The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1956-06-22

the barkenClne EfnAA1M WILL
LIAMS. For that feat the two
keepers, and Isaac L. Jennette,
Thomas Gray, John H. Midget, j.
N. Jennette, and Charles Fulcher.
received Gold Lifesaving Medals of
Honor.
Another of special note was the
rescue of six men from the 'schoon-
er SARAH d. j. RAWSON by the
crew of Cape Lookout station, Feb
ruary 9th and 10th, 1905. The ves-
sci was sighted aground on the
shoals around noon on the ninth
during a break in the fog which
had shrouded the area all morn
ing, An epidemic of influenza,
had swept through the station crew
that week, and every man in the
outfit was sick. But they launched
their surfboat, rowed out to sea
on that cold and bleak February
afternoon, and after four hours
reached the vessel, aground off
there on the shoals. She was sur
rounded by breakers, her boat had
been smashed to pieces, her bow
spirit, foremost, maintopmast, deck
houses, and rigging were gone,
and the lumber from her deck load
literally filled the surf around her.
Already one of her crew had
been washed overheard; the six
remaining were huddled together
on the canted deck of the wreck.
Keeper William H. Gaskill at
tempted to guide his boat through
the mass of wreckage, came within
two hundred yards, but was beaten
back. Again he tried, and again
and again and again, but when
darkness came he was forced to
pull away, and the, surfboat was
anchored there on the shoal, down
wind from the SARAH D. J. RAW
SON, in the very path of the spars
and lumber floating away from the
wreck-for they wanted to be near
at hand if the sailors were washed
overheard.
The Is of them survived the
night somehow lifesavers in
their little boat, 6 shipwrecked
sailors on the remnants of their
schooner. And when the wind shift
ed shortly after dawn the surf
boat moved in closer than before
close enough to get a line on
board the wreck. One of the
sailors tied it around his waist,
jumped into the cold and angry
sea, was pulled safely on board
the rescue craft. Back went the
line, six times in all, six men res
cued; and as each sailor was pull
ed out of the water lifesaver
would remove his precious oilskin,
wrap it around the man whose life
he had helped save.
And then the return trip, 9 miles
of rowing through a sea too rough
for the safe passage of larger
boats. They made it, finally, back
to Cape Lookout station, "a hours
after they had gotten out of sick
beds to launch their boat. For this
feat Gold Lifesaving Medals were
awarded to keeper Gaskill, and to
surfmen Kilby Guthrie, Walter M.
Yeomans, Tyre Moore, John A.
Guthrie, James w. Fulcher, John
E. Kirkman, Calupt T. Jarvis, and
Joseph L. Lewis.
There is time for only one more
recollection, and it seems appropri-
ate that it should be of memoir
able rescue by the crew of Chica-
macomico station.
The United States was at war in
August of 1918, and German SUBJ
marines had laid mine fields in
the sea lanes off our coast. In the
early afternoon of August 10Th,
the 6,679 ton British tanker
MIRLO, manned by a crew of So,
and carrying full load of gaso-
line from New Orleans to Norfolk,
struck one of those German mines
opposite Wimble Shoals Light
Buoy. A terrific explosion rocked
the ship, wrecking the engine room
and putting the lights and wire
less out of commission. This was
followed shortly after by a second
explosion, which set fire to the;
gasoline, and the British captain
ordered his lifeboats lowered away.
The port 1ifeboat, first to be
lowered, fouled the stays and cap
sized, but the 16 men on board,
thrown into the sea, all managed
to reach the overturned boat. The
other two boats got away safely,
just as a third explosion took,
place, cutting the ship in half and
spewing its cargo of highly in
flamable gasoline over the water
in all directions.
One boat, the Captains with II
men on board, was soon clear of
the sea of fire; the second, with
out oars, drifted before the wind,
which was steadily increasing in
velocity. The third-the one that
had cansized-remained near the