A.J. McCarthy, vice president in charge of operations of the United States Lines, said last night at his home that he was surprised to hear the report that the freighter City of Flint had been seized by an armed raider and taken into Kola Bay, north of Murmansk, Russia, with a German crew on board.
He said the City of Flint, which left New York on Oct. 3 for Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow, had no passengers on board. Mr. McCarthy said he had received no news concerning the fate of the City of Flint, since she was reported in the Maritime Register to have arrived in Manchester, England, Oct. 15.
What is the Maritime Register? The Flint was seized on October 9. The prize crew took her first to Tromso, Norway, arriving on October 20. I doubt the German prize crew stopped in Manchester for provisions.
*In political circles it was held that such a capture would give no aid to supporters of the Administration’s Neutrality Bill, which would ban United States vessels from sailing to European ports and thus eliminate the danger of conflict arising from such seizures.
Maybe that is why it took two weeks and a day for this story to find its way into print. The Flint was seized on October 9 and it is a five-column page one headline on the 24th.
. . . the cargo of the City of Flint comprised more than fifty separate items “typical of her usual cargo on this run.” The statement added:
”The list included lard, cereals, canned meats, flour, canned goods, apples, wax, lubricating oil, cotton, sewing machines, plows, asphalt, pitch, grease, shade rollers, machinery, silk commercial chemicals, abrasive grains, disinfectants, feathers, coffee, lumber, gauze, hair and wall board. The total cargo amounted to approximately 5,000 tons.”
According to aab’s reply #7 on the thread linked below, the Flint held 4,000 tons of lubricating oil – 80% of the cargo.