Evening star., 1954-12-22
Z Ships Feared
Lost in HoWIinq
Storm in Europe
ossing Waves Hide
Fate Of 40 Abourd;;
Dutch Dikes Crack
~ ihe Assosies.d Press

BY fhe Associessd Press
LONDON, Dec. "a. - Hurri-
cane winds and mountainous
waves hammered shipping in the
North Sea today and raised
grave fears for 40 men aboard
two stricken vessels. Damage
ashore. too. was heavy. and q
few dikes gave way in Germany
and the Netherlands.
OF a dozen ships in trouble of
varying degree. the 1.352-ton
Belgian freighter Henri Deweert
and the 1,371-ton Swedish
freighter Petra appeared hardest
hit.
Nineteen men were aboard the
Henri DeWeert, which radioed
she was sinking and unable to
get her lifeboats billboard with
out sWarnping in. the churning
waters Of the Terschelling Island
area of the Dutch coast. Coast
guardsmen said they feared the
worst"
Less was known Of the Petra,
with a crew of 81. Fragmentary
radio reports said she was taking
water and her engines dead as
she wallowed in a storm that
coaStguardsmen said looked
worse than the big blow less
than month ago that cost the
lives Of 100 seamen.
Dismasted Craft Sighted.
A British steamer reported
sighting a dismasted and heavily
damaged vessel which may be
the Petra" Whether the crew
was aboard could not be de-
termined. although a Dutch
radio station reported intercept
ing message that the Petra S
crew had abandoned ship. Swed-
ish coast guard stations earlier
i expressed belief the Petra
bound from Kemi, Finland, to
Hull, England had gone down.
Several ships were driven
aground by the winds. ranging
up to 112 miles an hour. One
Of these, the 7,270-ton Papa-
manian steamer Gerontas, was
refloated after a few hours on
a sandbank Of the River Clyde
near Glasgow. Others reported
such nlishaps as snapped anchor
chains.
At least six dikes along the
lowIands Of the Netherlands
and Germany were reported
preached, flooding relatively
small areas with salt water.
Scores Of persons were moved
out. Repair and rescue crews
dashed into the flooded areas
and held damage tp minimum.
Island Partly Evacuated.
-Four breaks in the seawalls
were reported from Terschelling
Island. Mindful of the Feb
ruary, 1858, floods in which
almost 1,400 lives were lost in
the Netherlands, workers rushed
to bolster the crumbling dixie.
Officials began the evacuation Of
persons, cattle and supplies
from part Of the island.
Breaks in dikes at Pernis, near
Rotterdam, and at Wilhelms-
haven, in Germany. also were
reported. but were not considered
serious. The dikes in the Dutch
Province of iceland, worst hit
area in 1853, were holding de-
spite the abnormal tides.
Numerous other ships were in
trouble and the British Air Min
istry predicted the high winds
would continue.
Northern Britain Hit.
The winds cut q path Of de-
struction through Northern
Britain, uprooting thousands Of
trees, shattering windows and
tearing masonry and roofs from
buildings.
Two persons were known dead
in Scotland. Scores of others
were treated at hospitals for cuts
and bruises.
Two nights of suspense were
over for % American and s Brit
ish passengers aboard the Grip
pied English Channel ferryboat
Cote D'Azur. The vessel was
towed into port at Calais today
/ with all aboard unharmed.