| Show 14 adventurers P 9 club death ship by FLOYD FLOTD GIBBONS famous headline hunter G GET ET ready for action here comes distinguished adventurer H obart hobart N deane of new york city and hes bringing with him a tale so packed with thrills that well I 1 know whether I 1 was coming coining or going when I 1 read it and im betting you wont either cither it took place on a ship called the S S barstow a gasoline tanker anchored at fort mchenry just outside of baltimore md you could go through all the harbors of the world looking for that boat today and never find a trace of her she just aint any more by the time holley hobey deane got through adventuring with her there enough left of her to pick your teeth with the story it was february 1918 along toward the close of the world war hobey and his shipmate al were in ia the merchant marine in those days and the barstow was the ship they were working on at the moment honeys adventure starts with a boom I 1 honeys adventure started with a big BOOMI yes I 1 mean that literally six or seven sailors were sitting in the mess room about three one cold february day when suddenly there came the sound of a loud explosion along with it came a shock that seemed to lift hobey right out of his clothing he jumped to his feet and ran to the deck with the rest of the gang right on his heels we arrived on deck says holley hobey in time to see a big gas ventilator from the forward tank land like a rocket in a heap of oil that was piled up on the dock ashore at the same time a sheet of flame several hundred feet high shot out of our forward tank thousands of gallons of naphtha were ablaze down on the dock some of the crew were casting off the ropes A tug come came alongside and began to haul the barstow out into the bay about a third of the way out the tugs captain decided it was too risky for him to stick around any longer and beat a retreat without taking the trouble to ask the men aboard the barstow if they like a ride back to shore two heroes sacrifice their lives courageously there were about twenty of us aboard says holley hobey and from all we were in a swell way to be blown to chop TINY the exhausted men finally reached the tug suey stacy we were about to get in when it occurred to us what might happen if the ship citified in close to land and went up the boatswain and his storekeeper two heroes it if I 1 ever saw any went forward and released the anchor but on the way back there was another explosion and they were blown to bits the magazine where we kept the ammunition for our antisubmarine anti submarine gun had started to go up and it had taken the boatswain and the storekeeper along with it after that the ship got too hot for comfort shells meant for submarines were whizzing from that burning magazine in all directions the crew made a run for the lifeboat and just as they reached it a sheu shell hit it and blew it to splinters believe it or not says hobey but neither al nor I 1 were touched by the flying debris by this time the whole fore and were a mass of flame al and hobey leave the floating bomb it was raining molten metal chunks of iron and steel and pieces of timber al and I 1 and a deck boy made our way back to the stern and after a conference decided to jump we much time to lose even then the ship seemed to be swelling beneath our feet like a giant bomb holley swim a stroke but al told him to jump and hed bring him to shore the deck boy hesitated until al assured him hed be right behind then he dove into the icy water al and I 1 waited for him to come to the surface says holley hobey but the seconds became minutes and he show up we never saw him again and I 1 have never felt so desolate in all my life but life is sweet and I 1 realized that no matter how slim my chances were they were better in the water than on the barstow the nearest life preserver was below deck and by this time burnt to a crisp I 1 had to depend on al tugs skipper gambles to help in rescue well sir hobey took the plunge the shock of the cold water numbed him and he thought hed never come up 1 I much care either he says but I 1 hit the surface at last and al had a hold of me before I 1 knew it I 1 grabbed his shoulder with one hand and paddled with the other and we set out for a tug that was lying a thousand yards away it seemed we were moving at a snails pace we got some distance away from the ship but I 1 could see the february water doing al any good he was fagged bagged out my heart and lungs felt as if they were in a steel vise I 1 was done all I 1 wanted to do was let go and rest hobey was right al WAS fagged bagged he stopped swimming and began to tread water shouted to t the he tug for help the tugs skipper knew it was dangerous to go any nearer to the burning vessel but he took a chance they came at a good clip says hobey but it seemed forever before a couple of husky seamen got hold of us and lifted us up onto the deck holley hobey says hed like to end his story by saying both he and al got pneumonia but they even have a cold the next day the barstow though do so well she burned to the waters edge C service |
