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Subscribe to RSSA ship that left New London, Conn., last Thursday en route to St. Petersburg, Fla., got caught in a dangerous Hurricane Sandy while 90 miles off Cape Hatteras. NBC's Lester Holt reports.
Updated at 11:43 p.m. ET: Searchers on Monday evening found the body of one of two missing crew members of the stricken ship HMS Bounty, which sank off the coast of North Carolina after it was caught in Hurricane Sandy, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
Claudene Christian, 42, was pulled from the water unresponsive and transported to Elizabeth City Hospital, the Coast Guard said. She was later pronounced dead. Crews continue searching for the remaining missing person, identified as the ill-fated ship's captain, Robin Walbridge, 63.
Earlier Monday, two Coast Guard helicopters rescued 14 people from life rafts after they were forced to abandon ship.
Coast Guard rescue pilot Lt. Jenny Fields told NBC News that the rescue operation was a "challenging hoist" but that she was lucky to have a "skillful crew" on her Jayhawk helicopter.
Fields said those rescued appeared in "good spirits" and were "happy to be able to relax."
Hurricane Sandy sunk a tall ship off the coast of Hatteras, N.C. The Coast Guard was able to rescue 14 people but two remain missing. Watch raw video of the rescue.
'It was huge out there'
Coast Guard rescue swimmer Randy Haba helped pluck several crew members off a 25-foot rubber life raft. He was also lowered to a crew member floating in the water alone. He wrapped a strap around his body, and raised him to the chopper.
"It's one of the biggest seas I've ever been in. It was huge out there," Haba told The Associated Press.
The two crew members who went missing were wearing survival suits designed to help keep them afloat and protected from cold waters for up to 15 hours.
The 180-foot, three-mast ship issued a distress signal late Sunday after taking on water, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a release.
The director of the HMS Bounty Organization, Tracie Simonin, said the ship -- which was built for the 1962 Marlon Brando movie, "Mutiny on the Bounty" -- had left Connecticut last week en route for St. Petersburg, Fla.
"They were staying in constant contact with the National Hurricane Center," she said. "They were trying to make it around the storm."
After receiving the distress signal, the Coast Guard sent out an aircraft to speak with the crew, which reported that the vessel was taking on water and had no propulsion.
The rescue took place in winds of 40 mph and 18-foot seas about 90 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C.
Jeff Haynes / AFP - Getty Images, file
The HMS Bounty, a replica used in the Marlon Brando movie "Mutiny on the Bounty," sails past the Chicago skyline in this image from July 2003.
Those rescued were taken to Elizabeth City, N.C. None had life-threatening injuries. The Coast Guard identified them as: Daniel Cleveland, 25; John Svendsen, 41; Matthew Sanders, 37; Adam Prokosh, 27; Douglas Faunt, 66; John Jones, 29; Drew Salapatek, 29; Joshua Scornavacchi, 25; Anna Sprague, 20; Mark Warner, 33; Christopher Barksdale, 56; Laura Groves, 28; Jessica Hewitt, 25; and Jessica Black, 34.
The vessel reportedly sank, but the mast was still visible, the Coast Guard said.
Anxious family members
Mary Ellen Sprague said she talked to her daughter, Anna Sprague, after the rescue. She said her daughter had been aboard the HMS Bounty since May. The ship was going to spend the winter in Galveston, Texas.
Sandy strengthens as it bears down on eastern US
"She was probably the youngest member of the crew," Mary Ellen Sprague told the AP.
She said she had not learned many details yet because her daughter, normally talkative and outgoing, was being uncharacteristically quiet.
Glimpse into maritime history
The Bounty makes frequent trips around the country, offering a glimpse into maritime history, according to the ship's website, which appeared to be down Monday. It was originally a British transport vessel, and the replica has appeared in several films, including the 2006 movie "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," with Johnny Depp. Its last stop before its winter hiatus in Galveston, Texas, was to be in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Nov. 10.
BreakingNews.com's coverage of Hurricane Sandy
It is unclear why the boat set out to sea with Sandy bearing down. Sandy could be the largest storm ever to hit the United States, according to NOAA's website.
The Associated Press and NBC News' Rachel Elbaum and Jim Miklaszewski contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
Maybe they were trying to recreate the scene of Captain Bligh's trip around Cape Horn.
I hope and pray that all can be rescued. God bless the brave people in the U.S. Coast Guard. What a loss to lose that ship.
"It is unclear why the boat set out to sea with Sandy bearing down."
Because it is INSURED......
Hmmmm. some people posting that the ship owner was out to collect insurance money may have a point. It's such a beautiful ship and I hope after all of the crew are safe someone is able to save it.
According to the latest, Bounty has sunk and at least two of the crew are missing. The rest are aboard Coast Guard vessels. A pity she was lost but hopefully the missing crew will be found okay.
I'm not familiar with these types of insurance policies, does it pay if you purposely sail your ship into a hurricane? I guess they can argue they weren't trying to sink it for the money, they wanted to ride the storm for the glory.
This idiotic venture put lives at risk. If the crew wanted to go for a sail in a hurricane, fine, but they involved the Coast Guard risking their lives for this stupidity.
