FIRE ON BIG U.S. TROOPSHIP

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23740, 11 September 1942, Page 5

FIRE ON BIG U.S. TROOPSHIP

1600 PASSENGERS AND CREW SAVED WASHINGTON, Sept. 9. The United States Navy has announced that the transport Wakefield, of 24,000 tons, formerly the liner Manhattan, and queen of the United States merchant fleet, was severely damaged by fire at sea on September 3. The 1600 passengers and the crew were removed without loss of life, but several were injured. The charred hulk has been salvaged and towed to an Atlantic coast port. The origin of the fire has not yet been determined. The Navy said that the rescue was effected in a thrilling and daring manner by the warships, protecting the convoy in which the Wakefield was travelling to an east coast port. A cruiser manoeuvred Its bow athwart the transport’s stern and a destroyer went alongside the Wakefield. Thus the passengers were transferred rapidly from the blazing liner. The captain and a skeleton crew remained aboard and fought the flames as long as possible. Finally tugs brought the Wakefield to port. Survivors, describing the 20 minutes drama aboard the flame-swept ship, said that the Navy personnel of the cruiser and destroyer displayed cxceptional bravery, effecting their rescue work swiftly'and calmly. The fire spread in two or three minutes from end to end of the ship. The destroyer was thrown repeatedly against the Wakefield’s high sides smashing the superstructure, but the captain of the destroyer held her in while the gun-crews tossed shells overboard. Cargo nets were lowered and the passengers were transferred safely. One survivor said that he was sure that many of the crew would be burned, as the fire spread so amazingly. Another survivor said that he heard a muffled explosion far below the deck. Then the fire spread like a blaze in a barn full of hay. and the crew began tossing explosives overboard There was a tense moment when an officer on the bridge asked if the magazine had been flooded. It was the first they had known of the magazine. y was: “Yes, it has been, flooded.