The Washington times., 1935-02-13
HEROIC RADIO
OPERATORONE
Of VICTIMS
Filipino Mess Boy Only Other
Member of AirShip Crew
Missing After Disaster
CONTINUED from Page y

was vitally weakened in a long
battle with high winds off South
ern California early yesterday.
Commander Wiley, from the
Concord on which he and ten COM
panions were recuperating, sent
q radio message to Admiral Jo-
seph M. Reeves, commander-in-
chief of the fleet aboard the battle
ship pennsylvania and to Twelfth
Naval District headquarters here,
that the casualty occurred in
stern" of the Macon at 5:1S p. m.
(PST.
Just % minutes later, at $40,
the stricken dirigible hit the
waves. Officers and men took to
rubber boats or to the sea, and
watched the air queen break up
and quickly sink.
Startled at the sudden radio
calls of distress, the 80 memo.
war of the fleet in whose midst
the Macon dropped, flashed their
powerful searchlightS through the
misty night and quickly went
about the business of rescue,
picking up the survivors with no
serious injuries and writing a
magic page of heroism and eff
cheney in the history Of maritime
disasters-a page which drew
highest praise from naval officers
here.
AmazeS Listeners
The tragic story OF Radio
Operator Daley was told in a
dispatch from Admiral Reeves to
Naval headquarters here.
He was the operator who
amazed his shore listeners with
his coolness and clear sending as
the dirigible jerked through its
death struggles in the overcast
sky. He was seen to fall into
the sea.
The night searchers from the
fleet, besides putting Commander
Wiley and ten others aboard the
Concord, assisted 81 survivors up
the gangplanks of the Richmond
and six to the, decks Of the
Cincinnati.
There were 20 officers and So
men aboard the Macon when she
took off from Sunnyvale on her
flight to destruction. All the
officers and all but two of the
men are coming back.
Meanwhile high-ranking naval
officers aboard the rescue ships
launched an immediate investiga-
tion into the causes Of the dis.
aster.
The giant dirigible apparently
plunged headlong into the sea
after an explosion had occurred
aboard.
Casualty in Stern
Commander Wiley reported to
Admiral Reeves that a casualty"
occurred in the stern which car
ried away the elevator control Of
the craft.
He declared that he Immediately
ordered all ballast and fuel slip
tanks dropped overheard, but that
he received word the No. gas
cell was gone and that the stern
was crumbling.
The ship was brought down on
the surface of the water soon after
this.
Lieut.. Howard N. Coulter, radio
officer aboard the Macon, re-
ported to Admiral Reeves that
Daley was seen to leap into the
sea from a height of 125 feet as
the ship was descending and to
have landed on his back, while Ed
quiba was last seen inside the Ma
con at the time the No. / cell
burst.
1.-THE Macon was bound north
with the battle fleet when the
disaster took place last night 20
miles off Point Sur on the North
California coast. She had left her
Sunnyvale base yesterday morning
and was due in San Francisco to-
day.
A cryptic 81 Os was sent out by
the airship shortly after 5 p. m.
.P.S.TO.
eve are falling. Wait. -"
A few minutes later another dis
tress call flashed through the
ether and this time the ship gave
her approximate position.
The calls were heard by the
Pennsylvania and other ships of
the fleet which started at full
speed for the position given.
A. E.0 nSoIoolr
of short distress calls, the Macon
reported:
"Will abandon ship as soon as
we land on the water some.
where within 20 miles of Point
Sur"
SOS Startles Coast
The dramatic story of the
crash was told in cryptic radio
dispatches.
At SIG. when battleships,
cruisers, submarines and plane
carriers were maneuvering be.
meath her, the Macon startled the
coast with an SOS.
A few minutes later the dirig-
ible interrupted a message from
the Pennsylvania with the twice
repeated word, Failing" and
gave her position as three miles
off Point Sur.
Then she asked the flagship:
"HOw are our signals register
ing?"
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