Someone made a huge mistake here. If I were the insurance company I would certainly investigate this. It seems human error is the cause. Why put a ship anywhere near a hurricane? Either the owner or the captain is an idiot.
Insurance Fraud. The ship should have been moved no more then 2 miles offshore. To move it 90 miles southeast of Hatteras, N.C. they definitively want this ship never to be found. INSURANCE FRAUD.
I hope that everyone has their emergency Hurricane Kits ready. Also make sure you know where your important papers are and if you have to evaculate take them with you. Have batteries and a weather radio, flashlights, blankets, and a way to call. If you leave, put a note in a plastic bag, seal it and attached securely to your front door. This way emergency crews will not have to break into your home to see if your are deceased. Make sure that you know where everyone is in your family.
One thing people on along the Eastern coast have that most people in the south don't is upstairs and attics. Move your electronics upstairs and not in the attic. Cover them with plastic. Trust me, you'll be happy. Also have enough water and non perishable can goods to last a week. This might be a good time to start being cherishable in a sense of letting homeless people stay and people who live in mobile homes if you live in a house 100 miles inland. It is not going to be the surge that kills so many people, but what goes on inland.
The reason all you people only heard about the Mississippi Gulf Coat and New Orleans after Katrina was that there was no way to get into interior Southeast Mississippi. From the Mississippi Gulf coast to near Columbus, MS and from New Orleans to Greenville, MS the interior , especially the Southeastern side looked like someone had bombed the whole area. It looked like a war zone and it was days before we had help. Some people had no electricity for over a month after. By chance, I had signed a former construction temporary service company up on the American Red Cross for this type of purpose and was able to use this to get man power to Southeastern Mississippi. If you were a volunteer construction worker who came, I want to personally thank you. Mississippi couldn't have started we building if it wasn't for your help.
I am praying for all of you.
And about this article: Who sails a ship like that in a storm? There was a reason so many ships like this was lost at sea? They were not storm worthy ships and they certainly did not have the same equipment as today's vessels do, which are heavier.
Could this crew really be that stupid?
The storm was projected to hit well north of where the ship was. Accounting for how long the ship has been operating maybe all you junior investigators should know all the facts before you hang the captain and crew.
More to the point, those people in the helicopter going to rescue them have friends and families. What the hell were the crew thinking, putting themselves and the ship in jeopardy, and endangering the valiant professionals now being called upon to rescue them? It's not like this is a sudden squall that has taken everyone by surprise! The warnings have been there for a week at least. So selfish!
anything to try and sesationalize the story for the sheeple.
This is going to turn out to be the most retarded comment of the day.
You can bet this rescue will be on one of the Coast Guard TV series programs. Good luck to the USCG and the 17 passengers.
Darwinism should have been allowed to take its course. These people are simply too stupid to be allowed to live via artificial means like Coast Guard rescue.
In the end I hope the survivors are charged for every penny of taxpayer's dollars that were spent on their idiocy.
Darwinism should have been allowed to run its course. These people are just too stupid to be kept alive via artificial means like Coast Guard rescue.
In any case I hope they have to repay every penny of taxpayer dollars that were spent on their idiocy.
what a shame to loose such a boat,,,,what were they doing out there,,,,surely the had enough warning...
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It would have been insurance fraud. Since somebody died, it would now be murder.
A bunch of fair weather sailors on a replica aren't a seasoned crew that's been running storms their whole lives. Even if insurance wasn't the motive, the stupidity of going into that storm is well past the point of being criminal.
My cousin she was on this ship and still waiting to hear if she is safe. As for them being out there and all the bad comments you need to know the facts before talking trash. Just pray for the ones still missing and the families.
You're a liar. In any case, everyone on that boat was a fool. Fools get what they deserve when they voluntarily take boats out into hurricanes.
I hope your "cousin" is safe...and I hope those still missing are found safe...and I hope those conducting this rescue and their famililies don't pay the price for the "FACT" that everybody on that ship was/is stupid
B2, you deserve to get cancer for being such an ass.
You can dish it out, but can you take it?
Ooooohhhhhh! You're so harsh!!
If I smoked then yes, I would deserve to get cancer. If I play in trafic then yes, I'd deserve to get run over. And if I chose to get on a sailboat and take it out into a hurricane then I'd deserve to be fish-food at the bottom of the ocean.
Probably intentional to collect the insurance money.
All of you armchair critics should just shut up. I've been a bluewater sailor all my life and will say that I'd have been leery of taking such a vessel to sea in those conditions but it's the captain's decision and no-one else. If they lost power then I imagine they did everything possible before abandoning ship. As it is the ship has sunk and apparently there are at least two crew members missing. So why don't you keep your trash talk and criticism to yourselves and have a little sympathy at least. You weren't there...you don't know what transpired.
Putting this ship into this situation is criminal. I can not believe her captain would do such a dangerously foolish thing. If he survives this he should be prosecuted for endangering his ship, crew, and the rescue team.
Amen to that!
It's an understatement to call this a bad decision on the Captain's part. Even if the ship had a better chance at sea, the crew did not. Lives first, then the ship. This is the 21st Century.