- Item
- 1943-08-25
Part of Richards Studio Photographs
Seattle-Tacoma shipyard employee Art Faith, right, shook hands with Seaman Basil D. Izzi during the sailor's visit to the Tacoma yard on August 25, 1943. Art Faith worked in Material Control, 2nd shift, where he held his own despite the fact that he had only one hand. Seaman Izzi had survived a record 83 days adrift in the South Atlantic, the longest in Navy history. He was assigned as a gunner on a United Nations merchant ship that was torpedoed. The nineteen year old clung to wreckage for 2 nights and a day before locating and swimming to the life raft. The 8x9 foot raft, with provisions for 16 days, drifted 2,200 miles before the three survivors were rescued. Izzi's weight had dropped from 145 to 80 pounds. (Sea-Tac Keel, Vol. II, No. V, pg. 3; September 4, 1943 issue; TNT 8/26/1943, pg. 1)
Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp. (Tacoma); Faith, Art; Izzi, Basil;