New-York tribune., 1922-10-05
! Ships Miss
rash i'm Gale
By Fifty Feet
gAe Cothland Reports Hav-
Inc Almost Rum Down
Freighter Menominee i'm
Storm on September 25
Credit to the Officers
r,,,ain Acts Quickly to
Avoid Crash, but He Says
The sShip Itself Did 1t"

~. co.hIand, Of the Red Star Line,
-.;.s arrived yesterday from Antwerp.
s..,v.ea that it almost ran down the
.-sishser Menominee, of the Atlantic
s..,snort Line, on September rs in the
.,.,,c storm, the violence of which
s,.1.n.s T. w. Charles, commander of
=. a,u;san.a. Of the Cunard Line, re-
a.a rs.en hc brought his ship into
pot Sunday
rs.,,.,a was struck by the storm Sep
o0s,o oSs.- o. and fought IL for three days.
,s.4ss ,a saon september 20 the sea was
p n.,Wry n. to mountainous heights and
ss.a;r sssi..S;s psne q. Bastin decided to
,.s ,sp "a The wind velocity was one
srsa hsasH miles an hourf and the oil
bars at the Gothland's bow had no Wis
ma effect on the eombers.
The heavy plate. glass protecting the
D bridge had been shattered and the sea
srsvs s the ship from bow. to stern In
solid green foods at regular intervals.
captair Bastin and his officers were
half blinded by the heavy spray that
drove through the broken windows on
the bridge Passengers on the ship at
tribute solely to the skill and prompt
action Of the officers ths fact that the
Cothland and the Menominee drove
past each other fifty feet apart instead
Il crashing together.
At7:l5 a. m. September 25 there was
right In the spray driven over the
bew--just enough to make the officers
gssp at the sight of the Atlantic Trans
port freighter directly in the Goth
lands path, but perched high above on
the crest Of tremendous sea. All was
Hack again, but tho captain decided
quickly. He outwitted the elements by
reversing one Of the engines. The ves-
sell careened at an angle Of az degrees,
but there was no danger from this
more, for every one Of the passengers
vas below. The deck under The bridge
was awash. Slowly the ship righted,
bat at the same time was lifted by
wave and cast down the incline, passing
the Menominee by less than fifty feet,
according to one Of the officers.
The tension among the men on the
bridge lessened somewhat then, but
Asy still realized the danger Of the
chip being carried back toward the
heighter, which could hardly have
been under the perfect control of her
eAcers Shortly after, another rift
revealed the other ship some distance
sstern, being tossed about, but no
When the Gothland came up the bay
Yesterday with her 402 passengers, she
locked as II she had just come out Of
the dry dock, having been painted and
tverhauled There were no signs Of
he damage doen to the ship, and even
he brine that a liner ordinarily car
fss into port after having weathered
sach storm had been removed by q
fresh coat Of paint on the Scared
parts including the funnel. AS soon
as tue storm moderated, the captain
0ras,ed every member Of the crew to
ga busy, make repairs and improve
Mapperaance.
Cptain Basttn modestly declined any
stdit for bringing the Gothland safe
Fhto port, explaining that 1t was her
sanch construction and that alone
'ass was responsible for her victory.
The Gothland, steel twin-screw
hnsr Of 1850 gross tons, was built in
bss at the yards of Harland & Wolff,
ehd is commonly referred to as King
,esosge's yacht, for the vessel was used
0y him, when as the Prince of Wales,
as chartered her to make trip to
captain Bastin, an American citizen,
.alfty-one years old, is one Of the
Youngest commanding officers on a
.tans,Atlantic liner. He is lieu
tenant commander, U. S. NJ, retired,
saa mas been granted masters licenses
..om the Belgian, English and Ameri-
can governments