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Show Tugs Speed to Salvage Grounded Army Ship KETCHIKAN, Alaska, Jan. 29 (AP) Undaunted by a tempest tem-pest and towering waves, 13 men remained Wednesday aboard the U. S. army transport Kvichak, wrecked on rocks off the British Columbia coast, awaiting the arrival of tugs dispatched to salvage what they might of the army supplies aboard. The transport, bound from Se-' eatle for Alaska, ran aground in heavy seas late Monday night. At least one seaman one report re-port said four drowned as life boats were launched which carried passengers and others of the crew to safety ashore. The U. S. S. gunboat Charleston, Charles-ton, flagship of the navy's Alaskan contingent, went to the scene of the wreck, and was due In Ketchikan Ketch-ikan Tuesday with the 23 passengers passen-gers and 24 crewmen rescued from the Kvichak. The U. S. coast guard, whose cutter Nemaha was standing by the Kvichak, reported here that shallow water kept the cutter from getting In close to the grounded transport, aboard which Captain W. W. Williamson and a dozen of his men remained voluntarily. Waves flooded over the Kvlchak's desk at high tide, but the cutter reported the ship was "not breaking break-ing up." Two salvage tugs and a barge from Prince Rupert, B. C, were expected at the scene Wednesday Wed-nesday afternoon. The Charleston radioed Tuesday night that three seamen were believed be-lieved lost when a lifeboat capsized. cap-sized. They were listed as Ro-sendo Ro-sendo Sacris, Alfred Peralata and William O. Reeves. Coast guard headquarters later received a report that four men drowned, but no names were listed. At Seattle, the army quartermaster quartermas-ter corps viewed the drowning reports re-ports with reservation because the name of Sacris was the only one of the three on its crew register, and the number of crewmen listed aboard the Charleston and Kvichak Kvi-chak seemed to account for the 37 In the crew. The Kvichak, a former fishing packet, ran aground about 125 miles south of Prince Rupert, B. C, two days out of Seattle. It was taking supplies and passengers to the new Annette island army base near here. |