Post by Administrator on Sept 3, 2018 1:59:16 GMT
The Flying Enterprise
THE SAGA OF THE FLYING ENTERPRISE 1951
It was the Flying Enterprise steaming to the west,
Her Master, Captain Carlson, was about to stand a test,
Christmas day in `51 he met a violent storm,
Standing out in history greater than the norm,
Days and weeks she hove-to, in heaving seas of green,
Tossing, wild and pitching, cracks on deck were seen,
In this mighty hurricane she rolled her beams close under,
And structural damage evident began to break asunder.
Four hundred miles past Lands End an S.O.S. was sent,
To save the crew and passengers now the ship was spent,
The troop ship General Greely came upon the scene,
And the Yankee steamer Southland, nearby on the beam,
They could not launch the lifeboats, the list was too severe,
So jumped into the water as rescuers pulled near,
Ten passengers plus crew were saved, chilled through to the bone,
Leaving Captain Carlson aboard there, all alone.
Battered by the giant waves, to port she heeled and listed,
Included in her cargo was pig iron, which had shifted,
Forty-five degrees or more she lurched and there she stayed,
Failing then to right herself, on her side, she laid,
A deep-sea tug, the Turmoil, eventually came by,
The Mate of her, Ken Dancy, in a case of do-or-die,
Leapt aboard the stricken ship to give a helping hand,
Aiding Captain Carlson and his vessel far from land.
Those two men together in a Herculean task,
Hauled a cable inboard and made the tug all fast,
Steadily they towed her, slowly, every day,
Till closing near to Falmouth forty miles away,
The weather worsened once again then the tow-line parted,
Ship`s demise now obvious our heroes broken hearted,
Walked along the funnel, as it was laying flat,
Made it to a lifeboat, and that, my friends was that.
Two men well remembered for an epic of its day,
Maritime tradition and bravery held sway,
The sea’s a haughty mistress and frequently takes charge,
Testing all our seamen and mariners at large.
Joe Earl.
THE SAGA OF THE FLYING ENTERPRISE 1951
It was the Flying Enterprise steaming to the west,
Her Master, Captain Carlson, was about to stand a test,
Christmas day in `51 he met a violent storm,
Standing out in history greater than the norm,
Days and weeks she hove-to, in heaving seas of green,
Tossing, wild and pitching, cracks on deck were seen,
In this mighty hurricane she rolled her beams close under,
And structural damage evident began to break asunder.
Four hundred miles past Lands End an S.O.S. was sent,
To save the crew and passengers now the ship was spent,
The troop ship General Greely came upon the scene,
And the Yankee steamer Southland, nearby on the beam,
They could not launch the lifeboats, the list was too severe,
So jumped into the water as rescuers pulled near,
Ten passengers plus crew were saved, chilled through to the bone,
Leaving Captain Carlson aboard there, all alone.
Battered by the giant waves, to port she heeled and listed,
Included in her cargo was pig iron, which had shifted,
Forty-five degrees or more she lurched and there she stayed,
Failing then to right herself, on her side, she laid,
A deep-sea tug, the Turmoil, eventually came by,
The Mate of her, Ken Dancy, in a case of do-or-die,
Leapt aboard the stricken ship to give a helping hand,
Aiding Captain Carlson and his vessel far from land.
Those two men together in a Herculean task,
Hauled a cable inboard and made the tug all fast,
Steadily they towed her, slowly, every day,
Till closing near to Falmouth forty miles away,
The weather worsened once again then the tow-line parted,
Ship`s demise now obvious our heroes broken hearted,
Walked along the funnel, as it was laying flat,
Made it to a lifeboat, and that, my friends was that.
Two men well remembered for an epic of its day,
Maritime tradition and bravery held sway,
The sea’s a haughty mistress and frequently takes charge,
Testing all our seamen and mariners at large.
Joe Earl.