OCEAN RESCUES

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 February 1926, Page 5

OCEAN RESCUES

'THRILLING DEEDS IN STORM.

GALLANT AMERICAN SEAMEN.

(Reuter.) (By Cable—Press Assn.—Copyright.)

LONDON, January 30.

A feat of supreme seamanship, practically unsurpassed in the annals of merchant shipping, is. revealed in a. wireless story by a passenger on the President Roosevelt, which, is due at Plymouth on Sunday'’with those resued from the Antinol.’ The story is published exclusively in the “Daily Express.” It vividly outlines the liner’s four-day vigil amid seas climbing to peaks of fifty feet in height, under a hurricane raging at one hundred miles an hour and with swirling sleet and snow, with which drifting fog intrigued to make the task next to impossible. After sighting thet Antinol, the President Roosevelt stood by all day long. It was impossible to launch a boat. During;, a wild night the President Roosevelt lost contact, and in the morn, mg she found the Antinol was out of sight. It was not until late on Monday that she was again located, she having drifted fifty-eight miles in the storm. She had listed thirty-five degrees to starboard. Her port side boats were stove in, and her engine-, room was flooded. The steering gear was disabled also, and the bridges were smashed. The President Roosevelt then launched a boat in charge of Chief Officer Miller. It was immediately struck by a sudden squall, and was whirled towards the President Roosevelt. Lifelines were cast, but they were lifted by a giant sea and the little boat was capsized., and hurled the men aboard into the ocean. With a superhuman effort all but two of them managed to reach a ladder. The terrified passengers,, however, watched two illfated men carried off towards the Antinol. One swimming hard, passed close to the stern of the tossing hulk, from which a line was thrown. Just ten feet separated him from the line’s end, but lie could not grasp it and he disappeared. Night then descended. The following day there was failure after failure. Four boats were lost. There was a moderating sea that night, and full moonlight enabled another attempt to be made, when a lifeboat succeeded in reaching the Antinol, where it secured twelve of the men, and brought them to the President Roosevelt.

The Antinol then was listing forty degrees. Chief Officer Miller made a second courageous voyage, a searchlight picking out the patli, and the lifeboat brought thirteen men,' including the captain, who waved his hand affectionately at the Antinol when the boat put off, thereby completing one of the ocean’s most dramatic rescues.

The Foreign Offices have requested the British Ambasador to convey to Presilent Coolidge the British Ministry’s appreciation of the captain and the crew of the President Roosevelt, arid also their sympathy with the relatives of the American sailors who sacrificed their lives. A similar message has also been sent on behalf of Lloyd’s. The “Daily Express” says: “The Board of Trade, breaking down the. ordinary procedure, is despatching a special representative to Plymouth to meet the President Roosevelt, and to obtain the captain’s and others’ comolete report of the circumstances, which will be presented to the Admiralty for immediate presentation to the King.”

KING GEORGES’ MESSAGE

WASHINGTON, January 29.

King George has sent President Coolidge a cablegram praising the crew of the American liner President Roosevelt for rescuing in the Atlantic gale all hands from the British freighter Antinol, and expressing regret that two of the rescuing force lost their lives. In 'his reply, President Coolidge cabled: “The event is but another illustration of the .heroism and gallantry which hav earaecrtcih which have characterised alike the mariners of the United States and Great Britain.”

The King asked the President to assure the bereaved families of the lost sailors of his heartfelt sympathy. POPULAR TRIBUTES. LONDON, January 31. The Captain and crew of the President Roosevelt had a great reception at Queenstown. They were greeted by the Mayor. A similar reception is being prepared at Plymouth, when the Admiralty will be represented: