Navy ship heads home without missing sailor

CNN ^ | 5/24/03

[Mr. Mojo]

HAMILTON, Bermuda (CNN) --The U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship USS Nassau headed home Saturday without one of its sailors, who fell overboard in what the ship's captain called a "freak accident."

Returning from a nine-month deployment to the Persian Gulf, Capt. Russell Tjepkema said, "This 24-hour period was the hardest 24-hour period of the entire deployment."

[SuziQ]

Oh man, that is just awful. You know the crew feels SO bad to have gone through their whole deployment and lose someone in such a inane way!

[strela]

The football, coat and smoke float were all found near where Williams had fallen over, but there was no sign of him.

Shark, probably. Or he panicked and forgot to remove his boondockers which might have pulled him under.

Sad.

[Mr. Mojo]

Indeed, a horrible story.

Considering that the rescue boat left within 5 minutes after the fall, I'm surprised they couldn't find him. The sailor should've disgarded his coveralls and boots immediately, and then either floated or tread water until they found him. But perhaps he did, and it's just terrible luck that they couldn't find him in the 2-3 hours they had to do so (before he froze).

[dandelion]

"Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!"

Father, we know this sailor is in Your hands. If there is hope, let him know it. If there is a chance, let him be saved. You are God, and you can do all things. We call on You now to save this man.

But should his earthly life be finished, then let his family know that You are with him still. In his last moments, his eyes looked up from the waves, and he saw You, strong to save; even as his body sank beneath the waves, his soul was lifted up in the arms of God. Let this sailor's family hear your voice and know that the God of wind and waves is also the God who holds their loved one safe at last.

[Mr. Mojo]

Shark, probably.

Always a possibility. Very fast work for a shark though. Usually it takes a while for them to find you.

[Mr. Mojo]

Amen

[HiTech RedNeck]

70 foot fall and he wasn't exactly prepared to dive. Could the impact with the water have broken his neck?

[Mr. Mojo]

He was seen waving his arms in the water. If he broke his neck he'd be hard-pressed to do that ....I think.

[strela]

Very fast work for a shark though. Usually it takes a while for them to find you.

Agree. But as fast as they called Oscar and had the air assets up looking for him, darned near anybody in reasonably good shape can tread water for 10 minutes in a relatively warm ocean. Wrong place, wrong time.

Prayers for the man's family.

[HiTech RedNeck]

I wonder how long it took for him to slip out of view. Why couldn't someone else just dive down with a rope, swim over to the man overboard, and attach it.

[Mr. Mojo]

Well, I believe those ships move at a pretty fast clip. ...And by the time they got someone ready to dive with the appropriate gear, it would've been too long a swim. Just a guess.

[HiTech RedNeck]

They need lifeguards :-) :-(

[piasa]

fyi

[Restorer]

Adds a whole new meaning to: "I'm going long."

[dts32041]

Heck of plenty for going out of bounds.

[farmfriend]

Prayers for the fallen.

[SAMWolf]

Dwayne Williams, USN

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

May God Welcome him Home and comfort his family and friends.