High Seas Series: The Wilson O'Toole

As soon as the Doctors gave the “OK”, Patrick O’Toole led his small fleet back out to sea at dead slow, so they would not jostle anyone recovering from their injuries. Those who had died, they placed in metal coffins and stored them in the Morgue reefer for burial back home. None of their own had died, but the adults who had been killed would, at least, get a honorable burial among free people in a free land. As soon as they were out of the territorial waters of Ecuador, Pat ordered the speed to be increased and they set course for Nawilili Harbor.

The homeward voyage seemed interminable, the last three days out from Nawiliwili Harbor saw the rails manned by crew and guests alike, all straining for the first glimpse of home.

The new folk were more than half afraid they would not be accepted, despite all the tales told them by the crew and the boys on board. Few of them spoke English and conditions had gotten so miserable in Ecuador, they expected the Norte Americanos to be just as bad.

For years, they had been told how terrible the Norte Americano people were and many of them fully expected to be made slaves as soon as they docked.

There were two Medical Doctors among the refugees, Medicós Raul and Pablo Mirables. They were twin brothers and, at the age of forty, they were not looking forward to starting all over again. They had no idea that Dr. Pedro Robbins had plans for them!

Pedro had read about the Flying Doctor Service in Australia, so he figured that the PATRICK could do the same thing on the ocean. He had talked it over with his Uncle, Patrick and, together, they had sketched out what changes had to be made to The PAT to make it work. The PAT was small enough to get into almost any of the Pacific Islands and still be big enough to make her useful.

Word got out, somehow, to Jose and Juan and, in minutes, if not seconds, they were knocking on Pat’s door. The PAT’s tonnage was low enough that Juan could get his Third Mate’s License upgraded to Master and, “Come Hell or High Water”, Jose was gonna get his First Mate’s ticket. Between Pat and a “good friend” at ONI, it was easily done.

They hit the Nanini Light at 5 AM, so Pat slowed the small fleet down and made a couple of circles to waste enough time so that they could enter Nawiliwili Harbor at first light. As he headed in, the Engineers had made sure there was plenty of steam pressure on the WIL when Pat pulled on the horn chain. He was leading all the ships of the fleet, like a string of elephants on parade. As each ship entered the breakwater, the horns blew in a deafening cacophony of sound!

The blasts were enough to wake the dead, a fleet of gulls rose from the harbor surface in a white cloud and horns began to respond from the shoreline. The people of Kauai already knew their heroes were just outside the harbor, they had been down at the shoreline, waiting for two hours already!

The welcoming committee had been hard at work, as the refugees were led in through the Prince Tahulie Welcome Center, they were handed a bar of soap, a wash cloth and a large, fluffy bath towel. They were told that there was clean clothing for them all on tables in the shower rooms and a monitor would see to it that they were issued the proper sized clothing.

The adults were floored when they saw that the clothing was brand new and there were socks and new shoes for each of them. They were astounded to be given brand new, never before worn clothing and shoes! What was more, nobody asked for any kind of payment!

When it was announced that breakfast was being served in the Welcome Center, there was a gaggle of geese, pretending to be half-dressed teens, some hopping on one foot as they tried to stuff their other foot in a shoe while still wet from the shower!

The smells of freshly baked bread, and steaming breakfast meats drove the teen boys into a frenzy. Like all teens, their stomachs were always running on “empty”.

Strangely, the girls had beat them to the tables and were already wolfing down thick slices of ham, some kind of pan bread covered in butter and a sweet smelling sauce. They didn’t even look up as the boys pounded their way past them and started shoveling food onto their plates.

Alice Tangimora just smiled as she watched the young folk work their way through enough food to feed a starving army. She had her Min home and standing at her side with a wide smile on his face, while he held their first baby, a boy, who Min had just now met!

Some of the local ladies working the kitchen for the first time, were appalled at the rate food was disappearing, but Alice had warned them this would happen, she had seen it before. Alice was determined that these kids were going to KNOW, with no doubts, their lives had turned onto the road of Good Times.

Still, she knew they were going to need an emergency shipment from Honolulu in the next day or so, before the “bottomless pits” were finally filled! It was a continuous chain of food being delivered from the refrigerators to the stoves.

