UW grad helps rescue crew of stricken HMS Bounty
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SEATTLE -- A University of Washington graduate helped fly a Coast Guard helicopter that rescued some of the crew of the HMS Bounty, which went down in heavy seas whipped by Hurricane Sandy on Monday.
Coast Guard Lt. Jane Peña was co-piloting one of the helicopters as they flew through heavy rain and 50-knot winds above waves that up to 30 feet high.
"It certainly wasn't anything that I had seen before," said Peña, a Pierce County native. "It was very challenging conditions all around."
By the time the first rescue helicopter arrived, all that was visible of the replica 18th-century sailing vessel was a strobe light atop the mighty ship's submerged masts. The roiling Atlantic Ocean had claimed the rest.
"I've been told by people that have been around longer than me that this was probably about as bad as it will get, with so many people in the water and such extreme weather conditions," said Peña, who joined the Coast Guard several years ago and has been flying for just over a year.
"Your training really takes over," she said. "You really try to do one thing at a time. If you try to worry about everybody all at once or get a head of yourself, things can go wrong at that point."
Peña's helicopter crew rescued four crewmembers from the ship that were in a lifeboat and another that was adrift in the sea before they had to turn back to refuel.
"My crew did an amazing job. They were all just professionals through and through," she said.
Other coast guard crews rescued nine other people who'd abandoned the stricken ship.
When the Bounty set sail last week, the captain running the ship made famous in Hollywood adventure films believed he could navigate around Hurricane Sandy and weather the storm. After two days in rough seas, he realized his journey would be far more difficult.
"I think we are going to be into this for several days," Robin Walbridge said in a message posted Sunday on the vessel's Facebook site, which reads like a ship's log of her activities. "We are just going to keep trying to go fast."
By Monday morning, the vessel had started taking on water, its engines failed and the crew of the stately craft had to abandon ship as it went down in the immense waves. One crew member died and Walbridge was still missing.
Most of the sailors were plucked from life rafts shortly after the ship went down, but Claudene Christian was found hours later, unresponsive and floating in the water. She was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital, Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class David Weydert said.
The rest of the crew was in good condition.
The final hours of the HMS Bounty, as it was officially named, were as dramatic as the movies she starred in.
"When a crew decides it's safer in an inflatable than it is on deck, then you know she's in peril," said Bill Foster, mayor of St. Petersburg, Fla., a frequent winter port for the ship and where it had been expected to arrive in November.
The ship was originally built for the 1962 film "Mutiny on the Bounty" starring Marlon Brando, and it was featured in several other films over the years, including one of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies.
Rochelle Smith, 44, met Christian this summer when they sailed the HMS Bounty in Nova Scotia.
"She loved the Bounty. She absolutely loved it. She was so happy to be on it and doing something that she found that she loved to do," said Smith, a medical transcriptionist who lives in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
The vessel left Connecticut on Thursday with a crew of 11 men and five women, ranging in age from 20 to 66. Everyone aboard knew the journey could be treacherous.
"This will be a tough voyage for Bounty," read a posting on the ship's Facebook page that showed a map of its coordinates and satellite images of the storm. Photos showed the majestic vessel plying deep blue waters and the crew working in the rigging or keeping watch on the wood-planked deck.
As Sandy's massive size became more apparent, a post on Saturday tried to soothe any worried supporters: "Rest assured that the Bounty is safe and in very capable hands. Bounty's current voyage is a calculated decision ... NOT AT ALL ... irresponsible or with a lack of foresight as some have suggested. The fact of the matter is ... A SHIP IS SAFER AT SEA THAN IN PORT!"
But as the storm gathered strength, the Facebook posts grew grimmer. By mid-morning Monday, the last update was short and ominous: "Please bear with us ... There are so many conflicting stories going on now. We are waiting for some confirmation."
Tracie Simonin, director of the HMS Bounty Organization, said the ship tried to stay clear of Sandy's power.
"It was something that we and the captain of the ship were aware of," Simonin said.
Coast Guard video of the rescue showed crew members being loaded one by one into a basket before the basket was hoisted into the helicopter.
When they returned to the mainland, some were wrapped in blankets, still wearing the blazing red survival suits they put on to stay warm in the chilly waters.
"It's one of the biggest seas I've ever been in. It was huge out there," said Coast Guard rescue swimmer Randy Haba, who helped pluck four crew members off one of the canopied life rafts and a fifth who was bobbing alone in the waves.
The survivors received medical attention and were to be interviewed for a Coast Guard investigation. The Coast Guard did not make them available to reporters.
