Manchester (CL 83) - Naval Cruise Book

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t-i m • But with the New Year came bitter, moist wind and heavy seas .

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INTERLUDE: THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS i 1 1 B Merry Christmas, Storekeeper Wagner . . . Merry Christmas, Storekeeper Nelson . . . Would you like to carry this box, Storekeeper Wagner? Ah, no, Storekeeper Nelson, you should carry it, for you are stronger than I. On the contrary — YOU are the stronger man . . . Never, my friend — YOU are —

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THE PRASAE STORY X EMERGENCY X MANCHESTER PROCEED Radioman Second Class Kelly Havard and Quartermaster Second Class Jim Kuykendall were assigned as c-oinniunic.it ions interpreters aboard the Thailand Corvette Prasae operating with UN ships off North Korea ' s east coast. The following from their accounts of the incident: On the night of January 6th, Quartermaster Kuy- kendall said the Prasae Ran into the heaviest blizzard I have ever seen. I went up to the flying bridge at about 1900 to check dead reckoning calculations which we were forced to rely on be- cause we had no radar equipment for navigation. The visibility was nearly zero. Later as the two men talked in the radio shack, they felt a lurch. I bet we ' ve run into one of those destroyers, joked Kuydendall. There was a severe jarring of t he ship, and Havard said, Feels like we ' ve gone aground. Kuydendall was still unim- pressed. Suddenly the Prasae shuddered. In Hav- ard ' s words, A rumbling movement this time came from the bowels of the ship, and when she listed to starboard, I knew damn well we ' d gone aground. Everyone was quietly nervous and scared, includ- ing myself, but there was nothing anyone could do, so we settled back uneasily for the night. A sister ship, the Bangpakong, lowered one of its tiny lifeboats to send a salvage line to the stricken ship, but it had to turn back after one man was washed overboard and disappeared into the heavy sea. Another attempt was made by the U.S.S. Bolster, but a chain around the stern broke and further operations were halted because of darkness. The next morning a helicopter from a minesweep- ing group nearby, piloted by Lieutenant (jg) John Thornton, and crew member Gene Marciano, attempted to transfer Lieutenant Harold H. Hard- ing, the Executive Officer of the Bolster, to the Prasae. Kuydendall: The helicopter came in and began hovering over the fantail. I thought it would land. but it went up again and paused over the after superstructure. The pilot took her away from there after a few moments and approached the flying bridge up forward near where Havard and I were standing. Havard continues: This time the pilot came down close, and I could see the crewman open the door and begin lowering Lieutenant Harding on a hoist line. If all had gone well, the plane ' s rotors would have cleared the Prasae ' s rigging by not more than two yards. But all did not go well. The whirling blades began slicing into the lines. I yelled and waved my arms at the pilot, said Havard; He saw me, looked up, and tried to pull the helicopter away, but he was too late. Lieutenant Harding was still dangling from the hoist line, when the plane began falling. In a second it had crashed over the bridge and burst into flames with Mr. Harding underneath. Suvan, the Siamese radioman who worked with us, rushed to the burning wreckage. A section of the falling plane had hit him and his face was streaming blood. Disregarding the flames and his own injuries he pulled Mr. Harding from under the plane. Mr. Thornton and his crewman Marci- ano were also brought out . . . Radioman Havard burned the palms of his mittens and his foul weather jacket putting out the flaming clothing of Gene Marciano. To add to the confusion, 20 millimeter ammunition in the ready boxes on the upper decks began exploding as the fire spread, and nine Siamese sailors in that area became panic- stricken and dove overboard to swim to the beach 200 yards away. One man was lost in the freezing waters, but the others made it to shore. Huddled together on the beach, they were soon suffering from severe exposure, and to make matters worse, it became evident that enemy troops were closing in around them.