Andrew let them finish their meal and visit among themselves for a while, before he stood and announced that their room assignments up at the Causey Foundation Hotel were waiting for them at the front desk. One little boy asked, “Por Favor, señor, cost quantos dolars us?” Andrew’s Spanish was getting better, although far from perfect. He replied, “Nunca Dolars, hugs solimenté!”

A dozen small boys tried to sit on his lap and Andy was laughing so hard, he just gave up trying to talk.

After breakfast, he led them all up to Reception and got them checked in. The boys were on the top three floors and the girls were on the floor just above the lobby. Only those who specifically asked, had room mates. The adults were lodged over at the Adult Visitor’s Center and those who were family groups were assigned to bungalows with their parents. The entire check in took less than an hour and the children were told they had the rest of the day off and school would begin the next morning.

Those who had been in the ships’ hospitals were brought ashore in wheel chairs and given the same treatment, except, the residents of the Hotel took care of them.

They helped them through the showers, got them dressed and pushed their wheel chairs out to the deck, where the meal was still going on. Their helpers pushed the wheel chairs down the food line, while the injured child pointed out what they wanted to eat.

It was the parents and other adults who had the most problems, they were sure something terrible was going to happen and that they were going to be punished. It would be several days before they were finally convinced that they were free now and that nobody was going to give them a cuff for asking for another serving of food.

The Mirables Brothers were found, sitting on the floor of the small apartment they had been assigned, their faces flooded with tears. Andrew spotted the problem and sent a boy running for Dr. Pedro, “Múy Rapidó!”

Pedro arrived out of breath and took the scene in. He sat on the floor with the two older Doctors and waited patiently, until their sobs had subsided. He then said, “Brothers, we are all brothers here, this is your place for as long as you wish to stay with us. I hope and pray that you will stay with us for a very long time, for I wish to offer you both a position on our ship, the M/S PATRICK. In a few days, we will begin converting her into a fast Medical Ship that will regularly visit the islands of the Pacific Ocean and provide medical care for the people who live there.”

The two brothers looked up at Pedro with both hope and anxiety seen plainly on their faces as Raul and Pablo tried to speak at once, both were anxious that this young looking man, whom everyone spoke of as Doctor Pedro, was telling them true.

Pedro smiled and offered them his hands to help them up from the floor. He then led them to the Chow Hall and announced to everyone there, “We are beginning a new service to the people of The Pacific Ocean, a traveling Doctor Service! Drs. Raul and Pablo Mirables will be the Medicos in Charge and the M/S PATRICK will be converted to a traveling hospital. Our own Juan will be the Captain and his Chief Mate will be his brother, Jose!

Pedro’s announcement was met with cheers and catcalls, both Juan and Jose were very popular among the Boys of O’Toole House and there were teen boys all over the campus running to put their names on “the list” to be part of their crew!

The PATRICK was sent over to Honolulu and settled along the pier of the work areas of Dillingham Shipyard to begin a three-month conversion and overhaul. Her engines had been worked hard and put up wet too many times and they were greatly in need of overhaul.

Another auxiliary generator was installed to supply power for the new operating room and air conditioning throughout the living areas. Wing tanks were built into the hull in the engine room as additional fuel storage and a second evaporator was installed to insure an adequate supply of fresh water.

Although she was to be classified as a Hospital Ship, Pedro managed to slip in machine gun mounts all along the upper deck and new rocket launcher mounts on the top of the wheel house of The M/S PATRICK.

All new operating room equipment arrived from the mainland and a complete laboratory was built just aft of the operating suite. A secure storeroom for medicines and drugs was installed and four examining rooms were built by extending the upper deck back towards the fantail to provide the additional space. The general ward was enlarged to accommodate a hundred beds and two, smaller wards for special cases and for isolation were squeezed in forward immediately under the Bridge and forward as far as the anchor windlass.

They had to take care not to upset the balance of the ship and Marine Designers spent several weeks making sure that the center of gravity was low enough to make The M/S PATRICK an easy riding ship and that safety had not been compromised!

The last thing to be installed was a computer system that linked the new X-Ray machine and the laboratory to the Hospital back in Lihue. That addition would prove its worth time and time again as Doctors Raul and Pablo struggled with parasites and tropical diseases that had not even made the textbooks yet!

