Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-05
SEA SAGA WRITTEN
BY SALVAGE BOAT
2,900-MiIe Tow Through
Storms Over Pacific
Makes History.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star
VICTORIA, British Columbia, May 4
Hailed as the greatest towing feat in
history on the northern Pacific, the
Salvage King is home safely, after tax
ing the disabled freighter Havilah from
Dutch Harlor, Unalaska, to Osaka,
japan.
The tow, a distance of 1900 miles,
was made in the worst of Winter
weather.
A real saga of the sea is the story
related by Capt. j. NJ. Hewison, the
small but doughty skipper of the King.
Seas so feet in height, numerous S o S
messages, thrilling escapes from a
vicious tow line, near disaster and rag
ing hurricanes are some of the high
lights.
mo Delivery, No Pay"
Working on a no-delivery-no-pay'
basis, the Pacific Salvage Co. undertook
to tow the freighter Havilah when its
engines broke down in Midpacific.
On the trip from Victoria to Dutch
JIarbor the Stanch little vessel and her
crew were given a taste of what they
we're to encounter, her captain related
a furious SoutheaSter and q binding
snow covered ship from stem to stern
with a coat of ice. When she arrived
at Dutch Harbor, she might we'll have
been taken for a ghost ship of the
Arctic.
Her tow, an S.000-ton freighter with
a cargo of 100000 feet of lumber,
appeared as a giant beside the HOO
ton Salvage King. A huge deckload
piled Is feet high presented a further
problem. Throughout the trip it pre-
.scnted a constant menace.
On March IL the King started her
epoch-making run. Fine weather
presaged pleasant trip and her cap
tain and crew looked for an enjoyable
cruise. But the wiles of the great
Pacific had not been taken into ac-
count. Ten hours out from Dutch Har-
Dor the wind was blowing with hurri-
cane force.
Havilah Becomes Unmanageable.
The Havilah immediately became I'M
manageable. Her telemotor steering
gear went out of commission and she
swung of at right angles to the course.
An attempt was made to heave 70,
but this was found impossible and only
after prodigious efforts was the salvage
craft, by means Of paying out tow line
and careful steaming, able to get ahead
of her tow. High seas curling over the
the tow line and the whipping line itself
was source of grave danger. Finally
the ships were hove-to and lay for
eight hours before the wind abated
During this time, the mountainous
seas pitched both vessels about like
tops At times, the Havilah, 1000 yards
away at the end of the tow line, could
not be seen by the Kings crew.
An o S threatened at one time to
seriously interrupt the trip. The Taibu
Maru, a Japanese freigf1ter only 20
miles away wirelessed that she was dis
abled and needed assistance.
True to the traditions of the sea, the
Kings skipper prepared to put about.
Would Have lowed Both.
"An sos must be answered" he
said, "and despite our unwieldy tow we
we're ready to help her. When the Jap
steamer found out we were salvage
boat they replied they would not need
help at that time and later told us she
was being helped from another source"
The captain at this time contem-
plated the towing of both craft at once
if it had been necessary, he told the
writer.
After leaving the Bering Sea the crew
figuredt hew orst of the trip was over.
But the worst was yet to come. Nine
Gays Of whistling gales, intersposed
with calm seas while the wind changed,
painted an epic drama in the history
of salvage. On one occasion, only seven
miles Roadway was made by the two
ships during the "a hours.
Oil bags were broken over the side
of the Salvage vessel to calm the angry
rollers. The deckload Of the HaVilah
battered and wrenched, threatened to
break loose at any minute.
In a bowling hurricane on the night
of March % the crucial period Of the
whole voyage occurred.
SOS Comes From Boat.
Beaten and smashed by hundreds of
tons of water, the Havilah's deckload
shifted to port She listed terribly and
a frantic S o S was dispatched to the
King by Morse lamp. We are sink
ing" it read.
IAN hands on the King were called
out" related the captain. THE life
boats were swung out in readiness to
TO to her assistance and men stood by
the tow line with acetylene torches
ready to cut it If necessary"
BY heroic work on the part OF the
Havilah'S crew the disaster was avert
cd. Wading around in water and snow,
they managed to secure the laShingS on
the lumber and when daylight dawned,
the sea subsidized enabling them to
finish the job properly.
Thus was the task made dangerous
and difficult. The delicate steering ap-
paratus on the Havilah which went
out of order almost daily was con-
slant source of worry to the Kings
commander. Every two hours hard
wood blocks, which took the chafe from
the tow line, had to be replaced. The
whipping tow line was a constant
danger and the skipper himself bears
blue bruise where it touched him on
one occasion.
The sturdy craft encountered 16
gales in all during the voyage and
through 1t all she averaged Al knots
IN hour, covering the distance between
Dutch Harbor and Osaka in 26 days.
frnnrrirht 1000