Evening star., 1941-08-18
By MARIAN McGILL.

land nurse surptpor.
BY MARIAN McGILL.
It was good to clear away from
the sinking Maasdam. While we
were being lowered, had seen the
boat listing more and more toward
our side. AS we rowed around the
stern some one asked for the bailer.
The water in the bottom was ankle
deep.
The sea was rough and the boat
was heavy with people. Although
the boat took the waves well, row.
ing was extremely hard. Two men
took to an oar. Shortly one of the
oars broke. There were some extra
ones. I asked the fourth officer for
his knife. Quickly I cut the strings
that held the extra oar and a
United States marine and myself
put 1t into place.
In a very short time every one
was talking about the amount of
water In the bottom of the boat.
Bailing began in earnest. We en-
ployed every possible item. One
OF the women gave her hat for
bailing. The barrel of drinking
water, the cans of bread, the bottles
OF liquor and every excess item was
thrown out in an attempt to tighten
the load.
Soon every person in the life
boat realized we were up against
trouble. The water ran in a hun
dred times faster than 1t could
possibly be bailed out. The water
line was steadily rising. I saw in
front of the Maasdam two of the
lifeboats nearing another ship of
the convoy. I saw another lifeboat
already drawing alongside the
tanker to which we were going. We
seemed to be the only one Of the
four ifeboats having trouble.
Gave Hand at Oar.
There was only one thing to do
and that was to row as hard as
possible and get as close to the
tanker in front of us before the
boat filled up entirely. Two men
on the oar behind me looked pretty
tired. I turned around and lent
them hand on the opposite side of
the oar. One of them, a United
States marine, grinned and said,
THAT helps, Marian"
The women in the boat were calm,
but still were women. One said,
Cant something be done" An
other said, This is terrible" I
looked to the captain for help.
The water was ankle deep, then
over the tops of my galoshes, then
up to my knees and then up to my
waist. The captain stood up in the
bow OF the boat, faced the tanker
and kept calling through cupped
hands: Throw us a line. We are
sinking" I didn't think they could
hear him. The twilight was fast
fading. I wondered if they could
see us having trouble. I decided
they couldn't. The water was rising
and no sign of help from the tanker.
Perhaps they hadn't had time vet.
IN the strategy of a sinking life
boat, human beings can't calculate
the time.
Wave Sinks Boat.
A couple of times I looked hack
At the faithful old Maasdam. which
! expected to be sinking. But each
time it stood just listing a bit more
In that twisted position it seemed
reluctant to part with what it saw.
The old Maasdam looked much
longer than I expected her to be,
her 5000 tons showed up in length.
Inc water was within 4 inches of
the top. The weight of the water
made 1t almost impossible to move
tne BOAT now. We were practically
at a standstill. If we had only had
a DIT more time. Another oar
looked like it would snap any time
! wondered what would hapnen
Wnen the water came up those re-
manning inches. As that thought
crossed my mind, large wave filled
tne boat, making the water of the
boat and the sea as one, and taking
with 1t most of the occupants 7
neard some one shout: Swim for il -
he meant to swim for the stern NJ
tne tanker. which was the nearest
thing to us.
Clawed at Water.
All OF those in the water started
Tor the tanker except another nurse
ana myself. They clawed the water
!rantlcally in the direction of the
tanker. They seemed half carried
py the waves. Three of them were
women, two of whom I was never
10 see again. 1 didn't see how r
could ever get that far through the
rough sea. I hesitated a moment
pioneering on the wisest thing to do
MY pondering was interrupted hv
the cold water of an oncominp wave
! saw one of the marines caught
oy the waves halfway between the
submerged lifeboat and the tanker
ne seemed unable to 90 forward or
70 come back. Each time a wave
went over him I thought him gone
out each time he appeared again.
Inc nurse beside me said in COM
plete dismay, What do we do now"
I heard the first officer answer
Hang onto the boat"
l was surprised to hear his voice
! nad been looking toward the
tanker with my back to the life
ooat just as had been carried out
Here IN the nfeboat were several
men, including the first officer
The Hfeboat, now released of tho
h1nCf fG