The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1954-05-21
SURFMEN OUT FRONT AGAIN
WITH RESCUE OF II SEAMEN
FROMSTRANDED SHIPFRIDAY
Ship Loaded With Heavy Machinery Beached
Two Miles North of Rodanthe Due to Shift
ing of Cargo in Storm, After IL Hours Out
OF Philadelphia Bound for Havana. All Saw
ed Promptly by Surfmen.

0O1ne z0U teet from ShOre, three
miles North of Rodanthe, the
Honduran ship Omar Babun
rests on the sands of Chicamico-
mico banks. The ship came a.
shore Friday morning early, last
week, and has been abandoned
by the owners, awaiting DISPOSE
ton by the insurance companies
holding the risk of ship, cargo,
and freight.
The IA men of the crew were
saved by good work of the
Coast Guards, and have long
since departed the county.
And there stands out the grim
fact that it is important still to
keep manned and equipped
Coast Guard stations along
these shores. There is nothing to
take their place in time of dis
asters of this kind at sea. For
years, higher ups in the Coast
Guard have been decommission-
ing and putting out of service
the long established stations
which have served seamen in dis
tress since 1870. The station at
Chicamicomico is one of the
latest slated to go.
Congressman Herbert Bonner,
is now hammering home to the
officials of the Coast Guard this
recent example of the good work
of the men of the service in hope
of getting respite for this old
station which has long and
splendid record of service on the
books to its credit, a history
that has been made during the
past 30 years or more.
The crew of the Omar Babun
left Saturday with praise for the
kind treatment given them while
cast away on the Dare County
coast.
The IA men brought ashore
from the wrecked vessel and
their places of residence given,
are as follows:
Jose Willie, master, 80; Fran
cisco Leira, End Engineer; An
tonic San Domingo, Cook; Pablo
Gray, boatswain; Prudencio vi
dial Mirabel, all of Havana, Cuba.
Marcel Cemitiere, 1st engineer;
Jorge Fonseca, wireless opera
tor; Ramon Rodriguez, 3rd engi-
neer; all of Santiago, Cuba.
Robert Webster, assistant cook.
and George Green, ordinary sea-
man, both of Roitan, Honduras;
Rudolph Stamp ALB seaman; An
tonic Moreno, and Joseph Be
LILLE, ordinary seamen, all of
Porto Cortez, Honduras.
Nathaniel Gooding, ABB sea-
man of La Ceiba, Honduras.
Gooding was the first man to
come ashore. Rudolph Stamp was
second, and Rodriguez third.
The men were cared for at the
stations, ten at Chicamicomico,
and four being quartered Friday
night at Little Kinnekeet.
The ship had sailed at am.
Thursday morning from Phila-
delphia, bound for Havana, Cuba,
with a cargo insured for $128, 900.
The ship was insured for $120, 900.
The freight on the cargo was in
sured for $4,000. The cargo con-
sisted largely, according to Capt.
Willie, of structural steel, motors
and steel working machinery.
There was no cement on the ship,
he said.
Due to the extremely rough
seas, the heavy cargo broke
loose from its fastenings, and
with the roll of the ship was
shifting, first from starboard and
then to port side, threatening to
break down the stanchions which
supported the decks. Capt. Willie
said he deemed it necessary for
the safety of his crew to beach
the ship.
At LOS am. Friday ne sent out
an SOS which was received at
the Coast Guard District Head
quarters in Norfolk, and at lis
the ship struck the bar, a few
hundreds yards north of the old
Sand Ridge Lodge site, which
was for many years the home of
Mr.. and Mrs. c. P. Midget.
This spot is about mile and
a half north of Mirlo Beach,
which is now in process of de-
velopment as a cottage colony,
near Rodanthe.
At Ais Friday morning, the
Coast Guard stations in the Hat
teras area received a message
from. Norfolk, telling of the
plight of the ship, and immedi-
ately men were set on patrol to
look for the ship. The ship was
discovered by Ellery Clark Mid
| gett II, a young Rodanthe Coast
| Guardsman, who is grandson
of the late Capt John Allen Mid