Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2015 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ =========================================================================== Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== The Ludington Daily News Wednesday, November 13, 1940 page 1 CREW IS REMOVED FROM WRECK TODAY All but Two of Crew on Steamer NOVADOC Are Found Huddled in Cabin of Vessel A drama of the sea, as heroic as any in the annals of Great Lakes sailing, unfolded itself today with the rescue this morning of 17 crew members from the broken hulk of the Canadian pulpwood carrier NOVADOC five miles south of Pentwater. For at least 36 hours, 17 of the crew had hung tenaciously to hopes of being rescued, all of them crowding into the narrow confines of the pilot house, only portion of the broken ship above water. They were rescued this morning in dramatic fashion by a sturdy, chugging fishtug, the "THREE BROTHERS" of Pentwater, operated by Harry Cross, one of the Cross brothers, well- known in Ludington and along the west coast of Michigan. A subsided sea, after almost two days of howling fury of one of Lake Michigan's worst southwesters, made the rescue possible at 9:30 a.m. today. The fishtug reached the steamer shortly before a coast guard boat. All surviving crew members were able to climb from the battered ship to the fishtug without assistance. The 17 men, suffering from hunger and exposure, were taken to the Pentwater coast guard station where they were refreshed with hot coffee, warm clothes and given such medical treatment as was necessary. Fate of the men aboard the ship had anxiously been awaited in all sections where it was known human beings were still alive on the freighter. There was joy this morning when it was reported that 17 of the crew of 19 had been rescued. Kept Vigil Through the night, coast guardsmen and rescue workers kept vigil on lonely, windswept Juniper beach, waiting for the sea to calm itself enough to enable them to man their small craft for rescue efforts. Because of the narrow target afforded by the pilot house, only portion of the ship above water, it was not possible for coast guardsmen to shoot a life-line. They feared to shoot one across the submerged deck of the ship for fear survivors on the ship would be swept overboard by the still mountainous waves. Several times during the night, to let rescue workers on shore know they were still alive, mem- bers aboard the wrecked ship sent up flares and tried other wise to let rescue workers know they were still alive. As the men were being taken off the steamer the hulk sank further into the surf, leaving all decks and part of the superstructure awash. One person, Raymond Chapman, of the Muskegon coast guard station, was injured in rescue opera- tions. He was admitted to Paulina Stearns hospital this morning suffering from exposure. "A sudden shift in the wind would have finished the boat for good," said Dick Simpell, of Midland, Ont., the first mate. "Before we were taken off this morning I would have given the boat two more hours before she broke completely apart." Captain Donald Steip of Wiarton, Ont., said the storm was the worst he had experienced in his 18 years on the lakes. "The boat just couldn't compete with the waves," he said. "Monday afternoon I decided to let the boat go aground. All of the time we were grounded in the surf off Juniper beach I was worried about nine men in the after part of the ship. I knew that at least some of them were alive because they lit matches during the night." Steip said the last vessel he saw Monday was the grain carrier ANNA C. MINCH which is presumed to have been lost. He estimated that the ship was sighted off Grand Haven. Howard Goldsmith of Binghampton, Ont., another member of the crew, told how he and seven other shipmates crawled over ice-coated and storm-twisted steel bulkheads to reach the front of the vessel. He was in the after portion where the two cooks, Joe DeShane, of Toronto, and Philip Flavin, of Halifax, N.S., were lost. "I haven't the slightest idea what happened to them," Goldsmith said. "When the boat started to break up we crawled forward. Only an unbroken bulkhead made it possible for us to get there." ===========================================================================