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UNITED STATES NAVY VIEW OF UNIVERSITY HOAX
UNITED STATES NAVY VIEW OF UNIVERSITY HOAX
The U.S. Navy Department in an official statement in Washington yesterday said, "Sydney University students who boarded the aircraft carrier BENNINGTON in Sydney last week had permission to board the ship".
But the students who were members of the "boarding party" said, "nonsense, We took the Americans completely by surprise".
The Navy Department's statement said that the students were given permission to board the BENNINGTON, "to solicit funds from the crew for a local charity". The students had come onboard "under the observation of the ship's security watches", But one of the "duly-identified" students pressed an alarm button on the BENNINGTON while other pranksters in a nearby rowing boat shouted over the Loudspeakers that the ship was captured. Despite all the publicity about a captured ship, the Navy said, the crew contributed 1,800 dollars to the charity appeal.
HARMLESS PRANK, NAVY SAYS
Dismissing the whole affair as a "harmless prank" reflecting in no way on Navy security, the Navy said, "consider the incident a harmless prank perpetrated by duly-identified guests of a ship in a friendly port". This goodwill pattern is followed by U.S. Navy vessels visiting world nations. No charges were preferred against the perpetrators.
Some of the American papers said the students' prank showed that Pearl Harbor could happen again. Dressed as pirates and carrying toy pistols, 10 students boarded the BENNINGTON at Garden Island about 5:30 AM on Tuesday as part of a Commemoration Day stunt. A 24-year-old medical student of King's Cross told The Sun-Herald yesterday, "that the students planned the raid of the day before to collect for the Far West Children's Homes Appeal.
WALKED IN ON AMERICANS
"We climbed up a gangway hanging down the ship's side and simply walked in on them," he said. "No one seemed to be on guard and no one asked us what we were doing." "We saw a guard and asked him how to get to the bridge. He showed us the way and added, you can't go up there." But we went and he made no attempt to stop us.
One of the boys picked up a microphone and broadcast a message over the ship's Public address system. He said, "this ship has been taken over by Sydney University students." Then we saw a lever marked General Alarm. Someone pulled this and immediately there was a dull buzzing noise down below and things started happening all over the ship. Sailors appeared from everywhere. The Officer of the Watch arrived on the bridge, and he was very angry. He called the Marines who lined us up. Then they called the security police from the dock, who thought it was a great joke, and had us taken off. "We could have blown the BENNINGTON sky high if we had a bomb", he said.
Commenting on the Navy Department's statement, the Sun-Herald's University Correspondent said last night, "the officers of the BENNINGTON were asked to let a "boarding party" come on the ship on Commemoration Day afternoon to collect for the Far West Children's home appeal. THIS, is the one they say they knew about.
DID NOT KNOW ABOUT RAID
But they didn't know a thing about the morning raid, which was a complete surprise to them. They were not advised of it in advance because the pranksters themselves didn't plan it until the last moment, the day before.
This article was retyped and submitted by Joseph L. Pires
It appeared in the Sun-Herald on May 12, 1957, just as it Appears above.
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