Mispillion (AO 105) - Naval Cruise Book

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,gm Zrlfffgfiglftizthlp I A ' Ji . 4, A122240 if rf ff. mi' 1 ,ft N f N V W: ! f. f3.1s fQw,yfyff' 1, nf M' rfsw . xii 'f fi , , nf !w1L05iy', i yy' i gif X , ci ami? ,wr ,ff r mr -'fwv,.. F992-Q iv NMX tics RESCUE AT SEA The morning of April l5, l953, the Mispillion was en route to Boko-Ko in the Pescadores lslands group when lookout D. L. Davis sighted a man in a life jacket and life ring floating in the water. A life boat was immediately lowered and the man was picked up. Closer observation over a wider area disclosed many bodies and floating wreck- age. The Mispillion had arrived on the scene of the maritime disaster that occurred when the Chinese Nationalist ship, Lien Sheng, caught fire and sunk on her maiden voyage from Kaohsiung, Formosa to Makung in the Pescadores. A forty-foot motor launch was then lowered into the water and the Mispillion, her life-boat, and her motor launch be- gan a systematic search in hope of recovering all possible survivors. The Mispillion and her boats had picked up several survivors and numerous bodies when the USS Whidbey, a small auxiliary, appeared on the scene and aided in the search. The two ships continued in an extensive search, the Mispillion using swimmers with life lines to pick up survivors. Shortly after noon, the two ships were ioined by two Navy planes which aided in searching the wide expanse of ocean in search of any possible survivors that had not yet been picked up by the Mispillion. After extensive searching of the central scene of the disaster, the Mispillion comenced an ex- panding box search for survivors that might have been carried away from the original scene by wind or current, leav- ing the Whidbey behind at the scene to conduct a thorough search of the floating debris in the central area. Taking command of the rescue operation in which two Navy ships, two Navy planes, and three Chinese destroyers participated, the Mispillion gave up the search only when darkness made it impossible to see obiects on the surface of the water, Of the 52 passengers and l2 crewmen that were thrown to the mercies of the sea when the ill-fated Lien Sheng caught fire two days earlier, 14 living survivors and 27 bodies were recovered through the quick thinking, trained hands, and untiring efforts of the men of the Mispillion. All living survivors were in need of immediate medical atten- tion and were rushed to sick-bay where they received treatment for shock, exposure, and first aid and treatment for wounds inflicted by the disaster and the sea. All those rescued were returned to their families and loved ones in Kaoh- siung, their port of embarkation.

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Liflle Penny resls on machine she presents fo Mr. Vermillion 5' All onlookers were pleased, buf nol so much os Penny.

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50+ f '4 t' 'Q 'W F, , 51 nf- Swimmers cofch fwo women as fhey Hoof by. Geffing fhe exhousfed women aboard proved o difficulf fosk