel Island natives are a fiiant lot; it is interesting to that during the bombing of Moresby, the only native to be at one stage was a Rossel ier—all the others had gone nd truly bush. Rossel Islanders ilso regarded as good house its and for many years have employed at Government House aany other parts of the Terri ides myself, the white in mts of Rossel Island now rise my brother, Ron Osborne, fives and three sons, who re at the original plantation of ti. High on the hillside over ig Cannibal Island (Isle of ;e) is the Roman Catholic on of the Sacred Heart Order, d by a Father and three *s. The Mission was established 51.

Bonus if Speaking

Local Language

Officers of the Cook Islands Ad ministration who learn to speak fj local native dialect of Maori w in future be paid a special bom of £5O per annum.

This was stated at the July Leg is lative Council meeting by Mr. O, a Dare, Assistant Secretary of Island Territories, who was representin the New Zealand Government at the meeting.

The bonus is intended to en courage all seconded officers to gain a thorough mastery of the nati language. Special language classes are available at Rarotonga.