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Seventy-four American
sailors were killed in the
collision between the two
ships, on June 3.
Admiral Crabb said that
following the earlier inci
dent it was ordered that no
ship be stationed within
3,000 yards of the Mel
bourne.
He testified also that be
cause of the incident he
had temporarily ordered
that escort destroyers for
the Melbourne be posi
tioned astern of the car
rier at dusk and left there
until dawn.
He did not say if that
order was in effect when
the Melbourne and the
Evans collided.
Admiral Crabb said that
when the SEATO fleet
sailed on the exercise from
Manila Bay late on May
30, he ordered the ships in
his group to show their
navigation lights dimly.
He said he repeated the
order for the following
night after an "occurrence"
during the early morning
hours of May 31. He did
not elaborate immediatcjy
on what he meant. He said
It was classified and should
be told to the board in
closed session.
However, under ques
tioning by the counsel for
the board he said the gt
currence "involved a near
collision . . _. the vessel
passing within 50ft of
Melbourne".
Visibility
2,000ft
Admiral Crabb said be
was awakened in his state
room in the Melbourne on
tHo morning of June 3
when it appeared there
was going to be a collision
with the Evans.
The sea was glassy
smooth and visibility was
2,000ft in the moonlit
darkness. He raced to the
Melbourne's bridge. "In
less than 10 seconds after
I got there, I watched
Melbourne's bows go
through", he said.
Admiral Crabb said he
was awakened at 3.12am
by his staff duty officer
and tpld the carrier and the
destroyer were on a col
lision course.
He said he rushed to his
flag bridge and. from a dis
tance of less than 40ft "I
saw the Evans quite
clearly. My feeling was
that it was twisted slightly
to starboard".
: The admiral said visi
bility was so clear "you
could see another ship
quite clearly. from 2,000
feet without binoculars.
"I heard two short
blasts, meaning the Mel
bourne was turning to port,
and heard pipe sounds
calling all hands to colli
sion ... I could see the
Evans moving from right
to left Li less than 10
seconds the Melbourne
plowed through . . .
"It was a ghastly sight".
Admiral Crabb said
"many brave deeds were
carried out" right after the
crash, as the task force im
mediately surrounded the
carrier and the destroyer.
He said sailors from the
Melbourne jumped 45 feeC
into the water to rescue
crewmen from the stricken
Evans.
Rear-Admiral Crabb Help
Rear-Admiral Crabb
Admiral Crabb said the
bow of the destroyer sank
"within five minutes . . .
went down so quickly it
was obvious a large num
ber of people were aboard
it".
Admiral Crabb described
the seas as "absolutely
calm, glassy calm ... it
was almost a god-send.
This lasted throughout the
rescue operations".
Half an hour later, after
making certain no one else
was on board, he gave the
order to cast off the still
floating portion of the
Evans because it was
feared the 200-foot-long
section would sink.
Admiral Crabb described
as "extraordinarily quick"
the response of the USS
Kearsage and other rescue
ships.
He said he directed all
the ships to summon their
doctors and "the Mel
bourne almost became the
rescue centre".
The admiral drew two
diagrams of the relative
positions of the two ves
sels before and at the point
of impact.
The first showed the
Evans approaching the
starboard (right) side of
the carrier almost at right
angles and the second posi
tioned the Evans right
under the Melbourne's
bow.
"I could not notice if the
Evans was carrying lights",
he said.
The board adjourned
after hearing Admiral
Crabb's evidence. Its mem
bers plan to inspect the
still-afloat rear section of
the Evans which was
towed into this big Ameri
can naval base at dawn to
day.
The board members will
then fly to Singapore to
inspect damage to the.
Melbourne.
The inquiry is expected
to last about three weeks.
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