The Wrangell sentinel., 1946-02-15
Tells Of
 Narrowing
 ShipWreCk


 Friday aboard the Alaska, one of disaster, with a narrowing tale of her experience. and that of her young daughter Betty Bigelow, a. board the ill-fated Yukon which went aground at Johnstone's Bay. near Seward. in the early morning hours of February 4.
 T was not asleep at the time, Mrs. Doberpuhl said, and 1 felt the ship strike There was no crash, or no lurch that I could feel, only q steady crunching noise as the bow slid over the rocks.
 Betty was in her bunk and an other young girl was in the cabin with us I said. come on, girls, hit the deck, we're on the rocks
 She said her daughter immediate Iy got up but the other girl told Mrs Doberpuhl to go back to sleep. that she was dreaming.
 q told her l was not dreaming and that she had better get up. Mrs. Doberpuhl said. Mrs. Dober- puhl said she immediately put on her suit skirt and coat, but neglect ed to put on shoes and stockings. Later she saw a wave come by and carry her shoes overboard Her first impulse, she said, was to hold their cabin door open so it could not jam shut and trap them.
 Almost immediately a steward came around and told them to get on deck. They went into three diff ferent cabins but were in turn driven out of them by the water.
 Everywhere, Mrs. Doberpuhl said. pieces of holding, boards and bits of wall and ceiling were being broken off and would fly thru the air. I saw one cabin door shoot a. way from the side of the ship and and at least 20 feet away out in the water. At first I wondered why they were throwing such things oy- erboard and then if dawned on me that 1t was the action of the waves against the ship tearing it apart"
 Mrs. Doberpuhl said she at no time felt personal fear. In fact, she reiterated statements made by oth- CTS that there never was moment panic, even among small children "I just figured if this was the end, it was the end and there was noth- ing anyone could do about it. You feel mighty helpless surrounded by waves on compara- lively small island of ship ''
 They were continually being moved forward, she said, as it was the ship was going to break in two. She told of trying to reach the top deck in one instance She and her daughter were being helped by two men and as they rounded the bow of the vessel, an unusually large wave struck them and knocked them all in a heap q gainst a pole "One of my legs was twisted under me-" she said, "and is still very sore.
 We got to the top deck, small space for about 500 people, and we were instructed to form a tight pack around a mother and her three small children, the youngest five months old.
 'I saw the next big wave come, and the next thing I knew l was wedged into the lower rail of the ship, with Betty beside me. at first thought We had been washed overheard as there was nothing but green water around us,
 After being rescued from there, and with both her and her daugh- ter's legs badly bruised and wrenched, they were put up into the gun turret for greater safety. 'We could just lie there and let the sea break over us when it would" she said, i've were pretty tired and ex- hausted."
 "'The worst part was hearing persons washed overheard cry for help, and there was nothing any one could do to help them"
 Mrs. Doberpuhl was high in her praise for Arthur Hammer of Pet ersburg and Bob Peterson of Ketch- ikan. In fact. she said all the men were very kind and thoughtful. But Hammer and Peterson were in her particular group and they were con ! tinuallv watching out for. the wo- men. "They should each have a medal for all they did" she said. After ten hours on the battered wreck Mrs Doberpuhl and her daughter were taken aboard the first life boat from the Onondaga and she said that trip was almost worse thnn being aboard the Yu- kon. They were let over the side with ropes and then rode five miles over the high seas to the coast guard boat.
 Mrs. Doberpuhl tainted as she was taken aboard the Coast Guard vessel and was immediately cared | for by the crew She said the crew