RESCUE TEAMS

The rescue effort involved hundred of ships, aircraft and rescue personnel. The following posts provide insight into that effort.

> The Swiss Rescue Ship MS Celerina > Fate was in the survivors’ favor as the Swiss merchant ship Celerina steamed to the rescue from its location some six hours away at the time of the ditching. The Celerina was transporting wheat at the time. It is quite a big ship. It is at least three times as long as the estimates made by several survivors.

> The Eyes and Ears of Rescue > It was an easy matter to completely miss this critical team. Nearly all of its activity was reported in the London Times and very few had access to that paper. The C-118 piloted by Captain Joseph Lewis followed Flying Tiger 923 to its ditching location and very soon after started dropping spotting flares. That crew followed the blowing raft for nearly five hours before it became too low on fuel to continue. Other aircraft had joined the search by then and started dropping flares. All of which were beautiful sights to those in the water.

> The Invisible Giant – The Bonaventure And there is the Canadian Air Craft Carrier, the Bonaventure, which we have dubbed the Invisible Giant. The crews from the carrier delivered medical supplies and badly needed provisions and opened its modern hospital facility on board to those most in need. The Bonaventure had a crew of 1,500. It always stayed at the ready a safe distance away from the Celerina and out of sight.

> 17 Airlifted to the Emerald Island > This story is as much about rescue teams working together for the welfare of the survivors as it is about the survivors who directly benefited. Many Irish workers still take pride in being a part of the air lift even to this day.

> Reminiscences and Complications of a Rescue at Sea > This is a report written in Italian by the Ship Captain and his mate for a maritime magazine. We translated it into English. It is a very interesting account by those on the

 >How did the rescue ship get its name? > Does “Celerina” have a meaning that might translate from contemporary languages? No. Try Latin and it translates into something like “swift one.” But that is not the source of the name. Read this story to see its origin.

> Who is in the Photo? > Several members of the crew of the Celerina are found in this photo, which was taken on the deck of the Celerina after the storm cleared.

> Video – Raging Seas of the North Atlantic >  This video is of the raging waters of the cold North Atlantic taken on the same day as the ditching. A Celerina crew man took it with his old fashioned, small-frame, 8-mm motion picture camera only 12 hours before the emergency. It shows some of the challenge rescuers and survivors faced that night and the two days that followed.

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The following articles are important to a better understanding of this and other indexed subjects:

> Not your typical airplane crash > If asked, most people say that there is no such thing as a “typical” airplane crash. There are a number of reasons why, however, Flying Tiger Flight 923 stands out as NOT typical at all.

> Going Down with FT923 > This is a list of all passengers and crew, dead, missing and surviving as reported in the New York Times of 24 September 1962.

> CAB Report Available for Free Download > This official report totals only 37 pages. Investigations didn’t go into as much detail as they do today. In any event, it is something and an important document to have.

> Flying Tiger Memorial begins at Galley Head > This recent pilgrimage (April 2012) included Irish first responders and two sea men, all of whom were there 50 years ago. The Galley Head light house was the rendezvous point for the rescue ship, the British helicopters and Cork first responders.

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> O’CARUSO > About Fred Caruso, the Irish O’Caruso and the developer,  editor and writer and  of this site. This article tells of his roll as a survivor and author of a book centered around the crash and its impact on his life. The book, Born Again Irish, tells how Flying Tiger 923 drove his life into a career of journalism and the adoption of Ireland as home.