to fear of sinking, her crew abandoned the Smith Voyager at 1:20 pm; the captain and three crew members stayed on board. The other crew members abandoned ship into her lifeboats and shot out red distress flares. Due to the rough sea, the 26-foot-long lifeboats capsized and four members of the crew drowned. The USCGC Rockaway steamed to help the crew. The 533-foot German freighter M.V. Mathilde Bolton also came to her aid. U.S. Coast Guard aircraft from Bermuda and Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and United States Air Force aircraft from the 55th Air Rescue Suadron flew rescue missions. They dropped survival equipment to the crew. On Dec. 25, 1964, the Smith Voyager was in tow by the British salvage tug Marinla to be saved, but on the trip she sank by the stern on Dec. 27, 1964 at 28.30 N 50.48 W, about 850 miles from Bermuda. The captain and three crew members boarded the tug and were saved. A US district court found that the Smith Voyager was not seaworthy. The Smith Voyager was overloaded with grain when she departed Freeport, Texas. The court found evidence that the steam evaporators and boilers were not working correctly. Also there was a leak in the rudder stock gland, thus sea water was leaking into the steering room and was draining into the bilge. See also List of Victory ships Liberty ship Type C1 ship Type C2 ship Type C3 ship References Sources Sawyer, L.A. and W.H. Mitchell. Victory ships and tankers: The history of the ‘Victory’ type cargo ships and of the tankers built in the United States of America during World War II, Cornell Maritime Press, 1974, 0-87033-182-5. United States Maritime Commission: Victory Cargo Ships Victory ships Ships built in Portland, Oregon Merchant ships of the United States 1945 ships World War II merchant ships of the United States Brainerd, Minnesota micropolitan area