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Author
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Topic: Three Score and Seven Years Ago
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extwacaptain
Prop Wash
Member # 381
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posted
Sixty seven years ago.......There was another cruise liner which departed Roma during WWII with about the same number of passengers as were onboard the Italian ship which is currently in the news.
The GREAT captain was able to miss the rocks and made it safely to the high seas where his only concern were the many dreaded German submarines. He too, deviated from the initally planned course...not to "Hot Dog" or create an unnecessary challenge, but for the safety of his passengers and crew ...and to prevent being sent to the bottom of the ocean by an enemy torpedo.
By his skill and by following procedures in place at the time, his only challenge remaining was to sail that thing thru the remains of a hurricane mid way across the Atlantic....For three days, the passengers were not allowed on deck because of the high seas. Each time the stern of that ship lifted out of the water and the propellers were exposed, they would cause the entire vessel to vibrate severely as the blades returned to the water.
What does this have to do with TWA?.......Well, at least one of those returning military passengers was on his way home to eventually apply for a job with our airline. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
AND, to give a tip of the hat to the MANY OUTSTANDING SHIP CAPTAINS in our world.
I guess they vary just like those who fly airplanes.
Randy Kramer
Posts: 892 | From: Encino, Ca. U.S.A.
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Jeff I.
Post Captain
Member # 2334
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posted
Thanks for sharing this, Captain Randy. Not only is it timely in re: the current news but .... serves to also remind us of the countless stories from the WWII years that never made it into the history books but were nonetheless harrowing and filled with many heroic efforts.
And ..... while TWA was clearly a beneficiary of this ship making it safely home ..... many individuals were also beneficiaries (and are grateful) that a certain young military passenger made it home safely!
Jeff I.
Posts: 482 | From: New York
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Roger Moore
Post Captain
Member # 2204
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posted
Randy, I remember in 1968 or 1969 seeing an Alitalia DC 8 with it"s tail broken off at JFK. The DC 8 could put the inboard engines in reverse in flight to initiate a rapid descent, but not below 10,000 feet. Well I guess Capt Luigi (not his real name) was a little high coming in on the Canarsie and tried the reversers which resulted in the hard tail breaker landing. I do not know if he spilled the wine though. Makes you wonder about the Italian Captains though. Roger Moore
Posts: 151 | From: Wildwood,Mo
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mioguido
Post Captain
Member # 123
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posted
don't forget Captain Sully and the Hudson water landing....
Posts: 364 | From: CLE & The Space Coast
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extwacaptain
Prop Wash
Member # 381
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posted
Dan,
Not only did he make everyone in the industry proud.......He is probably the only pilot in the world with a seaplane rating "restricted to river LANDINGS ONLY.". ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Posts: 892 | From: Encino, Ca. U.S.A.
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