In 1950
Brainerd Victory was sold to
Pope & Talbot, Inc. of
San Francisco and renamed '
SS P&T Voyager
. In March 1962 she was sold to Sumner A. Long of New York City and renamed SS Smith Voyager''''', and was operated by the Anne Quinn Corporation. The
Smith Voyager on Dec. 20, 1964 was loaded with a cargo of $500,000 worth of grain. The load shifted violently about 780 miles South East of
Bermuda in the
Atlantic Ocean. The shifted load caused a crack in the hull and she took on water. The
foundering ship developed a heavy starboard
angle of list. The sea was rough with waves 20 to 30 feet high as she steamed to
India. Due to fear of sinking, her crew abandoned the
Smith Voyager at 1:20 pm; the captain and three crew members stayed on board. The other crew members abandoned ship into her lifeboats and shot out red
distress flares. Due to the rough sea, the 26-foot-long lifeboats capsized and four members of the crew drowned. The
USCGC Rockaway steamed to help the crew. The 533-foot German freighter M.V.
Mathilde Bolton also came to her aid.
U.S. Coast Guard aircraft from Bermuda and
Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and
United States Air Force aircraft from the 55th Air Rescue Squadron flew rescue missions. They dropped
survival equipment to the crew. On Dec. 25, 1964, the
Smith Voyager was in tow by the British salvage tug
Marinla to be saved, but on the trip she sank by the stern on Dec. 27, 1964 at 28.30 N 50.48 W, about 850 miles from Bermuda. The captain and three crew members boarded the tug and were saved. A US
district court found that the
Smith Voyager was not
seaworthy. The
Smith Voyager was overloaded with grain when she departed
Freeport, Texas. The court found evidence that the steam evaporators and boilers were not working correctly. Also there was a leak in the rudder stock gland, thus sea water was leaking into the steering room and was draining into the
bilge. ==See also==