Birmingham state herald., 1897-02-09
A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE Admiral Bunce's Fleet Encoun-
 terS a Severe Storm FORTY MILES OFF THE COAST
Four Dead and Eight Wounded While the Ships
 Were Damaged.
ONE HEROIC ACT OF BRAVERY
A Seaman Plunges Into the Soothing Bill lows to Recover .Shipmate and Is Saved In the Nick of Time-Oth-
 CTS In Jeopardy.

Charleston, s. C., Feb. S.-The United 1 States warships New York, Maine, Co | lumbia, Amphitrite and Marblehead ar l rived off Charleston bar today after a | terrible experience with the storm which swept up the Atlantic coast Friday and l Saturday. The cruiser Columbia and ! the battleship Maine were sighted from 1 Sullivans island early in the forenoon | and the flagship New York, the Monitor l Amphitrite and the cruiser Marblehead | steamed into view later; the flagship be- l ing the last of the squadron to reach an | anchorage to the north of the Charleston l lightship All five of the vessels are now l at anchor about two miles off the bar. i Admiral Bunce's fleet ran straight intc 1 the teeth of terrible storm Friday
 night. The warships were forty miles of | the North Carolina coast and well below 1 Hatteras, and while the officers are as | usual unwilling to discuss their experi- 1 ences, it is known that both ships and | men were in great peril. When the fleet | was visited by representative of the | Southern Associated Press this afternoon l it was learned that the actual loss con- | sisted of four lives, eight men seriously | injured and minor injuries to almost all | of the vessels themselves. The battle | ship Maine had six of her men overheard 1 three of them losing their lives The | Marblehead lost one man killed and six l injured. The killed on the Maine were: L. c. KOZEL, apprentice, dashed to | death against turrets and body lost al | sea. ft..~55. tsf M JOHN BROWN, seaman, washed over 1 board and drowned, body not recovered. | A. B.. NELSON, private United States I marines, washed overheard and drowned, | body lost.
 l The Marblehead lost Ships Carpenter | Strawhart, who was dashed to death by | the sea. His body was saved and buried l at sea Sunday.
 l Seven of the carpenters gang who were at work on the sea anchor were hurled l against the superstructure of the ship by | the sea and more or less injured. Their l names are: .A H. Dennis Ryan, blacksmith; Charles Os- borne, shipwright, Apprentices ScanlaN 1 and Began and flicker, plumber. flicker l sustained compound fracture of. the | skull and his condition is serious. Ar l engagements have been made for placing l all injured in the marine hospital here
 and they will be transferred from their l ships to the shore tomorrow.
 The. New York, the Columbia, the Am 1 phitrite and the Maine were off the coast | below Hatteras and about forty miles out when the storm began to gather Friday l night. s.
 i The admiral signalled from the New
 
 | storm was blowing from the southeast I It steadily increased during the night and l the four ships were separated. So heav- l fly did the New York roll that the big 1 eight-inch guns in the turrets were lashed down with heavy. haWSerS as precau- l tion. During the storm heavy sea rolled | over the stern and the aft, companion | way was flooded with water, which went ] down into the officers quarters. The gun 1 ports and the torpedo tubes also let the n ntaf~ Tn. .xf<x 1 side. The boatswain, William Ander- l son, while on the forward deck, was | struck from his feet by sea and injured 1 by being dashed aft. Naval Cadet Cas- tleman, while. ons the forward quarter 1 deck, also lost his footing and was about 1 to go over the side when he managed to 1 seize life line and save his own life. | When the sea was shipped astern the | sounding apparatus was knocked to fin ders, and one of the officers nearly dashed over the side. .a5 @s.
 When morning came the Maine was | sighted and spoken. The battleship, it is believed, had the most trying experience | of the fleet.
 | Friday night the prentice. Kozel, was | struck by terrible sea and his life | dashed out of him.. The rushing wa | ters carried his body overheard. Two | men jumped after him as he was being l carried away. They were the seaman, John Brown, and the marine, Alexander 1 Nelson, Jr. In trying to save their mess mate they lost their lives, for they, too, | were carried out into the mountains of | black water. Charles Hassell was wash l ed overheard at the same time When | these four men went overheard William l J. Creelman, landsman, was standing | on the .pop deck, He saw the upturned l face of Kozel floating by. Creelman 1 dove over the stern and struck out to 1 save him. In the meantime two life | buoys had been thrown over. Hassell got one of them. Brown, Nelson and Kozel l disappeared and the brave Creelman was l struggling far from the buoy intended l for him. Hasself saw him and reached | him in time to save his hfe.-
 The Maine was brought around in the storm and a life-boat lowered from the | starboard. Naval Cadet Gherardi was | put in command with six men, The boat l got only few yards from the ship when 1 she was overturned and seven more men 1 were in the water. The men were res- 1 cued with life lines. The Efe-boat was 1 lost as were one or more of the ships l boats. These were all torn from their | davits by the heavy seas.
 | The Amphitrite, Maine, Columbia and | Marblehead were sighted in the morning | in the order mentioned. The Marble head was laboring' heavily and had out | oil bags. Grave fears had been entertain ] ed for the Amphritrite, but she rode out 1 the gale, and as far as can be learned lost no life. On board thea Maine board of | inquiry reported on the loss of the three 1 men. They highly commented Creel- ! mans brave attempt to rescure Koze1. l He will be recommended for life-saver's | medal of the first-class. The Columbia, Marblehead and Amphitrite came down
 the coast together after the storm. The l reason the New York did not arrive until this afterhoon is Explained by the fact | that she turned back and went almost-to l Hatteras looking for the Monitor. The | Marblehead came up to the city this ,af- | ternoon and arrangements were ma de | for putting her injured sailors in the Ma rine hospital here.
 l various vessels themselves sustained during the storm connvt now be stated.