Benwood (shipwreck)とは 意味・読み方・使い方

The Norwegian merchant freighter Benwood (360'x51') was under the command of Captain Torbjorn Skjelbred on the fateful night of April 9, 1942. She was on a routine voyage from Tampa Bay, Florida to Norfolk, Virginia carrying a load of phosphate rock. That same evening, the Robert C. Tuttle(544'x70') was traveling to Atreco, Texas, under the command of Captain Martin Johansen. Rumors of German U-boats in the area forced the two ships to travel completely blacked out, each keeping the Florida coastal lights three miles abeam(Benwood)and one and a half miles abeam(Robert C. Tuttle). It is reported that at 12:45 a.m. the Robert C. Tuttle sighted a black object ahead of the ship and turned starboard after signaling "I intend to turn starboard." with one blow of the ship's whistle. There was no response. At 12:50 a.m., the Benwood reported to have sighted a black object off her starboard. She sounded the ship's whistle twice indicating, "I intend to turn port." There was no response. It is believed that the two ships were now unwittingly on a collision course with each other. Just before the collision, Captain Skjelbred made last-minute efforts to avoid the Robert C. Tuttle by ordering the engine full astern (fastest reverse). Moments later,the bow of the Benwood punched into the Robert C. Tuttle just aft of the port side bow, above the waterline. This caused the bow of the Benwood collapsed upon itself. The Benwood began taking on water at a brisk rate. Captain Skjelbred turned hard for shore, attempting to save the ship by grounding, but some time between 1:10 and 2:00 a.m. was forced to abandon ship. The Benwood came to rest stern-to on a sandy slope in approximately 25 feet (7.6 m) to 45 feet (14 m) of water between Dixie Shoals (to the north) and French Reef (to the south) off of Key Largo, Florida.