Evening star., 1942-12-16
Captain Rammed
Coolidge Onto Reef
To Save Cargo
Bottom Torn Open
And Woter Rolled
Back Into Stern
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Continued From First Page.)
would come soon enough, many en-
tertained themselves with singing
frequently racy songs. And colored
troops particularly took occasion to
bang out the last bits of music on
cherished instruments they would
have to abandon for lack of space
on the rescue boats.
One Of the surprising features of
the incident, according to Maj. Co.'S
tain, was the great number of Army
men who did not know how to swim.
These men clambered obediently
down the cargo nets, but when they
had to let 60 and drop into the
water. their minds just froze up and
they could not release their holds.
Officers Break Holds.
Onicers climbed down the cargo
nets after them and walked on their
fingers to break their holds, and
while this was going on the scene
took on a nightmare quality-the
silent, tense men, eyes closed, faces
all locked up, clinging desperately
to the cargo nets while equally
desperate officers shouted at them
and walked on their fingers and
kicked at their fingers in an effort
to save them, all this to an accom-
paniment from the interior of the
ship Of youthful voices lifted in
ribald songs and twanging guitars
and bedlam of phonograph rec
ords.
The rescue boat that carried me
to the ships side found one young
soldier clambering down rope
which was Is feet short of the water
He was very calm. He held to the
rope with his two hands and looked
down at us calmly.
Jump" the coxswain shouted.
II can't swim," replied the soldier.
Jump. We'll catch you" We all
shouted.
We'll, I don't know" the soldier
said, Il can't swim"
A whole stream Of profanity was
directed at him and he swung there
gently, listening us out, apparently
too polite to interrupt.
Then he said, "Well, all right, but
I can't swim stroke" Then he
began TO count "One" he said,
two. three" and paused and said,
'Well, here goes" and counted,
flour, five, six and one for good
measure"
Sinks Like a Stone.
When he got to nine, he let go
and hit just off our bow and sank
like a stone. We waited, boat hook
ready, for him to come up. 1t
seemed he never would come up,
but finally he broke water and we
hauled him on board. Then we
found out he had jumped with a
fully loaded cartridge belt around
his waist and with this weight on
him had just plummeted on down.
When he revived spluttering, he
said, Il told you fellows I couldn't
swim.
The officers were the last to leave
the ship. When the order came to
withdraw to quarters. the officers
retired with their men and passed
their men on out to topside in
orderly fashion and shephered them
into the boats.
The, one Army officer who died
had withdrawn to hold with his
men. BY the time their turn came
<4 hn 0r,1v nllt
hand overland on rope. This
officer was the last to go and,
when be tried, he discovered he was
too exhausted to pull himself up.
He started to call for help.
Trapped by Exhaustion.
His voice was not strong one and
there was q lot of noise as the last
men aboard were scrambling of.
But his lifelong friend, Capt. Covill
of the u S. Army, who had been
searching for him and hoping he
had got away heard him and came
sliding to the rescue along with
warrant officer and defense
worker who happened to be on
board.
These three men stood on the
edge of the hold and tried to haul
llp the officer who was trapped
below by his own exhaustion. The
last rescue boat was bobblng up
and down uneasily alongside the
vessel shouting to the three men 1t
could see to hurry and warning
MT q n0nmpnt 10
waste. But the three could not
bring themselves to abandon the
trapped officer.
They told the captain to hold on
to the rope and they would pun
him up. They got him about half
way UP. he was too tired to hold on
anv longer and let go and fell to
the bottom of the hold.
Then the rescue boat, realizing
that 1t would be sucked down with
the suction of the ship. gave a last
despairing warning. The three men
did not even turn around. Capt.
Covill said he heard all the warn
,nrs clearly and that they all heard
ali the warnings, but felt abandon
ing this captain was more than they
could do.
The rescue boat pulled away hast
ilv with a changing of the coxswain S
bell and a churning and putt-putt
of the exhaust and from where 1
was could see the three small dark
figures turn for a moment to watch
It 20 OF and then turn back to the
hold. Hundreds Of men were watch
ing the scene in silence from safe
vantage points and it filled their
ewes and filled their hearts to the
breaking point.
An extra rope had been found
somewhere in the hold and the cap
tain down below there had tied it
around his waist and was trying to
splice it to the rope held by his
vould-be rescuers and get pulled
up that way when the Coolidge
went down.
Saved by Air Bubble.
Capt. Covill said that when the
waters hit him and boiled up all
around him he knew he was going
to be sucked down with the ship