The Key West citizen., 1954-12-08
Cutter Brings
Tug gSuryiyors
ToShOreTOday
One Still Missing
As Three Bodies
Are Brought Home

BY sTANL EY ATKINS
PANAMA CITY, Fla. R-The
Coast Guard cutter Cartigan ar
rived here shortly before dawn to-
Nay with seven survivors and the
bodies Of three crewmen of the
slnken tug Bertha r. The chief
ate Of the tug still is missing.
The survivors, headed by Capt.
kaburn Thompson of Tampa, Fla,
kooled worn but appeared in COM
,lpar1lpely good condition after
fhe;r brdeal Of is hours without
Eood water on two small life
fafIs a the cold Gulf Of Mexico.
They gave brief interviews to
newsmsh and radio and television
men hetOre being taken to q hos
pital ioA checkups.
About 50 reporters and specta-
tors had waited through the chilly
night for the cutter, commanded
BY 1t. James A. Alsup.
The survivors had little to say
a. their ordeal. s'Thank God we
are hers one crewman said as
he stepped from the gangplank to
The dock.
Rsscvsrs Praised
sIsm glad to be back" Capt.
Thompson said. He praised the
crews of the Cartigan and the
freighter Helen Lykes for their
seamanship.
The ll4-foot Bertha r., bound
from New Orleans to its home port
Of Tampa, Fla, with a 20O-foot
barge ran into heavy seas and
winds of about rs miles per hour
Monday afternoon, Capt. Thomp-
son said.
The towlins parted and the Ber-
tha r. made two attempts to get
line back aboard. On the. second
attempt, the stern of the tug
smashed against the barge. open
ing its seams.
1his was about 3 pm. (cST)
M6aday. A distress signal was sent
Immediately while the crew tried
% stem the inrushing waters.
Order 10 Abandon
Ahcs.t four hours later Capt.
Ashbnrn gave the order to aban-
don ship. Two Life RATS, each de-
,sitned to hold six men, were put
over and the erewmen began leap
ing into the water.
first mate W. E.. Buie COT
Tampa) and ! left the pilot house
At the same time, Capt. Thomp-
son related. s'I jumped alongside
one Of the rats and Buie should
that he was going to get into the
other. / never saw him again."
The tug boat skipper said the
men in his raft sighted the lights
of = shin shortly before midnight,
but were unable to get its atten'
ton.
Meanwhile, planes from Keesler
Air Force Base, Miss, and St,
petersburg, Fla, sighted one o.
the RATS and dropped flares. The
Helen Lykes, bound for New or
leans. came alongside about 3 am,
Yesterday and put over motorized
iifeboat with first mate Stanley
Parkham at the helm. The lie
boat picked up four men from that
raft but was unable to return to
the Helen L. because of high seas.
its 1O-man cdew and the survivors
were taken aboard the Cartigar
after about two hours.
Bodies Found
The cutter also took aboard three
men from the captains raft to.
qether with two bodies. A thirc
body was found nearby.
Capt. Thompson said the three
men died during the night appar'
emily from exposure and injuries
or Of drowning. He said the three
living s'held the bodies as long as
we could"
Coast Guardsmen aboard the cut
fer administered artificial respir
alton for five hours to one OF the
men and for eight hours to the
two others.
Capt. James B. Rucker, Coas'
Guard officer in charge of marine
inspection for the Mobile, Ala, dis
trict. was on hand when the cuttel
docked and Immediately began
preliminary investigation to deter
mine whether a board of inquir,
will be convened. He came here OF
orders of Capt. L. H. Byrd of New
Orleans, district Coast Guard com
mander.
Survivors in addition to Capt
Thompson are Otis Hyde of Tampa
John F. Wilson Of st. Petersburg
J.IJ. Kerns of Tampa, Haskell Nc
Laughiin of Spanish Honduras, Pru
lit Mullis of Tampa, and John Ko
bessen of Detroit.
The dead were identified as Viii
ham T. Royal of st. Petersburg
and Vesper E. Morris and Milton
Harris, both of Tampa.
The Bertha R. Was operated b!
the Blue Stack Towing Co., o
Tampa, q subsidiary of the Tampi
Marine Co.