Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1943-10-07
BACK FRONE hHEIH1--BU ABuz9'iS Jenkins sHT.
46 Days in Lifeboot
For Shorty Becker
Home in Bondoges
Continued from Saturdays Detroit Tines

daybreak the morning of Jan &C. the II men look
"A the choppy fer signs the other eboas They
are gone The submarine gone The ship gone Only
few pieces of wreckage drift the dark oil slick mile
away.
To Shorty Becker the experience of the night before
the burning ship the flames the water the Uboat shells
exploding IN the eooa the 10 dead men thrown overheard
all would seem like bad dream except that he hasn't slept
all night lust doing a kind of supor,"
Then there the shrapne wounds in his right and
legs to prove the nightmare real And the burns his wrists
and legs And his eyes scared by explosions still refuse to
focus distant objects But the easckness is going away
When it's light enough the in their 2Sfoot steel life,
ooatve merchant seamen and six Navy gunnersook
the food situation
The UbOa shellfre had torn open the food containers
and most Of is ruined by salt water What's left
couple of dozen Of Pemmican few boxes of bareback
and some rolls of matted milk tablets The containers
carry enough TO preserve life for several days Then there's
Ratchet fishing tackle oars sail and compass not very
accurate
To Bill Maynard Of North Carolina, gunners mate and
highest ranking aboard falls the decision of what
next Fortunately they know their approximate locality
300 miles southwest of the Azores owed been talking
the radman the afternoon before and he told where
ives al. y
Maynard and the determine to head for the coast of
Africa instead of the Azores against the stiff northwest breeze
The hfeboa has keel and only with the wind The
men set up sail and jib with Maynard at the tier
Though four months ago reporter small Mid Western
newspaper Albert Becker assigned TO manage the food
They are all buddies Of mine and don't want much do
with it They knew they could trust the big blond 19year
od's honesty
Every morning Becker portions out two ounces of water
per with cracker At noon Of with
quarter of Pemmican. For Chow night four matted
milk tablets with two ounces of water.
This Tuesday The fair weather and good sailing
hold throughout the rest of the week The dis
couraged They stand lookout the bow all through day
light hours expecting to meet ship Becker and the other
injured pick pieces of shTapne from their bodies sheath
knife and disinfect the in salt water
Shortly after midnight Sunday morning the men are
Weakened by cold spray blown before black howl Of and
rain. The has turned TO streak of foam The eboat
charges madly before the coming gale Men take bail
ing with steel helmet up behind to ship green
over the gunwales..
All at the full weight Of the wind hits The life
boat twists broadside and blown flat the sail in the water
The throw themselves wndward manage right the
craft before she swamps Maynard orders sails lowered and
manned
By daylight the storm is going good Nobody sleep
wet clean through The look 80 feet high We get
top Of Of them babies and slide down like roercoaster
II keeps on al day and doesn't begin break up until
ming.
On the 18th day lookout sights the first ship It low
the horizon crossing their far ahead Maynard fires
Very pistol shots They 60 uuheeded Francally the
bend 10 aid the sail Hahearedy they shout and
jackets The ship sails without pay-g any attention
It's bitter blow. Food getting low and Of the
en-merchant mostly 70 give up Con
versation mostly 10 food and what do when get
pack always figure well be picked pphee must be other
hips around
Unfortunately this isn't true Of colored named
Walter. Three four days later the big Neggo-hs hit