Gary Farber was watching crewman Doug Faunt's house while his friend sailed. He hasn't heard from Faunt directly, but made sure he relayed Faunt's Facebook postings he made as the ship went down, including "The ship sank beneath us, but we swam free and mostly got into two rafts."
"Doug is a jack-of-all-trades, but I am surprised he was able to get his cellphone and send messages as the ship went down," Farber said by telephone of his friend.
The mother of another crew member, 20-year-old Anna Sprague, said her daughter had been aboard the Bounty since May.
Mary Ellen Sprague, of Savannah, Ga., said she had spoken with her daughter twice but didn't know many details because her daughter, normally talkative and outgoing, was being uncharacteristically quiet.
"She's very upset," Sprague said by telephone.
The crew was eager to return to St. Petersburg - and to calmer waters.
"I know they were very much looking forward to being here," said Carol Everson, general manager of the pier where the vessel docks. "They were very excited about coming down."
The Bounty's captain was from St. Petersburg, she said.
Wallbridge learned to sail at age 10, according to his biography on the Bounty's website. Prior to the Bounty, he served as first mate on the H.M.S. Rose - the Bounty's sister ship.
"The ship was almost like his home," said Smith, who met Walbridge in 2010 when she sailed the Bounty. "That's where he spent most of his time was aboard the ship. He was so full of history and so interesting to talk to. And he knew his sailing stuff."
Coast Guard Lt. Jane Peña was co-piloting one of the helicopters as they flew through heavy rain and 50-knot winds above waves that up to 30 feet high.
"It certainly wasn't anything that I had seen before," said Peña, a Pierce County native. "It was very challenging conditions all around."
By the time the first rescue helicopter arrived, all that was visible of the replica 18th-century sailing vessel was a strobe light atop the mighty ship's submerged masts. The roiling Atlantic Ocean had claimed the rest.
"I've been told by people that have been around longer than me that this was probably about as bad as it will get, with so many people in the water and such extreme weather conditions," said Peña, who joined the Coast Guard several years ago and has been flying for just over a year.
"Your training really takes over," she said. "You really try to do one thing at a time. If you try to worry about everybody all at once or get a head of yourself, things can go wrong at that point."
Peña's helicopter crew rescued four crewmembers from the ship that were in a lifeboat and another that was adrift in the sea before they had to turn back to refuel.
"My crew did an amazing job. They were all just professionals through and through," she said.
Other coast guard crews rescued nine other people who'd abandoned the stricken ship.
When the Bounty set sail last week, the captain running the ship made famous in Hollywood adventure films believed he could navigate around Hurricane Sandy and weather the storm. After two days in rough seas, he realized his journey would be far more difficult.
"I think we are going to be into this for several days," Robin Walbridge said in a message posted Sunday on the vessel's Facebook site, which reads like a ship's log of her activities. "We are just going to keep trying to go fast."
By Monday morning, the vessel had started taking on water, its engines failed and the crew of the stately craft had to abandon ship as it went down in the immense waves. One crew member died and Walbridge was still missing.
Most of the sailors were plucked from life rafts shortly after the ship went down, but Claudene Christian was found hours later, unresponsive and floating in the water. She was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital, Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class David Weydert said.
The rest of the crew was in good condition.
The final hours of the HMS Bounty, as it was officially named, were as dramatic as the movies she starred in.
"When a crew decides it's safer in an inflatable than it is on deck, then you know she's in peril," said Bill Foster, mayor of St. Petersburg, Fla., a frequent winter port for the ship and where it had been expected to arrive in November.
The ship was originally built for the 1962 film "Mutiny on the Bounty" starring Marlon Brando, and it was featured in several other films over the years, including one of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies.
Rochelle Smith, 44, met Christian this summer when they sailed the HMS Bounty in Nova Scotia.
"She loved the Bounty. She absolutely loved it. She was so happy to be on it and doing something that she found that she loved to do," said Smith, a medical transcriptionist who lives in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
The vessel left Connecticut on Thursday with a crew of 11 men and five women, ranging in age from 20 to 66. Everyone aboard knew the journey could be treacherous.
"This will be a tough voyage for Bounty," read a posting on the ship's Facebook page that showed a map of its coordinates and satellite images of the storm. Photos showed the majestic vessel plying deep blue waters and the crew working in the rigging or keeping watch on the wood-planked deck.
As Sandy's massive size became more apparent, a post on Saturday tried to soothe any worried supporters: "Rest assured that the Bounty is safe and in very capable hands. Bounty's current voyage is a calculated decision ... NOT AT ALL ... irresponsible or with a lack of foresight as some have suggested. The fact of the matter is ... A SHIP IS SAFER AT SEA THAN IN PORT!"
