November 20, 1962
Local Man May Be On Missing Scalloper
New Bedford officials have not given up hope
for the missing Midnight Sun, last heard from just before the
storm that swept in on November 15th. The fierce Atlantic storm may have driven the
two year old wooden hulled vessel far to the south of the George's Bank scallop
grounds. Coast Guard Search and Rescue officials said in Boston this morning two
aircraft from the Salem Winter Island base and two long-range Navy aircraft from
Brunswick, Maine, were scouring the ocean, with the center of the search then due east of
Norfolk, Va. Weather conditions in the area were reported to be calmer today.
Ten to 12 foot swells from the northeast, 25 knot northwest winds and visibility of 10
miles was the latest Coast Guard report. But another storm may be brewing in the
area.
Wednesday night, at the height of the storm,
the Coast Guard reported 40 to 60 foot seas and 60 to 80 knot winds. aircraft
reported being hit by spray at 400 feet. The ferocity of last week's storm was
vividly described by the Coast Guard spokesman, who reported the Gloucester-based cutter
General Green was on a search patrol off the Rhode Island coast and was blown "half
way to Bermuda before she was through."
Lost on the Midnight Sun were:
Captain Magne Risdal
Olav Ferkingstad
Jans Ferkingstad Brothers
August Larsen
Torgils Holmen
Osjborn Pedersen
Sam Lund
Gorden Kallestein
Jon Niisen
Arne Lindanger
John W. Wagner, of Gloucester
Wagner's father was lost at
sea at the age of 38 on the Independence II, and his
nephew-in-law, Joseph Parisi, was lost just last month from the St. Stephen. Wagner, 36, was the
father of six children.
The Midnight Sun was build in Maine April 9
1960 at a cost of $75,000.
A memorial service was held at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Fairhaven on November 29
1962 for the 11 man crew. |