By the time the conversion was completed, both Raul and Pablo had become proficient in speaking English and installing medical equipment themselves! It had been life changing work for the two of them, but they ended up with a seagoing hospital that was worlds better than what they had back in Ecuador AND, they knew how every piece of it worked!

The American Military Services were downsizing and they were flooded with Navy Medics looking to “sign on”. Raul and Pablo were not familiar with the ability of American Navy Medics, but Pedro certainly was and he hired as many as he had space for. He didn’t give a damn that their MedPacks said “US NAVY MEDIC” on the back, he had seen those Medics in action before and he wanted every one of them for himself!

For the same reason, the Deck Crew and the Engine Room were filled with ex-US Navy Sailors and a few Coasties thrown in. This would save their hides as soon as they made their very first trip to the South Pacific!

Those Medics could shoot as well as save lives and the seamen and enginemen were fearsome warriors! Pirates, slavers and spies abounded in the Far East and the only thing those people understood was bullets!

Not wanting the publicity of The PATRICK’S sailing to attract the attention of those who wished to harm them, there was no public announcement that The M/S PATRICK was sailing the next morning. This first trip, she was sailing solo as the poor little Mary Joyce had been sent to the breakers. Her hull was rotted and full of wood worms and there was no hope for salvage. Only her machinery could be saved in the hopes a replacement for the little sailing vessel could be found.

Despite there being no publicity, as The PATRICK swung around the breakwater and headed southeast, they were met with a barrage of small boats, airplanes and even one balloon! Not only were there well-wishers out there, it seems that every news service on the planet was taking pictures.

Captain Juan Ramos conned his ship out, around the small craft bent on taking pictures and ordered the Helmsman to order up All Ahead Full on both main engines. The newly rebuilt engines surged ahead and, at 28 knots, soon left the news flotilla far behind.

Juan then turned the bridge over to his brother, Jose, who was the brand new Chief Mate, and headed around his ship to make sure everything was ok. He was pretty sure all he had was “First Command Jitters”, but he had to see for himself that they were ready for their voyage.

They were.

By late afternoon, everyone had settled down and Juan reduced their speed to 20 knots to conserve fuel. Their first stop was to be at Naku ‘alofa on Tonga. They were going to pay a visit to their old friend and comrade, King “Tahulie”.

Every rescued person came through the Prince Tulie Welcome Center that was built when the O’Tooles had saved the King as a young Prince, from a terrible gunshot wound. King Tahulie had maintained close and warm relations with the O’Tooles and Juan knew that the King was planning a vast celebration to welcome The PATRICK to his Island Nation. The King and his people were staunch allies of the Americans and a generous supporter of the O’Toole Family’s Rescue activities for many years.

The PATRICK ate up the miles across the Pacific Ocean, it was before the traditional hurricane season and the weather was warm and pleasant for the entire distance. Almost before they knew it, Chief Mate Jose Ramos was announcing that they were approaching Tonga and that he was slowing the ship so that they would enter the lagoon at first light the next morning.

That evening, the boys dressed in, what they thought, would be like the Native Dress of the Tongans and they pranced around the Mess in beach towel Lava Lavas and colored paper leis around their necks. All were barefoot.

The next morning, Captain Juan woke everyone with a long, loud blast with the ship’s horn and announced that a group of large canoes were approaching just off the port bow. Breakfast forgotten, the boys lined the rail, waving wildly to the approaching boats.

The center canoe was huge and twenty immense dark skinned men swung their paddles in perfect unison. Seated at the rear of the canoe was a giant of a man. Juan knew immediately that it had to be King Tahulie!

Juan ordered, “ALL STOP” and he had the accommodation ladder swung out and lowered. He and his Brother, Jose, stood at the accommodation port as the immense man climbed the steps rapidly for such a huge man.

As the man’s head came up, even with the deck, the helmsman up on the bridge, pulled on the horn chain with three longs blasts of the air horn, the sound bounced off the surrounding mountain peaks as Captain Juan stepped forward and greeted the King.

King Tahulie wrapped his huge arms around Juan and kissed him on both cheeks. This was the first visit of an O’Toole Ship since the then Prince Tahulie had been cared for by the O’Toole Family in Lihui.

He had tears running down his face as he greeted each and every member of the crew and invited them all to a Luau that same evening. It would not be until the next day that the Medical Center would be open for patients.

