There is much to be said about being at the right place at the
right time or is it the wrong place at the wrong time. This is a time when we
discover what we’re made of. Some of us crater at a time of crisis and
others put on our boots and start walking and just take care of business. Addley Baker was no different He was 27 years old, newly married, and
working on the SS Tarpon, which hauled supplies up and down the Florida
coastline under the command of Captain W G Barrow. The year was 1937 and he
was working to support his new wife and build a family and a home. His job on the SS Tarpon was oiler.
While at sea 20
miles out, the weather turned bad and a storm was brewing. Speculation was that the cargo shifted in the storm, causing the vessel to become unstable and sink.
Addley Baker swam to shore into Panama City, Florida, exhausted after 25 miles and attributed his survival to "God, apples, and porpoises". When faced with going down with the ship versus taking his chances in the Gulf of Mexico, he choose the water, even in the midst of a storm. Others around him chose to stay with the ship and hope for help and rescue.
Addley Baker was the son, and eldest child, born to Caron Bailey and Abrent G Baker of Sneads, Florida, in 1910. He had two younger sisters, Cloy Mae and Willie Maud. Both parents died while children were young, and Addley was raised by his Aunt Rose in Apalachicola, Florida. Growing up by the Gulf of Mexico, it was natural for him to seek work on boats and later as a shrimper and seaman.
When shrimping in Florida became less profitable in the late 1940's and early 1950's, he left Florida for Texas, and settled in the Galveston/Freeport area, and in Aransas Pass, Texas, for a short while. He did return to Apalachicola, FL, for brief periods, but Galveston and Freeport became his home.
The following is from the Panama City News-Herald on Friday, September 3, 1937:
Addley Baker, 27, of Mobile, Alabama, oiler aboard the ill-fated Tarpon, today lay in the Panama city Hospital here suffering from shock ad result of his 25-hour swim to shore, although, hospital attaches said his life is in no immediate danger.
He was reported "resting comfortably" for the first time since he arrived here yesterday at noon to bring first word to the waiting Northwest Florida coast thast the ship had foundered in high seas. His nerves are described as fraught from the strain and anxiety.
Thinks of Mates
"All I can think of now is my shipmates," he said after he had reported the tragedy. He went to the home of Joe Yarborough, , local Tarpon agent, and went to bed but was unable to sleep and the longer he lay in bed, the more wrought his nerves became.
All a Fog
He described most of his swim, which extended from Wednesdsy at 8:45 am throughout all that day, that night, and until 10 am yesterday, as "all a fog." I was so exhausted that I didn't even know at times that I was in the water. When I reached the shore, I said "Thank God" and collapsed.
Finally, he recovered sufficiently to make his way from the beach to the highway where he hitch-hiked a ride in to Panama City.
Addley Baker swam to shore into Panama City, Florida, exhausted after 25 miles and attributed his survival to "God, apples, and porpoises". When faced with going down with the ship versus taking his chances in the Gulf of Mexico, he choose the water, even in the midst of a storm. Others around him chose to stay with the ship and hope for help and rescue.
Addley Baker was the son, and eldest child, born to Caron Bailey and Abrent G Baker of Sneads, Florida, in 1910. He had two younger sisters, Cloy Mae and Willie Maud. Both parents died while children were young, and Addley was raised by his Aunt Rose in Apalachicola, Florida. Growing up by the Gulf of Mexico, it was natural for him to seek work on boats and later as a shrimper and seaman.
When shrimping in Florida became less profitable in the late 1940's and early 1950's, he left Florida for Texas, and settled in the Galveston/Freeport area, and in Aransas Pass, Texas, for a short while. He did return to Apalachicola, FL, for brief periods, but Galveston and Freeport became his home.
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| Addley Baker on Shrimp Boat in Texas |
The following is from the Panama City News-Herald on Friday, September 3, 1937:
Addley Baker, 27, of Mobile, Alabama, oiler aboard the ill-fated Tarpon, today lay in the Panama city Hospital here suffering from shock ad result of his 25-hour swim to shore, although, hospital attaches said his life is in no immediate danger.
He was reported "resting comfortably" for the first time since he arrived here yesterday at noon to bring first word to the waiting Northwest Florida coast thast the ship had foundered in high seas. His nerves are described as fraught from the strain and anxiety.
Thinks of Mates
"All I can think of now is my shipmates," he said after he had reported the tragedy. He went to the home of Joe Yarborough, , local Tarpon agent, and went to bed but was unable to sleep and the longer he lay in bed, the more wrought his nerves became.
All a Fog
He described most of his swim, which extended from Wednesdsy at 8:45 am throughout all that day, that night, and until 10 am yesterday, as "all a fog." I was so exhausted that I didn't even know at times that I was in the water. When I reached the shore, I said "Thank God" and collapsed.
Finally, he recovered sufficiently to make his way from the beach to the highway where he hitch-hiked a ride in to Panama City.
Great write up!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing survival story! Porpoises are water angels... Surviving a 25 mile swim to shore in a storm takes more than tenacity. I'd say he had luck and more than a few angels on his side.
ReplyDelete