Evening star., 1952-01-11
Crowd
Big Welcome
Lost Gale Cost Him
Ship After Long Fight,
Coptuin luments
By the Assoeiated Press

FALMOUTH, England, Jan. II.
Safe ashore. Capt. Kurt Carlsen
told the story today of his monu-
mental fight with the raging At
lantic-a two-week battle against
wind. waves and cold.
He told a cheering crowd of
thousands: II deeply regret that
I was not in position to bring the
Enterprise back with me-"
From the deck of the rescue tug
Turmoil he watched the death
|throes Of the Clifton Flying En-
terprise yesterday, minutes after
he leaped into the water from the
dying freighter. She went down
in 40 fathoms (250 feet) of water,
81 miles off this fishing port, after
a thrashing, titanic battle with
the sea.
"That really hurt me. quite a
lot," Capt. Carlsen said.
It was that "last gale" which
struck the ship its death blow,
the courageous 37-year old skipper
told a packed news conference.
Loved His Ship.
"The last few days gale was
too much," he said. There were
high seas going and they were
too much"
His worst moment in the long
ordeal, he said, was the moment
that the Flying Enterprise disap-
lpeared."
He obviously loved his ship.
II commanded that ship for
thre- years and made A crossings
of the Atlantic" he said.
"She was a very well built ship.
She was an extremely solid ship.
I had command of that ship for
over three years and crossed the
Atlantic many times, so I knew
what she could take"
He will go back to sea, he said.
And it may be aboard another
Flying Enterprise. The Isbrandt-
sen Line, owners of the ship, re-
ferring proudly to the heroic mas
ter, has announced that he can
have a new command whenever
he wants it and that likely there
will be a new Flying Enterprise
for him one day.
Calmly Describes Ordeal.
Capt. Carlsen seemed calm as
he described his ordeal, a solitary
battle for a week after he or
dered his crew of 40 and 10 pas
sengers to abandon ship on De-
cember 20, four days after the
Christmas hurricane hit him. He
managed to get four to six hours
sleep a night. sleeping "half on
the port wall and half on the
floor" Of the crafty tilted vessel.
It was a hungry affair for him
for a while.
Il found down in the storeroom
a big pound cake with a big hole
in it, and put my arm through
| it and brought it up" he said.
He lived on the pound cake and
water for several days. Later he
found some wine and beer aboard.
Still later, the United States de-
stroyer Willard Keith got hot cof-
fee and food to him. BY night,
he read by the light of a flicker
ing candle. His book was "The
Seaman and the Law"
Things frightened for him after
a week of lonely battle, when the
salvage tug Turmoil, coming close
by, put aboard First Mate Ken
meth Dancy. 27.
Frightened by His Fame.
What did they talk about on
those long, eerie nights?
WELL we talked about this
press business" Capt. Carlsen re-
piled. ITO be frank, we were
both scared of it,"
/ He became even more scared
he admitted, when the fame of
his heroic stand spread and he
realized there might be quite q
fuss about him ashore.
i When the last moments of the
Flying Enterprise arrived, he and
Mr.. Dancy jumped together into
the sea and swan hand in hand
toward the Turmoil. They clam
bered up a rope ladder a few
minutes later.
Capt. CarlSen stepped onto the
Prince Of Wales pier in Falmouth
at 1908 am. (5:05 am. EST
today, wearing an diversified black
raincoat he borrowed from one of
his reseuers.
II just cannot find words
enough to express my gratitude to
you," he told the crowd.
Honor upon honor was thrust
upon the skipper. Lloyds of Lon
don, the insurance underwriters,
gave him a medal. King Fred
erik of Denmark-Capt. Carlson
is. DaniSh-born naturaliZed
American-sent a telegram of
congratulations. The United
States Coast Guard announced
plans for a formal commendation
Had Family Pictures.
Capt. Carlson said he kept pic
lures of his wife and two children
by his side and prayed to God
during his two-week fight to bring
the damaged vessel into port.
The sea finally claimed his ship
It did not down the fighting skip
per.
what are you going to do after
(See SKIPPER, Page A-3.)
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