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A City is Stunned by the Loss of her Pride |
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On the morning of May 19, 1986, the early morning quiet of the McGeady family home
in Severna Park was shattered by the insistent ringing of the telephone. The
caller was Joe McGeady who reported that he was calling from the deck of the
Norwegian tanker TORO approximately 250 north of Puerto Rico. Pride of
Baltimore
had been struck and sunk by a violent squall (what the US Coast Guard later called
a microburst squall) some four days earlier. The captain and three crew members
were missing and presumed dead.
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The word spread quickly - to the staff and Board of Pride, to the families of
survivors and those lost at sea, to the news media. In the following days as
reports came out, the residents of the City and State watched and prayed with
stunned disbelief as the details became known. During a dramatic news conference
with the recently rescued survivors at Glen L. Martin Airport a few days later, it
was confirmed that Pride of Baltimore had sunk on May 14, having capsized
in 80
mile per hour winds that developed suddenly and with no warning. The vessel had
been
struck and sunk so quickly that there had been no time to radio for help. Eight
crew members climbed into a five by five foot rubber life raft where they floated
helpless for four days and seven hours with little food or water. The captain and
three crew members did not emerge from the wreckage and were presumed lost.
Although the survivors saw six vessels during their ordeal, only the TORO spotted
them. That was at night - the ship saw an SOS signaled with a flashlight.
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Those lost were:
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Contact, Phone: 888-55-PRIDE. Email: Pride2@pride2.org