The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1914-01-14
ship DROPS APART
TANK STEAMER BREAKS In Two
NEAR SANDY HOOK

NEhh 0HNU! uUUA
MANY HEROIC RESCUES
Twenty-Five Mem Find Watery Graves
When OIL Ship, One Day Out Of
New York, Strikes Storm and After
An Night Battle With Wind and
Sea Breaks Between Bridges.
The oil tank steamer Oklahoma
broke in two ami6ships without
warning at 1880 Sunday morning
en- Sandy Hook and a large number
Of her crew OF 3S men perished.
The stern section, in whic hwas sit
uated all the heavy machinery Of the
vessel. and on which there we're
thirty-two members Of the crew,
sank Immediately.
Eight members Of the crew were
rescued by the Hamburg-American
Line steamer Bavaria, whose captain
said some OF the Oklahoma's men
told him they saw an open boat Of
the Oklahoma put away from the
wreck with ten men in it.
The arrival IN New York Tuesday
Of Booth liner Gregory, fresh from
. 2,o0o-mile voyage up the Amazon,
with i've more Of the shipwrecked
Oklahoma, made total Of fifteen Of
her crew saved. The officers Of the
Gregory dragged the sailors from the
boiling sea at the risk Of their own
lives. Little hope for the rest Of the
crew remains, although some IS bss-
Cd on the fact that the men brought
into New York by the Gregory say
that another lifeboat besides theirs
had been launched from the sinking
steamer.
OF the Oklahoma's crew Of thirty
eight, eleven manned the boat that
reached the Gregory, nineteen took
to the other boat and eight stayed
aboard. to be saved by the Bavaria.
OF the larger boat load probably all
wore lost. OF the eleven in the
smaller BOAT, six were drowned when
: the boat capsized barely hundred
yards away from the side Of the
Booth liner.
When the Gregory sighted the Ok
lshoma's lifeboat the benumbed sail
ees had hoisted a sail which enabled
them to keep their craft from being
overwhelmed by the gigantic seas
As the Gregory came within hail
Ing distance the shipwrecked men
dropped their sail and their boat i'm
mediately lost its steerageway and
turned over. Then, one after anoth-
er, the three chief officers Of the
Gregory, without waiting to. throw of
clothes. plunged over the side. They
vere First Officer r. II. Buck, Sec
ond Oficer J. S. Williams and Third
Officer F. D. Roberts, all young Eng
lishmen. Buck, who has a medal
given by the King Of Greece for a
rescue made nine years ago in the
Bay Of B;scay. knew what 1t meant
70 breast storm-beaten sea, and he
lied to himself line.
The others took no lines, and all
but paid the penalty with their lives.
Each ofneer seized struggling sailor
and brought him to the ships side,
then went back to where the lifeboat
was floating bottom s,de up.
Three more were rescued. The
Nrst man hauled aboard died on the
Geek. The other i've were kept alive
after hard work by surgeon and crew
One man was seen swimming near
tho ship. Capt. Aspinwail heaved
him q life buoy at the end Of line.
The man had It In his grasp when a
great wave heeled the ship over and
when It swung back the man had dis
appeared. The life boat righted it.
self and, as It fioated past, the Greg
ery crew saw a man jammed under
the seats. Officer Buck wanted to
jump In after him, but his captain
held him back.
Tho first Information came in
. wireless dispatch received IN New
York Monday night by the Hamburg
American Line from Captain Graalfs.
sf the steamer Bavaria. which Is pro-
seeding to Boston with eight survi-
vors Of the tanker on board. The
message, which cape by way Of Sias-
eonset, said:
"or January s, at s a. NJ, we
aghted signals Of distress. The seas
were high. At dawn we saw the
eorepart Of steamer floating on the
water. It was the tank steamer Ok
lahoma from New York.
''At q. N. we were close to the
wreck and lowered boat. The men
On the Oklahoma lowered themselves
into the boat, exhausted by their ex-
perience Of the last twenty-tour
hours.
Captain Gunther stated that last
Sunday at 1880 a. m, during heavy
weather and without any previous
warning. the ship suddenly broke in
two between the bridges. In about
twenty-five minutes the afterpart Of
the ship. with q crew Of thirty-two
men. sank. The forepart was kept
ahoat by the bulkhead. Lifeboats
either went down with the ship or
we're spashed Immediately after the
catastrophe.
ION the evening Of January 4th a
Spanish steamer. probably the Man
uel Calvo. had appeared In the vicin-
ity Of the Oklahoma, but was unable.
L.. AaA o. ~