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Captain Carlsen
& the 'Flying Enterprise' complied
by Leigh Bishop
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The History of the Flying Enterprise January 1952
Page 1 of 2
Schoolboy Diary |
Barbara F Dyer writes
| song for the time
| The first Man of 1952 was a Danish-born
sea captain named Henrik Kurt Carlsen Master of the Flying Enterprise.
As the New Year rolled in and the entire world watched, he fought
alone for the life of his ship the Flying Enterprise against
the fury of the treacherous January seas of the North Atlantic.
For almost two weeks he struggled to save the ship, but in the
end the Flying Enterprise went down. Residents of Woodbridge,
NJ where Carlsen had formerly lived in Alwat Street as well
as the entire world were thrilled with the courage displayed
by the brave Captain clinging to his ship in hope that it could
have been saved. Carlsen was finally forced to abandon her when
the list increased to a fatal degree on 10 January 1952, |
A triumphant Captain Carlsen |
| only about 40 miles away from Falmouth, England. The ordeal
of the Flying Enterprise and Captain Carlsen was worldwide news
at the time (the first BIG media event of 1952) and remains
one of the great stories of endurance and courage at sea. |
Flying Enterprise in 1950 |
Christmas day 1951 was rather different for the
crew of the Flying Enterprise as the ship headed out into the
Atlantic Ocean on route for the US through a turbulent sea.
By boxing day the merciless Atlantic had rose into what was
the beginning of one of the worst storms in history, as winds
rose to a hurricane force almost 70mph the Flying Enterprise
found herself in a location as bad as the breading ground of
the evil weather as that of Cape Horn. |
| On the bridge was a stubborn Captain Carlsen a Dane with as
much salt in his veins as there was blood, a Dane who was determined
to see the storm through and battle on whatever the odds. As
Boxing Day passed with it brought another mightier sea than
before rearing its ugly head somewhere out in the west and gathering
two or three smaller seas into its bulk on a path of destruction.
As Flying Enterprise battled through her groaning and creaking
met her fury and the storm began to change the ship into a crippled
hulk ready to be swallowed. A split had developed into her deck
and so she lay over on her beam-ends. As the ingredients gathered
for a major shipping disaster the world was little |
| aware of the circumstances Carlsen
and his crew were in. Newspapers ran with tales of tree falls
and land lines that had been disrupted and Flying Enterprise
was little more than a column in a mere footnote. Flying Enterprise
was forced by now to send an SOS however the storm had repeat
ably swallowed other vessels |
Listing heavily in the Atlantic |
and no existing tugs where available to run to
the scene of the Enterprise.This was the beginning of an epic
which would capture the imagination of the world to such an
extent that up-to-the-minute details of the fight would be broadcast
on American radios as well as literally sweeping the fronts
of newspapers globally. |
| The first ships to reach the SOS were the US transport vessel
General Greely and the U.S.S Southland, and as both ships closed
in remarkable seamanship rescued 35 passengers and crew including
women and children from aboard the ill-fated ship. Captain Carlsen
however declined to leave his ship while she was still afloat,
this was still his ship, his responsibility, his to command
and his to nurse and through a crisis as such his to decide
when all hope was gone. As the Greely stood by for another |
Carlsen is seen on the Std |
three days the hurricane tore away at the Flying
Enterprise, which now lay over at an alarming list? By now the
US Navy had dispatched the destroyer John W Weeks from Plymouth
to the scene as well as diverting the US transport ship Golden
Eagle to relieve the General Greely which had began to run low
on fuel. Commander Thompson Captain of the destroyer |
U.S.S General Greely |
| on route slammed his vessel into the high seas to a point,
which slightly shocked the crew and officers aboard, for seasons
of one or another his orders were of significant importance?
With Thompson & the John W weeks now on site the deadly
dance of the destroyer and the Flying Enterprise against the
huge seas began as Thompson was determined to aid Carlsen with
food and supplies. To the experienced salvage and towage team
it was just a matter of time before Flying Enterprise would
take her final dive. The destroyer would be on hand to rescue
Kurt Carlsen and the world would admire the skill and seamanship
before moving onto the next current affair. As the weather moderated
Flying Enterprise remained afloat changing the mind of the experienced
commercial & salvage world. From somewhere she had got a
reserve of bouancy- and a spiritual pugnacity-, which were now
keeping her afloat as well as the interest in her around the
globe. Carlsen now living with life at 60 degrees was tiring,
his energy drained and in great need of assistance. |
2nd officer Harry Davis of the Turmoil fires
a line across to the Flying Enterprise Enterprise.
|
As 1951 came to a close the crowds in Glasgow
and London joined hands singing the old out and the new in,
a few hundred miles to the west a Homeric fight was to begin
and the arena was beginning to clear. The nearest visualised
tug to the incident was now involved in trouble and another
by the name of Turmoil was making her way into Falmouth with
the stricken Mactra another victim of the storm in question.
So as Flying Enterprise wallowed and drifted Turmoil completed
one job lay in port until daylight before making way to Flying
Enterprise. |
| Twelve precious hours had passed by, twelve hours for which
Captain Carlsen & Dan Parker of the Turmoil would later
have bartered at least a fragment of their immortal souls. Turmoil
sailed for the Flying Enterprise on 2nd Jan 1952 and as far
as Fleet St and its newspapers was concerned the ships company
and passengers had been rescued, and as the ship lay on her
beam ends the fate of her Captain was not known. In short amongst
rumours nobody quite new where he was other than of course those
in the amidst of the drama that was unfolding out in the Atlantic.
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