Evening star., 1943-09-02

Lte lotlOUJHg HLeTDteU.J
BY EUGENE BURNS,
Associated Press War Correspondent.
Al A FAR WESTERN BASE IN
THE ANDREANOF ISLANDS, Alas
ka., April 7 Delayed One hun
dred and thirty-six men fought
death when the old 1,20O-ton four
piper U. S. S. Wasmuth, converted
from a destroyer to mine sweeper
broke in two within So seconds after
two of her depth charges slipped
overheard and exploded.
The ice-filled, 70-mile- hour
gale froze tons of salt water on the
f1oundering bow after the stern
wrenched off.
1t took three and half hours for
a tanker to get 10-inch line aboard
in the storm and blackness. Then
the ships rammed holes into each
other.
And yet. not one casualty oc-
CURED. Two days later, safe on the
beach at Dutch Harbor, machin-
lists mate slipped on the ice and
broke his arm.
This superb seamanship against
fearful odds was effected by the
slight, young skipper, 1t. Comdr
Joseph Wilson Leverton, jr., "a, of
washington, whose wife and twin
daughters live in Atlanta, Ga.
Praised by Kinkaid.
Rear Admiral Thomas Cassin
klnkaid, commander in the North
Pacific, said "Leverton,s perform
ance was outstanding. It will be
recorded in the annals of American
seamanship."
In telling the story-3 months and
10 days after it happened-the COM
mander credited the saving of those
aboard wholly to sturdy men and to
1t. Comdr. (now Comdr.) Alfred J.
Homann of Santa Rosa. Calf
skipper OF the rescue tanker Rampao.
The U. S. S. Wasmuth," Comdr.
Leverton said, 'left Kodiak Christ
mas Eve 1942) to escort seven ves-
sells out to the Aleutian chain.
The first night out it began to
blow. 1t started mildly at 40 knots
and built up into a good blow.
Waves were rs feet high at times.
Spray washed into our stacks as
the ship was rolling at so degrees to
a slde-more than half over-the
seas fattened everything on our
forecastle except anchors and guns
and carried away stanchions of q
inch steel pipes, lifelines and jack
staff.
THE bridge didn't bust up be-
cause we were going slow for the
convoy.
THE temperature dropped to IL.
Spray froze.
Rode Storm Three DAYS.
We secured everything possible.
We bolted down boats, closed doors,
restricted passage. We decided even
to secure depth charges. But men
could not reach the outside two
without loss of life.
Three days on end we rode this
storm, pounding and pitching and
rolling. Men lashed themselves into
their hunks.
During the heighth of the storm
at 4:45 pm, December 27, 1 was on
the bridge and over the winds un-
godly chreeching I heard an explo-
sion.
Some equipment on the fantail
had carried away. smashing loose
the depth charge rack and some
rolled into the sea- At so feet the
first exploded. In SO seconds a
second exploded.
Il knew my ship was hurt.
ordered the engines stopped. That
was a gesture. We did not have
high speed or reverse engines.
II Immediately sent my executive
Gt. Frank hampton of Tacoma,
WashJ aft and he came back run
ming. He said Sir, our ship is
breaking in half"
There was funny motion and a
crunching so that you knew it could
be nothing else but a ship breaking
You could almost tell when the keel
broke. Then the bottom Then the
deck.
Il rang up Mcdonald Gt. Frank
H. Mcdonald of Harpers Ferry
w. Va in the engine room. He said
that he had no further control of the
engines and that the water was
foaming in underneath the after
bulkhead
by that time, I knew where to
expend our damage control effort
and my First 1t. Rue Green (of La
Porte, Ind got to work quickly.
Between explosions every one aft
rushed forward. The last man
jumped over widening 2-foot crack
on the main deck.
Then wave teeter-tottered the
rear section and 500 tons, almost half
Of my 1,200-ton ship broke off.
ut was perhaps the damnedest
sight any captain ever saw
deverton had been on the
Wasmuth two and one half years,
the last six months as skipper
FOUND.