Joyita by David G. Wright

Author:David G. Wright [Wright, David G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History
Publisher: Auckland University Press
Published: 2001-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

5 LATER THEORIES

THE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY’S CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE Joyita’s fate convinced most people when they became public in April 1956, but some observers disagreed with aspects of the report, and among the best-informed dissenters were Peter Plowman and Jack Thornton.

Plowman eventually expressed his concerns in an intriguingly entitled article, ‘I Share Responsibility for the Joyita Tragedy’, which initially appeared in the Pacific Islands Monthly for September 1962 and was republished in slightly revised form in 1965. Although Plowman mostly accepts the commission’s findings about cause, he asserts that his role in the Joyita case was suppressed during the inquiry because its disclosure would have embarrassed the Western Samoan government. He makes the startling claim that in August or September 1955 he had checked the Joyita on behalf of the government, his attention to detail no doubt sharpened by the knowledge that if the vessel were officially chartered he would be sailing on it himself. At that stage the Joyita had not been to sea since it returned from the fishing trip on 1 May, mainly because Miller could not afford to buy fuel, but had been tied up in Apia Harbour. The engines had supposedly been turned over once a week but the clutches, which had reportedly given trouble on earlier occasions, had not been tested. According to Plowman, it was likely that the propeller-shaft packing glands would have developed leaks during the time at anchor. The ship’s pumps and radio had also not been tested recently. Plowman decided, he claims, that the Joyita was in no fit state to make ocean voyages, and he conveyed this opinion to the Acting High Commissioner, Thomas Smith, who accepted his recommendations. According to Plowman’s own account, it was essentially his report that ended the notion of a government contract; and he strongly implies that his safety concerns were foregrounded in this report.

Plowman also declares that his role in the case was later expunged from all official records. There was certainly no mention of it at the inquiry, he did not appear as a witness and he is never mentioned in the report. Members of the commission recommended strongly that the Joyita should have undergone sea trials before its voyage, a recommendation Plowman claimed he had already made to Thomas Smith. Yet Smith said nothing about this matter in his own evidence. If Plowman is correct about this sequence of events, the claim that the government declined to charter the boat solely because of missing papers and economic concerns was an emphasis added after the fact, designed to disguise the awkward truth that the government had also been warned not to charter the boat for safety reasons.

Public awareness that they had accepted such a warning could be awkward since, after the Joyita was subsequently chartered by a private company, government officials were allowed to sail on it, even though it was still in exactly the same condition as when Plowman had carried out his inspection. Thomas Smith had ultimate responsibility for government employees sailing on the Joyita, and he signed the authorisation allowing the voyage to take place.

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