Henrick Carlsen; Captain Stayed With Sinking Ship

The Danish-born sea captain who became an international symbol of heroic rugged individualism when he stubbornly remained alone for two weeks aboard his crippled freighter in the early days of 1952 has died, it was learned Monday.

The Associated Press reported that Henrick Kurt Carlsen died Saturday at age 75 at his home in Woodbridge, N.J.

Carlsen, who moved to the United States in 1938, was 37 years old and the unknown captain of the freighter Flying Enterprise when a savage storm ripped open the ship’s hull in the English Channel. He ordered 40 crewmen and 10 passengers into lifeboats but remained with the ship so the vessel--under international shipping laws--could not be claimed for salvage.

That was on Dec. 29, 1951, and for the next two weeks the world watched in anxious respect as Carlsen stood alone in raging seas on the deck of his stricken ship, which was constantly taking on water and had nearly keeled over.

Remained Optimistic

He was powerless, but in radio conversations with the small armada of rescue ships that had gathered nearby remained optimistic that he would make port under tow if the seas ever calmed enough to permit help.

What even Carlsen may not have known at the time was that he was trying to protect not only his ship but $250,000 in Swiss bank notes that were part of the cargo.

A line finally was secured after a week but it snapped in the rough seas and the Flying Enterprise returned to its perilous wallowing.

Lonely Vigil

He continued his lonely and harrowing vigil, finding an occasional bite to eat from the ship’s stores. But finally the soft-spoken skipper was forced to abandon ship when a second storm finished sinking the Flying Enterprise in 240 feet of water off the southern British coast. He was taken off at the last minute by the tug Turmoil.

Carlsen came home a week later to the thundering cheers of more than 250,000 New Yorkers who crowded sidewalks in the traditional ticker tape parade reserved for heads of state and national heroes. Hours earlier on that Jan. 17 day in 1952 he had stepped ashore at the Battery to the cacophonous thunder of tugboat whistles and fire hose salutes from the assembled ships of New York harbor.

As he walked toward his welcome, he quietly told city officials:

“Frankly, I don’t think I’m entitled to this. I failed to bring in my ship.”