HEROES OF THE SEA

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3053, 14 April 1917, Page 3

HEROES OF THE SEA

HON THREE MEN SAVED A SHIP STRANGER,THAN FICTION A stirring story of heroism at sea was told in the Admiralty Court, London, on January 31, when three men were awarded £5001) as salvage remuneration for bringing the American steam tug Vigilant to the-port of Castletown, on the Irish coast. The men were Robert Fergusson, second mate; Thomas .Welsh, greaser; and John Smith, fireman. The ofiicer was awarded £2500 and the other two men got £1250 each. The three are American citizens, but as their names indicate, they are of British descent. The Vigilant is a vessel of 200 • tons, 1500 horse-power, with a speed of 13 knots". She was valued by the court at £20,000. On October 13 she left New York, bound for Bristol Channel for orders. She called at St. John's, Newfoundland, and on the way. there encountered bad weather, which'compelled her to put in north of Halifax for shelter. Captain' Ince was the master, and he had a'crew of sixteen men. On the voyage across -the Atlantic the Vigilant encountered westerly gales and high 6eas.. She waß so severely buffeted that the captain feared she would turn turtle. On October 27 he decided to send out the S.O.S. signal by wireless. It was his intention to abandon the vessel, as he believed she would not ride out the bad weather. , The supply of coal in the bunkers was very low, and was estimated to be sufficient for only twenty-four hours. The Vigilant was then about 800 miles from the south-west coast of Ireland. In reply to the appeal for assistance, a mesGsge was received from the Admiral at Queenstown, stating that a naval patrol vessel would be dispatched. Distress Signals.'

.'. The Vigilant hoisted distress signals to attract the attention of any passing vessel. A ship passed her two miles to the north, but took. no, notice, of the signals. The gale increased in violence, but there was no ..sign of the patrol boat, from Queenstown. On the morning of Ootbber 29. a wireless mes j sage was received from the HollandAmerica liner Rijndam, stating that she would he along about 6.30 p.m. \

About 4.30 p.m. the captain told the crew that he intonded to abandon the vessel. Fergusson, when ho heard of this order, wont below to ask tho crew to stick to the ship with him. He found' them dressed in their best clothes, with life-belts on. When they heard his appeal, thoy jeered'at him, and asked him if he was tired of life. He went to the engine-room and made , tho ' same appeal, and met with the same result. He went in search of an' oiler named Welsh, and said to him, "I've heard you say that you're not a bar-room sailor. Prove it now." After some, discussion, Welsh and Smith decided to throw in their lot with the.ship. When tho captain • heard that his second mate and two men intended to stick to the Bhip and try to get her into port, he said to'them, "You're fools. Where's the sense in throwing your lives away?" .

"If I am to lose my clothes and my instruments, I. might as well loose my life," said Fergusson. . "I'm for the ship." The Rijndam came''up shortly after 6 p.m., and sent a boat to take the crew off. The rest of the story was graphically told by Fergusson in a Press interview.

"We stood, there ,'aud, we. looked ab the waves forty feet high, • and 'we watohed the officer in oharge of the •Rijndam's boat.j.tako .off our crew. There .was-the great-liner there with its thousand souls aboard all. cheering, and there' wa sa bitter wind blowing in our faces all the while, and the shivering and shaking of the boat. "'You'd better come along,' said the officer in charge. 'Nothing doing,' 1. said. We quitted company. The hner went.her way, and we went ours. This was at 7 o'clock;

A Terrible Night,

.Welsh went down to look after' the engines—a pretty tough job for one man. Smith stripped to keep the fires going. I stuck to tho bridge. I couldn't get a drink of water; food all gone. I kept myself going by chewing;'tobacco most of tho time. "That night was pretty'bad. Five o'clock came' next moriiing, and I sighted a patrol. I gave my, name. But she couldn't get near, and she was lost again very soon in those seas, like great walls, that kept rolling up to us an d %n tumbling down en the tug. ''Then the steering gear got jammed. I shouted down the speaking tube, and Welsh tried to get up; but he got jammed himself in a ventilator, and couldnft get near. There was no food and no drink, and we viero sick with ; tiredness and hunger. Seas all around gfetting_ bigger every moment, and at. night time the worst came.

"The ship was..struck.Tjy the biggest sea she had-yet on the starboani side, and she heeled right over. Didn't seem to me that I'd get her in after a 11.".' Lashings'on the deok snapped like cotton, the anohor broke; loose, the dynamo shaft.in the engine-room was smashed 1 , aiid all lights' went out. ■ ' "And then another sea came on the port side and forced the boat back to something like a level keel, and she got her balance again. Say, that was something like a miracle! It gets me sure, how it happened, but happen it did, and I set to work again to pull her through, making all the while for the Irish coast.

"We sighted the coast at last and met a patrol boat who offered to pilot us into Bantry Bay. But she hadl no lights and we had none, and I kept losing her in the dark. There came along a Scotch boat, The Flying' Fox, and there at last we got help. Six seamen came 'along, and I got tho steering gear fixed, and we /got to Castletown where we lay for six days, and at the last I got l.er into Cardiff."