SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 9, 1935, HMAS AUSTRALIA [II] assists American broadcast schooner SETH PARKER – NHSA.
The SETH PARKER was a four-masted schooner acquired by New York radio dramatist Phillip Lord, and – sponsored by Frigidaire – began an ‘Adentures in Paradise’ tour around the Pacific, with broadcasts from various points. The 867 ton, 187ft schooner, previously the GEORGETTE, was re-named for Lord’s main radio character.
On Feb. 8, 1935, HMAS AUSTRALIA [II], then conveying the Duke of Gloucester back to Britain from a Royal Tour, received an SOS from the SETH PARKER, which had been battered by a cyclone some 300 miles north east of Tahiti. By the time AUSTRALIA reached the schooner the next day , however, while reported to be in poor condition, SETH PARKER was no longer in need of serious assistance.
After the cruiser proceeded on her way, and was again 300 miles distant, she was recalled by further distress messages from the schooner and returned, this time taking off nine passengers, while the schooner was taken under tow by a tugboat to Pago Pago.
There is an account of the SETH PARKER and her voyage here:
www.broadcasting-fleet.com/sethparker.htm
The main impact of the interlude for AUSTRALIA was the delay the American ship’s distress calls had made to the progress of the Royal visitor, and the subsequent curtailment of his program of visits in the West Indies.
Sources
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/3966701652/
Leslie Jones: The Camera Man
* Noteworthy
1825 – After no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes in the US presidential election of 1824, the United States House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams as President of the United States.
1870 – US president Ulysses S. Grant signs a joint resolution of Congress establishing the U.S. Weather Bureau.
1961 – While they came from a wide variety of religious backgrounds and held a wide variety of religious beliefs, each of our Presidents in his own way has placed a special trust in God. Those who were strongest intellectually were also stronger spiritually. – Remarks at the Dedication Breakfast of International Christian Leadership, Inc (February 9, 1961)
1964 – The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing before a “record-busting” audience of 73 million viewers across the USA.