But as the storm gathered strength, the Facebook posts grew grimmer. By mid-morning Monday, the last update was short and ominous: "Please bear with us ... There are so many conflicting stories going on now. We are waiting for some confirmation."
Tracie Simonin, director of the HMS Bounty Organization, said the ship tried to stay clear of Sandy's power.
"It was something that we and the captain of the ship were aware of," Simonin said.
Coast Guard video of the rescue showed crew members being loaded one by one into a basket before the basket was hoisted into the helicopter.
When they returned to the mainland, some were wrapped in blankets, still wearing the blazing red survival suits they put on to stay warm in the chilly waters.
"It's one of the biggest seas I've ever been in. It was huge out there," said Coast Guard rescue swimmer Randy Haba, who helped pluck four crew members off one of the canopied life rafts and a fifth who was bobbing alone in the waves.
The survivors received medical attention and were to be interviewed for a Coast Guard investigation. The Coast Guard did not make them available to reporters.
Gary Farber was watching crewman Doug Faunt's house while his friend sailed. He hasn't heard from Faunt directly, but made sure he relayed Faunt's Facebook postings he made as the ship went down, including "The ship sank beneath us, but we swam free and mostly got into two rafts."
"Doug is a jack-of-all-trades, but I am surprised he was able to get his cellphone and send messages as the ship went down," Farber said by telephone of his friend.
The mother of another crew member, 20-year-old Anna Sprague, said her daughter had been aboard the Bounty since May.
Mary Ellen Sprague, of Savannah, Ga., said she had spoken with her daughter twice but didn't know many details because her daughter, normally talkative and outgoing, was being uncharacteristically quiet.
"She's very upset," Sprague said by telephone.
The crew was eager to return to St. Petersburg - and to calmer waters.
"I know they were very much looking forward to being here," said Carol Everson, general manager of the pier where the vessel docks. "They were very excited about coming down."
The Bounty's captain was from St. Petersburg, she said.
Wallbridge learned to sail at age 10, according to his biography on the Bounty's website. Prior to the Bounty, he served as first mate on the H.M.S. Rose - the Bounty's sister ship.
"The ship was almost like his home," said Smith, who met Walbridge in 2010 when she sailed the Bounty. "That's where he spent most of his time was aboard the ship. He was so full of history and so interesting to talk to. And he knew his sailing stuff."
Man some people on here are so nice... bad things happen, I don't think the captain was stupid to decide to head out to the safety of open water... things just didn't go their way this time... it happens plain and simple.
@Freespeech Two people are dead, the captain being one of them, because the captin was a moron.
 @Freespeech Yea, after looking at some of the pictures of the harbors after Sandy hit she probably would not have been much better off.
First I am very sorry that two people lost their lives. This vessel should have stayed in port as it obviously could not outrun what had already been called a super storm. The bottom of the seas are littered with the wrecks of vessels like this one. This was one of those Darwin award trips. It had several disadvantages, primary being the masts and rigging. The windows, ports, doors, and hatches are designed to look authentic which would not be up to modern standards. In other words this ship was built as a movie prop. They took a movie prop to sea in the face of a storm after being warned it was going to be the worst in decades. I wish they had all returned safe, but then the ones who did, only returned because a Coast Guard crew risked their lived to bring them in.  Â
 @oldster70 No, if they would have left this ship in port chances are the mooring lines would have broken, and it would have been washed into the town.
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Any ship that can heads for deep water when the hurricanes come. Even the US Navy heads out if they can. Sitting moored in a harbor during a hurricane is practically a death sentence to a ship. So STFU about things you have no clue about
@SilverGryphon
OMG! I canât believe you even posted that. Let me explain it to you this way. The ship went down, and two people lost their lives. Now the ship could have had its lines broken and washed ashore while the crew sat high and dry tossing back some grog or such, or they could take a vessel which was not able to withstand this sort of storm out and get some of them killed, think about it.
@oldster70 Oh, and not to mention she was built using the same plans as the original HMS Bounty, the only changes were they made her bigger and added engines. It had all the Coast Guard licensing, and was a fully functioning sailing ship.
