HEROES OF THE SEA.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 274, 11 May 1917, Page 1 (Supplement)

HEROES OF THE SEA.

HOW THREE MEN SAVED A SHIP

STRANGER THAN FICTION. '

A stirring story of heroism at sea was . told in the Admiralty Court, London, on Jan. 31 when three men were awarded £SOOO 'as: salvage remuneration for bringing the American steam tug Vigilant to the port of Castletown, .on the Irish coast. The men were Robert Fer. gusson, second mate; Thomas »elsh, greaser; and John Smith, fireman. Ihe officer was awarded £2500, and the other two men got £1250 each. The throe 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 £2O 000. t 4 v . On October 13th she left New York, bound for the Bristol Channel for orders. She called at St Johns, New- ; i'oundland, and on the way there encountered bad weather, which compelled her to put in north of Halifax for shelter. Captain Inoe was the master, and he had a crew of J6 men. On the voyage across the Atlantic the Vigilant encountered westerly gales and high seas. She was so severely buffeted that the captain feared- she would turn turtle. On October 27th he decided to send out the S.O.S. signal bv wireless. It was his intention to abandon the vessel, ; as he believed that 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 24 hours. The Vigilant was then about 800 miles from the south-west coast of Ireland. In reply to the appeal for assistance a message was received from the Admiral of Queenstown, stating that a naval patrol vessel would be de-l-patched.

DISTRESS SIGNALS

The Vigilant hoisted'distress signals to attract the attention of any pass- j ing ship. A vessel passed her two, miles to the north, but took no notice of h*r signals. The gale increased in violence, but there was no sign of the patrol boat from Queenstown. On the morning of the 29th a wireless message was received from the ..HollandAmerica liner Rijndam, stating that eho would be along about 6.30 p.m. About 4.30 p.m. the captain told the crew that ho intended to abandon the vessel. Fergusson, when ho heard of this order, went below to ask the crew to stick to thg ship with him. He found them dressed in their best clothes, with lifebelts on. When they heard his appeal they jeered at him, and asked him if he was tired of life. He went to the engine-room and made the same appeal, but 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." Atter some discussion ' Welsh and Smith decided to throw in their lot with the ship. When the captain heard that the second mate and two men inthended to stick to the ship 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 lose my life?," said Fergusson. "I'm for tho ship." The Rijndam came up shortly niter 0 p.m., and sent a boat to take off tho crew:

The rest of the story was graphically told by Fergusson 111 a press interview.

" Wo stood there, and we looked at ■. waves forty feet high, and we watched the. officer in ch&rge of tho Kijndam's boat take off our crew. There was the great liner there, with its thousand souls aboard, all cheering, and there was a bitter wind blowing in our faces all the time, and the shivering aud shaking of the boat. " 'You'd better come along,' said tho officer in charge. ' Nothing doing,' I said. We quitted company. The liner went her way. and wo 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 the bridge. J could could not get a drink of water; food all gone. 1 kept myself going by chewing tobacco most of tho time.

"That night was very bad. Five ocloc-k came, next morning, and I sight, od a patrol. I gave my name, but she could not get near, and was lost again very soon in tho.se seas, like great walls, that kept rolling up to us and then tumbling down on the tug. "Then the steering gear got jammed. I shouted down the speaking tube, and Welsh tried to get up, but he himself got jammed in the ventilator, and could not get near. There was no food and no drink, and we were sick with tiredness and hunger. Seas all around getting bigger every moment, and at night time the worst came.

"The ship was struck by the biggest sea she had yet, on the starboard side, and she heeled right over. Didn't seem to me that I'd get her in, after all. Lashings on the deck snapped like cotton, the anchor broKe loose, the dynamo shaft in the engine-room was smashed, and all the lights went out. "And then another sea rame on the port sid.i and forced the boat back to something like a level keel. She got her balance again. Say. that was something like a miracle! It gets me, sure, how it happened; but h?ppen it did, and T set to work again to pull her through, making all the while for the Tn«h coast.

"We sighted the coa«t at lust, and met a patrol boat, who offered to pilot us into Ban try Ray. Hut she had no lights, and we had none, and T kept losing her in the dirk. TV re came along a Scotch boat, the Flying Fox, and then at lenst we pot help. Six seamen came along, and I got the steering gear fixerl, and we got to Castletown, where we lay for six davs and at the last I got her into Cardiff."