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Kenneth Woodage sent in press cuttings of his voyage on the Aldington Court that went aground on a reef near Lauderdale-by-the-sea.
Interviewed by a reporter from the local Daily News, Ken and shipmate Brian Langton said the vessel went aground because of a reported navigational error.
Ken,then 18 said at the time they didn’t think they were going aground. They thought they were at the entrance to Port Everglades. Unfortunately the ship had engine trouble before it hit the reef.
Ship’s Captain Winifred Brett said “It is a normal thing for a ship to get on a reef" but
fielded a “no comment” on the cause of the mishap.
No injuries were sustained and Ken told the reporter that when they weren’t working they let the ladder down and went for a swim. (No phasing our lads is there.)
Confidence was high that the vessel would float off as tugboat workers and crew
worked together to fix the towing gear into position. At the time the Captain was reported as being a bit worried about the incident. The crew was expressing different worries because the beer was running out.
The usual throng of sightseers gathered along the shore to watch the proceeding, and a number of small ships came out to look at the stranded ship. None of them thought to bring a few beers.
Visitors at a hotel along the shore side scanned the decks through binoculars hoping to get a glimpse of the crew but without luck. The lads were probably checking out the beer locker.
Two tugs were employed for the first attempt but the old girl refused to budge. The next attempt was made by four tugs to haul her off but had to admit defeat.
Then one of the largest salvage tugs at the time, the Cable, was called upon and made its way from Key West to have a go
Papers reported the crew lining the deck getting a suntan as the massive 3,200-horsepower tug prepared to tow her off stern first. Finally, with the assistance of a high tide she was free.
Local tugs, the Lauderdale and Hollywood completed the operation and brought her alongside.
A reporter with the Daily News had done his homework and added that the place where the Aldington Court had prematurely docked was roughly where the British cruiser Orion drew close to the German cargo ship Arauca in December 1939 and forced the vessel to seek safety in Port Everglades.
The Arauca was later towed to Mobile, to go into dry-dock. When Japan encouraged America to join in on WW2 the vessel went to sea again under the American flag.
Footnote; The Arlington Court hit the newspapers again in July when a 19-year-old cook was brought before the Magistrates in Cape Town for refusing to obey the Captain’s orders.
Read the cutting at the time and see if you can follow the sequence of events.
He was sentenced to three weeks in jail.
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Ken is in the middle, and ............ |
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.......a few years later
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