Thursday morning, March 2, 1939 I awoke aboard RMS Newfoundland, sailing home to St. John's from Halifax. Over 6 years I had made several of the 36-hour voyages to Halifax for orthodontic treatment. So at age 14 I was quite a seasoned traveler, unconcerned that a winter storm made this trip a rough, cold voyage with spray freezing where it hit the pitching, rolling ship. I looked forward to home, family, and solid ground. But as I saw the dim gleam of the sun coming thru my porthole I thought "Hey! Something's wrong!" My cabin was on the port side, and since we should then be sailing north, I should not see the rising sun. We were going south! Why? I hurridly dressed and discovered that we were responding to an SOS from S.S.Ranger, a 68-year old wooden three-mast sealing vessel. Enroute to the Gulf of St. Lawrence for the annual seal hunt she was taking on water from heavy seas washing over her. As her pumps clogged, rising water flooded the engine-room, stopped the engine, and put the ship in grave danger of foundering in the heavy seas. <br /> <br /> We steamed back around Cape Race, and off the Burin peninsula sighted the helpless Ranger. Until we got close, we could see her only when both ships crested on the massive waves. The men aboard Ranger had been without any heat for a day and water was rising faster than their bucket brigade could overcome. Ranger's Captain Badcock, reluctant to abandon ship was glad when Newfoundland's Captain Murphy offered a tow to shelter. A line was fired by rocket to the Ranger, the sealers hauled in and made fast a heavy cable, and the tow began. But very soon, huge seas, rising between the vessels forced them apart and the heavy cable snapped, dashing hopes of a tow.<br /> <br /> Newfoundland's Captain Murphy was determined to save the men aboard Ranger, and decided upon a risky attempt. Maneuvering close to the Ranger - so close that the Ranger's bowsprit broke off on the Newfoundland's side - he had a lifeboat lowered with a crew to row to the Ranger. That was an astounding feat of seamanship and boat-handling. Suspended from the davits, the crew in the boat waited until the roll of the ship and a rising wave lifted the boat so they could let go and push off into the huge seas. Led by Chief Officer Roland Handley, and given some lee by the Newfoundland, they rowed close by the stern of the bucking Ranger. Eighteen men bravely jumped from the ship into the boat. I watched those men climb a rope ladder from the boat to safety and warmth aboard the Newfoundland. Wet, frozen, hands bleeding, and yet all smiles as they climbed. The boat crew made another valiant attempt but wind and waves were too strong and they could not again reach the Ranger. By another feat of seamanship, the lifeboat and its crew were brought safely back aboard the Newfoundland.<br /> <br /> News now came that S.S. Imogene, Bowrings' new powerful steel-hull sealing ship was coming to help. When she arrived, she successfully floated a heavier line downwind on a barrel to the Ranger. While the Newfoundland made some lee, a tow started and succeeded in getting the Ranger safely into the protected waters of Trepassy Bay. Since all was well, the Newfoundland made for St. John's.<br /> <br /> When my parents awoke on Thursday morning, Dad reached for the bedside phone to ask Bowrings when the Newfoundland would be docking. As Dad asked, Mother eagerly awaited the answer. Imagine her horror when Dad, on hearing of the Ranger's plight, suddenly sat bolt upright exclaiming "Sinking?" making her think that the Newfoundland and her John-boy were on the way to Davy Jones' locker. <br /> <br /> As we docked late Saturday morning a crowd waited on the pier, including reporters eager to speak to all on board. Interviewing Captain Murphy, they hoped to elicit a tale of raging tempest, danger, hardship and heroism. But neither he nor first-officer Handley would admit to anything beyond "All in the day's work". When they asked me, I told how awed I had been by the skill of Captain and crew, the courage and seamanship of the boat crew, and the forbearance of the men of the Ranger. I shall never forget what I saw, heard and felt.<br /> <br /> Meanwhile in Trepassy Bay, repairs were made to Ranger, and she and Imogene steamed to St. John's, arriving late Saturday night. On Sunday, Dad, my sister and I visited both ships at the Bowring Brothers South-side berth. Seeing the quiet, vacated Ranger it was hard to imagine how she had been tossed about by the storm, and the freezing ordeal experienced by the 150 men on that crowded ship. <br />   Submitted By: John Williamson