Glorious Smash

Sixty miles off Gibraltar on a dead calm day last week, several British ships of war were maneuvering, a grand sight for passengers on the sleek, two-funneled French steamer Florida, homing from South America.

In the doorway of his swank deck cabin Don Victor Baross, consul for Uruguay at Malaga, Spain, stood watching the naval show. He spotted H. M. S. Glorious, one of the fastest aircraft carriers in the world. He noticed that this mother ship was calling back to her broad deck a zipping brood of "Flycatcher" combat planes. As the planes buzzed nearer a light haze in the air became denser, turning rapidly into fog.

To make it easier for the "Flycatchers" to land, Capt. Dashwood Fowler Moir of the Glorious ordered her to steam full speed. No layman knows how fast that is--an admiralty secret. Shallow in draught, fitted with turbines of titanic power, the Glorious leaped ahead last week at 25 knots, 30, perhaps 35. Thundering forward with great bow waves, she hurtled through the haze. Suddenly-- CRASH! Amid a roar of tearing metal and the screams of hundreds of passengers. H. M. S. Glorious plowed her sharp cruiser prow through the side plates of the French Florida.

(In the same vicinity H. M. S. Nelson collided fortnight ago with the British freighter West Wales.)

The crew of the Glorious proceeded in businesslike fashion to liquidate the smash. Boats were lowered. One picked up the Uruguayan consul, flung by the shock from his cabin doorway over the rail and into the sea. A strong swimmer. Don Victor Baross had fared better than eight other passengers, who drowned.

In all 32 people lost their lives. Steerage passengers grouped on the foredeck of the Florida, were squashed to death under crates of bananas and other merchandise flung upon them by the impact.

With two great gashes in her hull just above the water line the Florida would certainly have foundered had there been waves, but the sea remained mercifully calm. The British sailors helped the French crew to fashion huge emergency patches out of mattresses and blankets. When all seemed fairly tight the 18,000-ton Glorious threw a line to the 9,331-ton Florida towed her to Malaga stern first. Only slightly damaged herself, the Glorious then steamed for Gibraltar and repairs.

Meantime, 21 "Flycatchers" which had been unable to alight on the Glorious before the collision were ordered by radio to fly to land. Only 17 reached the airport at Malaga. The other four, running out of gasoline, fell into the sea, had to be fished out by destroyers.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.