The Tongan Government maintained a small medical clinic for its people, but the new equipment on The PATRICK and its connection to the big Hospital on Lihue made diagnosis almost immediate.

Doctors Raul and Pablo hurried through their breakfast when they were told that there was a line of children waiting for them up on the Hospital Deck! The two men spent the entire day treating sick and injured children, they even ate their lunch hunched over a microscope or poring over an x-ray film!

One little boy intrigued them, the child had a twisted foot and was walking with a beautifully made crutch. He told the doctors that he had “me hurted me foot flying from tree” as he made flapping motions with his arms.

The two doctors were horrified when another child whispered in their ears, “Him child boy of King!” They both decided they needed some advice, so they sent one of the Medics to fetch Captain Juan, fast! Juan knew that the child could never be king, with a deformed foot.

They all decided to first, send all the x-ray films to Lihue, via the computer link, along with a write up on what they planned to do to help the child. Pablo had specialized in Pediatric Orthopedics, but that had been many years prior and he definitely wanted a second opinion.

Within minutes, the alarm was buzzing on the computer link and the light was flashing over the telephone icon. Pablo picked it up and it was Dr. Pedro Oscar Rollins, MD, PhD, the head of O’Toole Medical Services. They spent two hours batting procedure possibilities back and forth, until they all agreed on what to do to help the child.

Unknown to them all, The King was waiting just outside the door and was listening to Dr. Pablo’s side of the conversation. Pablo returned to the treatment room and instructed the Medic to prepare the boy for surgery while he went to the Palace to explain to the King what needed to be done to help his son.

As Pablo made ready to head to the Palace, King Tahulie stepped into the room with a huge smile on his face. King Tahulie said, “I prayed that our Ancestors would send help for Lychee, my only son and heir. He is a tough little nut, that is why his nickname is Lychee, the lychee nut must be opened by pounding it with a large rock!”

He leaned over and picked up his son and said, so that everyone could hear his words, “My prayer was answered, the Ancestors sent these Doctors to repair Prince O’lormairama and to make him a fit Prince of our people!” He held up his son so that all the folk standing out on the Pier could see him and a great roar rose from the crowd.

Neither Pablo nor Raul were sure whether the people were happy or angry, but the huge man in front of them had a wide smile on his face and the little boy radiated pure joy!

The two Doctors told the King they would begin immediately and King Tahulie held up his hand, “Not so, Doctor Brothers of the O’Toole Folk, he must await his turn.” The King spread his hand around the waiting room that was filled with children and he said, “All my people must be cared for, Lychee must wait his turn!”

They made sure the small child was made comfortable in a bed and, before they left him, boys from the ship were crowded around his bed, all carrying toys, handmade gifts, and books that they would read to him. Little Lychee had an ear to ear grin and was pointing to a book about “Captain Archer, Space Hero”!

Prince Lychee was a well behaved, yet mischievous child and there was a continuous roar of laughter heard coming from his room. His Father, The King, sent over food and delicacies for Prince Lychee and his friends to enjoy. The little boy called the finger foods, “Pu-Pu’s” and a continuous supply was needed as other boy patients and ship’s crew boys heard about the food. There was a continuous flow of visitors keeping the young Prince occupied.

It was two more days before the bleary-eyed physicians could stop and rest before they would attempt to repair the Prince’s foot. It was a difficult and long procedure, so they wanted to be fully rested before they began.

On the morning of the Prince’s operation, a large crowd gathered on the pier and a dozen native boys, apparently Prince Lychee’s closest friends and cousins (the boys all called each other cousin so the doctors were not sure of the true relationship) gathered in his room and walked beside the gurney as the Medics wheeled him into pre-OP. They then sat on the deck, just outside the operating room to wait for their companion. The two Doctors were to learn later that the boys who accompanied the Prince would be his advisors and Warrior-Protectors in later life.

The operation was lengthy, as the boy’s ankle had to be completely rebuilt and the muscles repositioned, otherwise, he would never walk normally again and could, therefore, never be King! After six hours, the two brothers closed the wound and gave an exhausted sigh.

They knew the child would walk normally!

Over the next week, it was a constant battle to keep the “Nut Case” in bed, they had to station a Medic next to his bed 24/7 after they caught him sitting on the deck playing with the toys he had been given!

