Evening star., 1942-04-08
SINKING
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hfeboat, crawled across the deck to
the Starboard boat and helped to
launch that. He then jumped over
| board
Il tried to get under the water
when the shells came close but my
life belt kept me up" he said. add
ing that the shells looked like balls
of FIRE" coming across the water.
Seaman Cartwright later boarded
! the starboard lifeboat and found in
it four dead men and two live ones
Sabine Gomez fireman, and Jack
Burros, mess boy. both Of Provi-
| dence. r. /. Seaman Cartwright and
/ the mess boy rode away from the
/ ship The water in the boat was
up to my waist because the plug had
not been put in" he related.
Landed at ChincOteague.
The sub was still firing. I saw
something floating IN the boat.
reached down and found 1t was q
man. He was dead He was an able
| seaman named Van. The sub cruised
around the ship for quite q while
and then headed for deep water
The ship sank about two hours after
we abandoned her"
The survivors were picked up BY
a rescue ship after they had been
adrift four hours and were landed
at Chincoteague early Friday morn
ing
Burros was hoSpitalized at Nor
folk and Gomez at a hospital in
Massawaddox. Va.
Seaman Cartwright said he be-
lieved many crewmen were killed on
the ships deck by shell fragments
and that the men in the port life
boat were killed before the boat
reached the water. The crew of the
vessel told Seaman Cartwright they
had found the port boat empty.
Sea Aname With Oil.
The victim Of the second attack
was still sfloat when they last saw
her. said the survivors who included
a United States Military Academy
cadet on furlough because OF eve
trouble and a free-lance writer in
quest of story material.
| Immediately after the enemy
raider rammed home her torpedoes
the ship caught fire right of the
reel and the flames spread from
amidship all the way back to the
stern" said Boatswain Fernando
Beato OF Brooklyn, N. Y, whose hair
was singed while he climbed from
the poop deck to the boat deck to
help launch a lifeboat.
Cut off from the forward life
boats by the flames. Boatswain
Beato and 26 other crewmen escaped
in one OF the two aft boats. The
sea for a half mile around the ship
was covered with blazing oil and we
had hard time rowing away from
the flames he related.
After they had been in the boat
about 80 minutes, the boatswain
said. the men saw something in the
water about 100 yards distant which
they thought was submarine. This
object disappeared within a few
minutes An hour and a half later
they were picked up by q rescue
vessel.
Raft Caught Fire.
Oiler John Austrauski of Wilkes
Barre, Pa, descended the ladder to
;~~f1 10, kt,f
it was overcrowded and there was
no room for him. He climbed back
to the deck of the ship, he said. and
flew through the flames to get to
the forward end
Fearing that his clothing had
caught fire. Austrauski dived over
board, then climbed back up boat
falls He saw no one on the ship
and said that "as far as I know
was all by myself" He said he saw
another lifeboat with 8 or 10 men
in it. drifting toward the blazing
oil on the water. He could see
oars in this boat.
Austrauski tried to launch one OF
bilC lol " az " iiACboAOS. ouS y" GO NAa
able to handle it alone. He re-
manned aboard the burning ship
for As minutes, he related, then
launched a raft into clear water
dived overheard and boarded the
raft. which "drifted right into the
flaming oil. The raft started burn
ing. 1 dived through the flames and
swan about so feet under water"
Plebe Is Rescued.
He was not burned, he added, but
he could feel the heat of the flames
He swan about a mile. before he got
clear OF the blazing slick. and then
supported by his life belt, swan for
more than an hour before he was
taken aboard a rescue ship. While
swimming, he kept ducking his head
and shoulders under the water. but
the life belt kept his midsection
above water AustrauSki said.
Monor Collins Mabry, 19-year-
old plebe at West Point, whose home
is in Ruston. La. managed to save
his certificate of appointment to the
Military Academy which he exhibit
ed proudly to newsmen. On fur
Tough because of eye trouble. Cadet
Mabry thought voyage would help
his physical condition. and he signed
on at Port Arthur, Tex, as captain S
meSSman.
The free-lance writer, Merlin
johnson. 26. of Minneapolis. had
joined the ships crew as an ordinary
seaman. He was inclined to talk less
about the torpedoing than of an
experience he said he had when
imprisoned in England on suspicion
Of espionage. His prisons mates,
Mr. johnson said. included Sir Os-
valid Moselsy and other British
FasciSts.
Burmese crude oil production IN