Evening star., 1952-02-21
Crew Forced Skipper
To Leap Into Sea for
Safety in Tanker Saga
BY the Associated Press

by me ASSOcioreo PTeSS
BOSTON, Feb. 21.-A Coast
Guard officer told last night how
crewmen of the severed Fort Mer-
Ger threw tradition to the storms
by forcing their ailing skipper to
jump for safety, despite his plea
he be the last to leave the wreck.
The story was told in Portland,
Me-. by Comdr. Joseph Naab of
the Coast Guard cutter Yakutat,
which plucked the skipper, F.. c.
c. Paetzel, 48, of Houston, Tex,
and three other crewmen from
the Fort Mercer's bow.
Other developments in the dis
aster of the two tankers which
broke into halves during a storm
off Chatham, Mass, last Monday:
Two commercial tugs today were
towing the stern half of the Fort
Mercer with 13 seamen aboard
toward Block Island at 3 knots
about the speed of a leisurely
walk.
The Coast Guard cutter East
wind was scheduled to dock today
at Castle Island. South Boston,
with the last three of 81 survivors
from the stern of the Fort Mercer.
Inquiry Begins Today.
A Coast Guard inquiry into the
Fort Mercer disaster was set to
get underway in Boston today.
Crewmen of the tanker Pendle-
ton told an inquiry board yester-
day that in several respects the
vessels equipment was in poor
order. Both halves of the Pendle-
ton are hard aground.
The bow of the Fort Mercer
was sunk by Coast Guard gunfire
last night to eliminate what was
considered "a menace to naviga-
ton"
Meanwhile, new chapters were
related in the drama of the seas
as four of the Fort MERGERS crew
were brought to Portland by the
cutter Yakutat.
Comdr. Naab told how Second
Mate Willard F. Fahrner, %. of
Winthrop. Mass. and Third Mate
Vincent A. Galdon, %, of Bayonne,
N. j., forced Capt. Paetzel to
break the age-old tradition that
a master is the last to leave his
ship.
The Hulk Capsizes.
'They forced him to jump
Comdr. Naab said. "They knew
he was suffering from pneumonia
and frostbitten feet and wouldn't
make it later. If the skipperI
hadn't jumped when he did, we
wouldn't have gotten him"
Three hours later Mates Galdon|
and Fahrner-tied to each other
because they had only one life
preserver between them-jumped
into the water and were hauled
aboard the Yakutat.
Only 10 minutes after the two
mates were hauled to safety, the
bow of the Fort Mercer from
which they were plucked, capsized
IN the rough seas.
y Nine men, the survivors said
tried to make the bow when the
Fort Mercer broke in two. Radio
Officer John v. OReilly of Staten
Island, N. Y, was washed over
board in his attempt because he
took time to send out a Distress
signal.
Four Of the eight men who
were on the Fort Mercer's bow
lost their lives Tuesday in an
attempt to leap into Coast Guard
life RATS which were foated past
the hulk.
They were identified as Chief
Mate Jack T. Brewer of Metuchen,
N. j.; Quartermaster Louise Cul-
yer Of Galveston, Tex; Seaman
Ralph w. Jago of New Orleans.
and Jerome c. Higgins of Mani
towoc. Wis.
Captains Condition Poor.
The fourth survivor brought
into Portland by the Yakutat was
the Fort Merser's purser. Edward
e. Turner, jr.. 80, of Portland.
Me.
Capt. Paetzel was reported in
poor condition. His feet were
frost bitten. He had no shoes
during the long wait for rescue on
the open bow.
The three crewmen said they
improvised ladder of signal flags
to reach position of the bow
where the Coast Guard could reach
them.
And on the waters of Nantucket
Sound, commercial tugs headed for
the lee of land in pulling the
stern half of the Fort Mercer on
its slow and deliberate trip toward
Block Island and eventually New
York.