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 SKIPPER OF THE SS MADAWASKA
BY ED TOLES
US WAR CORRESPONDENT
Contrary to popular opinion, Captains of ocean plying vessels are not a11 grizzled
old salts with long beards or stern disciplinarians like
Captain Bligh of
"Mutiny on the Bounty." The Master of S.S. Madawaska is neither
grizzled
nor stern but you recognize immediately that his voice is that
of the Master of the Ship.
Owner of that commanding voice is young handsome, pleasant
Captain , 37, of Baltimore, Md. A veteran of
22 years at sea, he began his sea career as a 1ad of 15, shipping
on as an ordinary sailor. Energetic, studious, and extremely ambitious,
he studied navigation while sailing in the fos'cle. His
concerted efforts towards achieving being master
of his own vessel resulted in his receiving his Master's license at the
age of 24, Thirteen years later finds him
the eighth ranking skipper of the Bull Lines.
His intrepid career is marked with many adventurous episodes which he
calmly relates but the very names of the places and the dates
sailed
by him during the 1ast six years are studded with harrowing near suicide
feats. Murmansk, Russia's only year round port which was not ice bound had
still the Nazi U-boat menace to be countered with.
Captain Tausendschoen sailed this perilous run for over a year.
An illustration of his zest for duty occurred during a rea1 crisis in
the Captain's career just off the coast of Cuba when his
ship was torpedoed.
Last to leave the ship,
the Captain inspected the crew member's rooms before seeing his ship go down to Davy
Jones locker.
For more than a year now he has been sailing the hazardous
United Kingdom Atlantic run and his last trip
to the Pacific was Master of a troopship, The Cape Henlopin, when he made two trips to
Manila,
in the Philippines.
Known to be a "right guy" by all the crew, he is said to be
able to hold his own, his
and the crew's also, when sufficiently aroused and that
occasionally he sleeps through breakfast. But seeing that the latter
is what every GI aboard is destined for come next Thursday or
as soon
thereafter as discharges are reasonably possible, he has 1,986 ardent supporters
aboard.
[see details of Capt Tausendschoen's
unfortunate death] |
GENERAL MARSHALL:
The Chief of Staff announced today that the Army hoped to have
all men with a VE day score of 80 points or over on the
high seas by the end of October. He said further that a11 men with over 36 points are
now except from overseas duty.
PATTON OFF CARPET WITH A SMILE:
General Patton emerged from "Ikes" carpet with a smile.
"The Conference" he said, was little more than a
report on progress in Bavaria. General Eisenhower had no comments
for the press.
REENLISTMENT:
The War Department announced yesterday that there have been
1,000 men s day reenlisting since September 1. The real recruiting drive
has not yet started however.
The Army expects to have a professional Army of 1,600,000
men recruited by next July.
S.O.S.
The Service of Supply has announced that
there will be no large scale retail sale of surplus army stocks in the ETO. The only exception to this will be
American soldiers
stil1 serving in Europe and ex-servicemen now in government employ in Europe.
PRESIDENT TRUMAN SHATTERS PRECEDENT:
At a press conference today, President Truman declared the
continental shelf of North America to be the property of the United States
of America. The continental shelf is that part of the ocean bed which is
an extension of the continent itself. On the Atlantic side, the shelf is
wide and shallow. At one place, there is a 150 square mile area which
is covered by less than 600 feet of water at its deepest
part. The shelf is rich in oil and mineral deposits
•• This annexation by the U.S. makes mince meat of the old 12 mile limit,
as well as extending the Monroe Doctrine. It also opens an era of exploitation
of natural resources that has long been a dream and is now a reality. Valuable
pioneer research was done in this
type of exploitation by
the Dow Chemical Company.
•• The President concluded his statement by announcing that the
German Navy
would be divided equally between Russia, Britain and the United States.
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