"Losing all my friends is what really ate me up." "That's as close as I can get to the water and sleep at night," he said. by a Hampton-based fishing boat, the Miss Mandy, two miles south and nine miles east of the sunken tug.Ĭooper quit the waterman's life he builds docks now. The wind kept them from reaching the barge, which passed them on its starboard side. Cooper yelled, "Willie, I'm going for the barge!" Just then, the rope snapped, leaving them alone on the surface. The raft was being pulled by the 90-foot breakaway rope, still attached to the sinking tug.įor a moment, they thought they'd also be pulled under. Sometime within the next two minutes, by Cooper's estimation, the raft suddenly began rushing toward the bubbling spot where the tug had sunk, "driving through the water like an inner tube with a 10-horsepower motor," said Cooper. While he struggled in the water, Landers saw the red and green bow running lights of the barge, slowly approaching. Within seconds - no more than a minute after the first list, Landers figured - the tug disappeared. William Landers popped to the surface he'd gone down with the tug but had apparently been blown out a front window. Out in the water, he struggled to avoid the "push knee" at the tug's bow as it sank beneath the waves.Ĭooper found the life raft, which had begun to inflate automatically.
USS CALMIRA TUG BOAT WINDOWS
Water and wind blasted through the wheelhouse, shattering the windows and washing Cooper out the starboard door. The lights went out, and the stern began sinking as cold water rushed into the aft engine room door, which was kept open for ventilation Cooper crawled upstairs to sound a mayday call. Then, Landers recalled, "All hell broke loose." He remembered hearing Coram yelling from down the steps, "Get out of my way!" He later figured Coram must have left the wheelhouse to go below to grab a cup of coffee, or maybe to check on the problem. At some point, he remembered, the bilge alarm went off, meaning the tug's lowest reaches had taken on at least two feet of water.Ĭooper had a "bad feeling" in his gut he dashed back down the steps and grabbed a survival suit. Cooper, still groggy from his nap, did so, and the list eased somewhat. Seconds later, he heard William Landers bellowing to take the tug out of gear. He dashed to the wheelhouse no one was at the helm. Sometime after 3 a.m., Cooper was awakened by the sound of books and supplies sliding off the shelf and hitting the deck.
Also down for the night were Charles Landers, of Elizabeth City, N.C., the engineer and William's brother and James Westmoreland, a deckhand and cook, from Norfolk. Landers and, later, Cooper retired to their second-floor rooms, a few steps down from the wheelhouse.