FREAK SALVAGE
Dutch Merchantman Refuses To Sink In Atlantic CREW FOIL. SUBMARINE Rec. 2 p.m. WASHINGTON, April 2 The Navy discloses the story of a Dutch merchantman torpedoed in the Atlantic which "herself decided to refute the judgment" of the officials who listed her as lost. A torpedo struck the bow, causing the ship to list sharply. The stern rose high and the propellers thrashed. An order was given to abandon ship. Only one of the four lifeboats remained sufficiently close to discover next morning that the ship refused to sink. The captain reboarded the vessel and was surprised to find two officers who missed the lifeboats. Examination showed that salvage was possible because during the night sufficient sand ballast had poured out to enable the bow to rise slightly.
The captain and a skeleton crew of 14 laboriously unloaded a further 150 tons of sand and partly flooded the stern. Gradually the vessel regained a fairly even keel. Tried at slow speed, the ship behaved crazily, jumping and twisting. This was curiously corrected by increasing to three-quarter speed, when a comparatively steady voyage was continued for 700 miles in five days. She was docked in an Allied Atlantic port.
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Bibliographic details
Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 79, 3 April 1943, Page 5
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200FREAK SALVAGE Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 79, 3 April 1943, Page 5
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