They learned that the child’s Mother, the Queen, had died giving birth to him and the King swore never to remarry. When the Boy members of the crew learned of this, they proclaimed themselves to be The Brothers of Prince Nut! They would send him letters from every port they hit and would continue the practice for the many years that remained of their lives.

As soon as they knew that the young prince was well on his way to healing, The M/S PATRICK set sail for Fiji. It was a voyage of only a week and a half, they were not pressed for time, so Juan eased the ship gently northwest to Suva. Figi is a conglomeration of islands, all of them are the tops of submerged volcanoes and some were still active.

The capitol city of Suva is a modern, bustling city, totally unlike their cousins on Tonga. It is the business center for a large area beyond their own borders, as well as a popular American tourist destination. Juan had maneuvered the Patrick up to the pier the Harbor Master had assigned them and he and the doctors went ashore to get permission to visit the smaller islands that did not have a full medical facility.

The Minister of Health welcomed them and remarked that, as a young boy, he had been rescued by Captain Wilson O’Toole and his friend, Chief Mate Oscar Robbins. The man was saddened when told that both had died, but he welcomed any help The PATRICK could lend his people. He was delighted to learn that the ship was named for the son of Captain Wilson O’Toole and Patrick himself still lived at their headquarters in Hawaii.

They decided their first visit would be to the isolated island of Ngua. It was a rugged island and it was almost impossible to traverse overland, so the ship would need to visit the larger villages along the coast, starting with Navkailagi on the north coast of the island.

It was a single day’s voyage to Ngua. The first village, Navkailagi, was reached only by a narrow channel through the coral reef and was named Siguma Entrance. Juan piloted The PATRICK cautiously through the coral that was always ready to rip the bottom out of unwary ships.

They had to anchor out from the shore and use the launch to reach the shore. Both Doctors lugged as much equipment and medicines as they could ashore and set up clinic under the trees of the small village. There were three cases, however, that they felt needed the operating room on The PATRICK. A teen girl was near term and it was obvious that her baby was in breech. Both would die if they could not help her. The two other cases were young boys with coral cuts on their legs that were badly infected and would require care, otherwise gangrene would set it and they would both die.

Their village was rather primitive, but, for the conditions, clean and orderly. Both Raul and Pedro felt that, if they brought the two boys out to The PATRICK and treated their wounds, they could both return to their village in a few days. The breech birth, however, was more problematic and might require additional time as the mother was already septic.

They brought all three youngsters and the girl’s mother as her chaperone. She said that she believed the doctors were good people, but she needed to be with her daughter. The men understood and agreed to bring her along.

As soon as they returned, they turned the two boys over to the Medics, who set to work draining the wounds and debriding the ruined flesh. They brought the mother and her daughter into the treatment room and proceeded to get some x-rays of the baby. They were shocked to see perfectly formed twins, a little small, but ready for birth NOW!

They rounded up a surgery team of Medics and prepared the girl immediately. They were in for trouble and they knew it! They hoped to take the two babies before birth began, but they were too late, the girl went into contractions as soon as they laid her on the table. Pedro hollered for more help, while Raul was typing her blood. Fortunately, she was Type O+ and they had plenty of that in the freezer and a whole lot more “on the hoof”.

They had one of the Medics bring out four units and begin defrosting them. In minutes, both doctors and six Medics were fully engaged in an emergency. The girl crashed and they had to take the two babies right then, otherwise, all three of them would die!

They began pushing blood into the girl, but it ran right through her like water and they could not stop the bleeding, no matter what they did. In minutes, the girl was gone and her Mother was weeping, collapsed on the deck.

The Babies were both boys and appeared healthy, except for some minor anemia. The Medics took care of them while the two doctors tried everything they knew to revive the girl, but there was no response, she was dead.

The girl’s Mother, despite her grief, wanted to care for the babies, so the Medics set her up in one of the recovery rooms and located several baby bottles and formula so they could nurse. They were a little anemic, so getting formula into them immediately was important. Medic Andy Fellows and been a Chief Medic in the Navy and was a father and grandfather several times over. He would care for the Grandmother and the babies until it was safe for them to return to their village.

It has been a “baptism of fire” for the Medical Team. The Medics are all combat trained and, for a while, that treatment room was like being under fire. The loss of the young mother was tragic, but her two babies will live and their Grandmother will include their Father in their lives.