@oldster70 Let me explain it to you this way you moron. Not only could the ship have washed into town, it could have sank and released fuel into the water. It could be forced into other vessels nearby and caused those to break their mooring lines. Ships are a greater hazard and in more danger IN PORT during a hurricane than out at sea. Out at sea they have running room to stay away from other ships, rocks, etc. Out of all the ships that head to sea for a hurricane you almost never hear of one going down. For the Bounty something happened to cause her to take on water, which drown the engines. With out the engines, their only form of steering would be the masts and sails. Looking at the picture the sails were still rolled up, meaning once they lost the engines they were at the mercy of the waves, which most likely turned them broadside and totally swamped the ship. If they hadn't lost the engines, or if they would have had enough sail to keep her lined up with the waves, they wouldn't have lost the ship. The crew volunteered to go out knowing the risks, the Captain did the BEST thing possible by getting that ship out to sea. Now you ignorant old @#$#$% shut your trap about things you have no freaking clue about.
Sounds like she hit the bottom while in the trough of a large wave. She obviously sank in very shallow water since the masts can still be seen.
 @I Like Meat I read that the ship sank 90 miles off the coast, in deep water, but the mast remained visible for a time as air slowly escaped the hull of the ship, eventually allowing it to completely sink. I could be WAY off since this information is from last night but I hope you're right because a salvage would be fantastic!Â
Judging by the picture she was on her way down, but not completely there. The older wooden ships are more bouyant, which will keep them afloat a longer than a modern steel ship.
 @I Like Meat If she is resting on the bottom there (may be a pic from just before she went to the bottom) they might salvage her after all.
It was needless and senseless and those rescued because of knowing what they were getting into, should have to pay for the full rescue costs - not us taxpayers.  This is why America is broke - paying for the reckless people.
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AS Obama would have us believe - it was probably George Bush's fault.
 @sentryone Romney would get rid of FEMA.  Outsourcing rescues?  Really?  Â
 @sentryone another brilliant comment... would you want to try for Double Jeopardy...where the scores can really change....
 @sentryone ...probably the most insensitive, dumbest post ever, considering the tragedy and loss of life. You'd be yelling from the highest mountain if democrats were to ever politicize a tragedy such as this.
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We won't however... but we will brand you and the party you've become as uncaring opportunistic idiots. Â
 @sentryone So, you're advocating just letting people die when you think they took a risk you don't approve of? You'd prefer all those aboard that ship just drown?
@sentryone And you would have us believe it is Obama's fault.
What an idiot this captain is. Â Bad enough he probably paid for his bad judgement with his life, but he cost other people their lives and put a LOT of people in harm's way. Â Yeah, I know, he and the others died doing what they loved, but I bet if you gave them the choice again, they would chose MUCH differently.
 @Pathfinder Have you ever gone to the harbor when a major storm is coming in.. It is better to ride it out in the open water than surrounded by other small ships that could break loose and cause damage. The captain made a call and the crew went with it... ofcourse if you knew what was to happen you would change your mind... this is just bad luck plain and simple as there is only so much punishment an old style ship like this can take...
 @Pathfinder No, actually what the captain did is typical for larger ships when hurricanes roll in. A large ship like that gets hammered if they're pier side when the storm rolls in. The US Navy doesn't even ride out hurricanes in port if it can be helped, they haul out into deep water to ride out the storm. What this captain was trying to do was get the ship out to safety but the dice fell against him.
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Learn about what you're talking about before spewing utter nonsense.
Go out and play in a hurricane .............. this is all so stupid .............. beyond comment almost.
 @SEATTLITERON The stupidity lies on your shoulders for not knowing what the heck you're talking about.
 @SEATTLITERON They didn't go out and play in a hurricane. Learn to read.Â
"Doug is a jack-of-all-trades, but I am surprised he was able to get his cellphone and send messages as the ship went down," Farber said by telephone of his friend.
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Sickening. Maybe if he had ditched the phone, there would have been zero deaths. What a disgusting testament to peoples obsession with social media. Around him, a ship is sinking, people are in immediate perile and it is more important to send an FB update.
@TheBronze "The ship sank beneath us, but we swam free and mostly got into two rafts."
But when one looks at what was written, it is in the past tense so this may of been when they were in the life rafts.  Not really sure what one is supposed to do in 25+ foot waves other than save oneself. If one passes on an entry into a raft, they may never see that raft again and die themselves.Â
Wow...really?  If you thought you were about to die any moment, you wouldn't try to send out a final message or two to loved ones via whatever means you had?  I seriously doubt his cellphone use had any bearing on the situation. Get serious.
 @Shelly If I thought I was about to die, I would do everything I could NOT to die. Tweeting on my cell phone certainly doesn't come to mind as a life saving measure.
 @TheBronze  @ShellyÂ
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I think the tragedy had more to do with a hurricane than a tweet. Idiot.
@Shelly Bronze is right, I would think my family would want me to use every second to save others and myself first before even thinking of doing anything else.