Evening star., 1943-09-10
Back From the Wars
Mate of Old Freighter Tells
Hoir-Roising Ocean CROSSING
Lost Her Convoy
And Ron Aground,
PouI Cogger Relates

Paul j. Cogger, son of William
Cogger. a Washington attorney who
lives at 1898 Park road NV, recently
completed hair-raising yound-trip
crossing of the Atlantic as third
mate aboard tanker
The good ship stopped no tor
pedoes. But she had II breakdowns,
four of them in dense fogs. She was
lost from her convoy for two days,
ran aground once and had one
collision.
She went through an air raid while
discharging her cargo of high test
aviation gasoline and, in addition,
the tanker at one time had to be
steered by hand after the electrical
system went out of order.
Good Time Had by All.
Despite the difficulties, Third Mate
Cogger asserts a good time was had
by all and he points out that it is
the determination of such crews as
his that is making it possible to step
up the bombings of Germany.
When Mr.. Cogger received assign
ment to the ship at an East Coast
port he was told she was a brand
new, fast tanker going south for a
short trip. But once he got aboard
he learned differently. He found she
had been torpedoed twice and fur
thermore he was sent home for his
warm clothes, indicating that the
voyage would not be to warmer
climes.
The minute I stepped on board
the ship I could see she was an old
one, and not in very good shape
either Mr.. Cogger said. Il could
smell gasoline fumes escaping no
matter where 1 went"
Gets Convoy Position.
But the ship was not too old to re-
ceive the attention of a NAVY tug
which pulled alongside short time
later and put thousands of rounds
OF ammunition for the Navy gun
crews aboard. Once the voyage was
under way the tanker's crew began
congratulating one another on their
luck In drawing a position directly
behlnd the commodore, with the
escorting aircraft carrier alongside.
After two days of smooth sailing
the tanker's troubles began. Sud
denly, on the third day out, heard
the ships danger signal" Mr.. Cog
ger recalled yesterday.
L rushed out of my cabin and
saw the out of command signal
hoisted on our halyards and the ship
stopped. Ships on one side and in
the rear OF us were maneuvering to
avoid us as we were drifting and
unable to steer.'
Series of Breakdowns.
This was the beginning of series
OF breakdowns and when these oc-
CURED in fog the tanker was obliged
to blow her danger signal, to notify
the other ships, despite the danger
OF giving away the convoy's position
to submarines. Several times, Mr..
Cogger said, the ship astern would
loom out of the fog so close that it
would have been possible to pass a
cup of coffee to her from the tanker
without spilling drop"
Finally the tanker had broken
down so many times that her cap
tain was forced to give up his No. 2
position in the convoy and finish UP
in the rear.
The eastward voyage ended in a
United Kingdom port, but the
tanker was ordered to still another
and had to swerve to avoid float
Ing mines on the way. 1t was while
she was discharging her gasoline at
the second port that the air raid
came. Flares were dropped near the
ship, but few bombs fell nearby.
So many breakdowns came during
the discharging operation the Job
took twice as long as it should have.
Mr., Coggins said, wooden plugs be-
ing used to stop leaks in the main
suction line.
The voyage home was a renetjtion