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Some years ago I was the Commanding Officer of a US Navy Fleet Tug. Our
primary duties were towing and salvage. This was no dinky harbor tug
either; it was a big husky diesel electric rig with four locomotive-type
main engines, 205 feet long, with a 1600-ton displacement, plenty of
weaponry, and a 69-man crew. While coming home to Hawaii from the Western
Pacific one time, we encountered a large break-bulk carrier drifting in the
sunset and down somewhat by the stern. There was no lifeboat, and the falls
indicated an orderly departure. Visions of the MARY CELESTE here. We sent
a message describing the scene to fleet headquarters in Pearl Harbor (800
miles east of us) and sounded the ship's whistle as we passed close aboard
at dusk. Since nobody was left aboard, we continued our course home. We'd
been gone 5 and 1/2 months, and I was to be married upon our return; so I
wasn't interested in saddling myself with a tow as yet unauthorized by the
Fleet. We'd have gone to 3-4 knots from the 12.5 we'd been making since
Guam. BTW the British sailors (unlike in our republic) get prize money in
wartime and salvage money for peacetime rescues, shared out amongst the crew
just as in days of yore; so the good old US Navy always steps aside if there
is a Brit in the neighborhood. As it turned out, Fleet came back to us a
bit later on telling us to keep our mitts off the freighter because it had
not been OFFICIALLY ABANDONED by the owners and that a tug was enroute from
Japan. A lot of the issues about whether or not a vessel is a likely target
for salvage has to do with the peril in which it may or may not be. In our
case, the freighter was disabled by engine room flooding but in no immediate
danger of sinking. In the case of the sailbote Paul Browne mentioned, maybe
its stuffing box leak was deemed an immediate threat to its continued
appearance on the surface. Thus, the salvors were due some pocket change.
Rich Gano
CALYPSO (GB42-295)
Southport, FL
