The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1946-01-07
1a0REAU ARRIVES
AFTER BAD VOYAGE

EsToN, S. c., Jan. 8: -
/ CHsNccBri Briggs, Of philadelphia mia,
Os-s'.. " of the 1O,ooo-ton Liberty
captain r ~ D. Thoreau, told to-
snip MP how his vessel MAGE a,,at; S.o r,;ty
23.day OOO tons of aerial bombs
nearly 9saalen ing to explode at any min
ut e. Henry D. Thoreau arrived
the eod iay ending a perilous eros
late That nat began Dec. 10 from I'm
SIM, .s '"T Italy. AL her crew OF ~
we're .s SAL he sent out distress calls
BEFORE reeid.Atlantic reporting that
from sn mlu cargo Of high explosives
the 9,h nDi break through the deck to
ml l.er hold, Briggs said he called
a l0" snother ship to guide him
t on r the foggy straits Of Glnrai-
tlr0q as feared that he might crash
al. ~ another vessel, he said. and
into .. sl the S. S. George c. Davis
ne s s,;de him through. BY use OF
q, r,dsr, the George C. :; Davis Paw; KEEP KEPT
E Drises advised of all ships With
: sllsS22 O.mile radius. H., .uo..;.a
Briggs account of the crossing
follows: Tar ~ with
, nm nt TONS r Of high explosive bombs.
+ A. ~, went well until Dec. 20 when
AL T were approaching Gibraltar.
we z.d Sssi the Admiral at Glib that
We were coming through the straits
WITH high explosives and to warn
a. aT Thst telegraph operator. Melton
Edwards (of Princeton, N. c. told
NV later he heard Glib broadcast
ne this warning. Before we enter
ID the straits, we were slowed up
nv ~ couple of hours to allow the
: s George C. Davis to go ahead
cause she was equipped with
.sdar The weather was quite
s a and we followed the Davis
,losely. She kept us fully informed
+ 't' all ships within a radius of 20
"The weather grew steadily
,orse until we passed Cape Spartel
# the coast of North Africa. The
hin rolled and pitched so violently
nat the timbers securing the cargo
ecame loose. I turned back into
,ibraltar bay. We anchored and
,orked all next day securing the
argo. We sailed again the follow
1g morning. Dec. %, and when
,e arrived off Cape Spartel again
he weather was almost as bad as
was before. A gale was blowing
rom the southwest and heavy seas
vere running.
As we moved onward, the
Gather grew worse. The cargo
as inspected each day. Many of
e shores were coming loose and
e crew worked almost continue
sly tightening them.
about 9 a. m. on Dec. rs while
aking a routine inspection in the
mber two hold, I looked upward
d noticed several Of the hatch
ards sagging and cracking. There
s immediate danger that these
ards might give way and drop
'eral hundred tons Of high ex-
siyes IL feet into the lower
d. These bombs are not fused,
four-foot drop is supposed
be enough to set them off. Even
hey hadn't exploded, the drop
lid have given the ship such a
as to break the rest Of the
go on the ship loose and sink
!. We radioed distress call.
The whole crew was put to work
repair the damaged hatch
rds, and needless to say all
ids turned to with alacrity. We
the hatchboards fairly well
ported with shores and the ship
put back on her course. We
lcelled our distress call. The
lger had been mininized but
cancelled"
he ship will unload her lethal
go tomorrow at the Arny's
ndo river Army base near here. ,