Not Their Time To Drown

1914

Men Swept From Deck of Vessel Thrown Back by Remarkable Action of Waves

Swept overboard by one giant wave, four seamen on the British steamship Ribston seemed to be lost, when another big billow took them on its crest and flung them back aboard the ship. Their mishap occurred while the vessel was on her way from Philadelphia to Cuba, and the story was told upon the Ribston's arrival in Havana.

The men were working near the forward hatch during a wild storm off Cape Hatteras. When the wave flung them into the sea their companions gave them up, because no boat could survive in such waters. To the great surprise of the other sailors, however, they soon saw the four men, drenched to the skin, making their way forward from the after part of the ship. The wave had carried them the full length of the craft and had flung them aboard again near the stern.

The voyage of the Ribston was full of harrowing experiences. The same storm which swept the men overboard carried away several hatches and deluged part of the hold. The ship's entire supply of food was either carried away or ruined. For more than a week the men were forced to live on salty hardtack and they were half starved when they reached Havana.

Several times during the voyage the engines broke down. The trip ordinarily completed in a week took two weeks. The vessel began to have trouble while she was still in Delaware Bay, being forced to anchor several times on account of ice clogging the propeller, and the difficulties continued until she ran into Havana harbor.