By William Montalbano

A Miami-based freighter operated by a prominent Cuban exile family reported itself attacked and badly damaged by a Cuban Navy gunboat Wednesday near the Bahamian island of Little Inagua.

The freighter's captain, Jose Villa, 55, radioed in shrill desperation:

"The deck is covered with blood. I am dying, chico. Tell the Coast Guard to come quickly. Tell them there are dead and wounded here."

A dramatic three-hour radio dialogue between the 1,400 freighter Johnny Express and the Miami offices of its owner, the Bahamas Line, ended abruptly at 2:40 p.m. Wednesday.

From that time on, mystery shrouded the fate of the Panamanian-registered ship and its 11 crewmen.

One report, attributed by the Bahamas line to the Panama embassy and the U.S. State Department, said the Johnny Express had been taken in tow by Cuban vessels and was bound for Cuba.

Panamanian and State Department spokesmen said they had no such information.

A Coast Guard plane from Miami searched the darkened Caribbean 550 miles southeast of Miami Wednesday night in a fruitless attempt to locate the Johnny Express.

In his last transmission, Villa reported the freighter had been rammed and was taking water. Twenty minutes earlier, he had reported the gunboats were firing at his radio antenna.

"As far as we are concerned, the vessel is still afloat," a Coast Guard spokesman said in Miami Wednesday night.

A sister ship of the 235-foot Johnny Express, the Lyla Express, was intercepted by Cuban vessels December 5 in the same general area and was escorted to the port of Baracoa on Cuba's north coast. At last report it was still there.

The Cuban government said the vessel had been used by the Central Intelligence Agency to land agents and supplies in Cuba.

The operators of the Express vessels - there are five - are four brothers of the Babun family, long active in anti-Castro activities.

"The Cubans must have wanted the Johnny Express very badly," said one U.S. source. "They obviously were lying in wait for her."

First word of trouble came Wednesday at 11:35 a.m., when a distress call on 124.51 kilocycles reached Bahamas Line offices at 2951 NW 21^st Ter., Miami.

Villa, a Spanish-born seaman who came to the United States as an exile from Cuba and now is an American citizen, told radio operator Francisco Blanco he was being pursued by a Cuban gunboat.

For the next three hours, the two-way radio in the company's operations room became the center of attention for a growing number of employees and curious exiles.

Villa changed course to the north to move away from the gunboat. The Johnny Express' position then was about three miles northeast of Little Inagua and more than 100 miles from the Cuban coast, company officials said.

At 12:55, Villa reported that gunboat No. 020 had closed on him.

At 1 p.m., Villa radioed that he had been ordered to heave to.

"We said, 'Don't stop. You are in international waters,'" said an employee, Miguel Trayol. "Villa said he would keep going."

Villa reported the Johnny Express under fire and himself wounded at 1:31 p.m. ("They were apparently receiving pretty heavy machine gun fire," said a Coast Guard spokesman.)

At 1:40 p.m., Villa said, "They are shooting at us from close range."

At 1:45 p.m., the Johnny express reported more firing and said the gunboat had bumped against it several times.

At 2 p.m., the company advised Villa to attempt to beach his ship.

"We are going to keep going until they sink us," he replied.

Five minutes later, the Johnny express reported its heading as 340 degrees. The captain reported himself bleeding profusely and very weak.

Then contact was lost for 15 minutes. At about 2:20, Villa reported the Cuban vessel - it was not clear if there was more than one - had begun firing at his radio antenna. Villa said he feared he would lose communications. He begged for help.

At around 2:30, the Johnny Express' final communications began:

"The deck is covered with blood. I am dying, chico. Tell the Coast Guard to come quickly. Tell them there are dead and wounded here."

"They are now ramming the ship on the sides with the launches and they are shooting at us. Is the Coast Guard coming? Tell them to come quickly."

"Digales quen anden ligero. (Tell them to get going fast.)"

Villa reported he had been wounded again. He said he was thirsty. He said several other crewmen had been wounded.

The company radio operator advised Villa to use first aid on his wounded crewmen.

"I cannot use first aid. The wounds are too big," he replied.

Herald reporter Frank Soler, in the company's offices, then heard what sounded like shots over the open radio.

"I am very grave. Tell them to come soon," screamed a high-pitched voice. "How long will it take the Coast Guard to get here? Tell them they are finishing the boat off. Tell the Coast Guard they are finishing us. Tell them to come get the wounded."

At 2:40, the Johnny Express reported it had been rammed and was taking water.

Contact with the Johnny Express ended then.

For the rest of the afternoon came the call from the company's offices:

"Johnny Express, Johnny Express, this is WEJ."

"Aqui esta WEJ, Johnny Express; conteste Johnny Express."

("This is WEJ, Johnny Express; answer, Johnny Express.")

There was no response.

The Coast Guard said there was no mention in the radio transmissions of an exchange of fire, meaning that the Johnny Express was not shooting back.

"The ship was a commercial vessel. It carried no weapons," said one of the operators, Teolilo Babun.

Company officials said the freighter left Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday at 2 p.m. after unloading cargo there.

The ship was en route to Miami when it was attacked, they said.

The Coast Guard said the vessel "could not have been in Cuban waters" when the incident occurred.

The Coast Guard estimated the Johnny Express' position during the attack at 21.3 degrees North Latitude and 73 degrees West Longitude, either in or "very close to Bahamian waters" and about 50 miles from the Cuban coast. (That would be the part of Great Inagua nearest Cuba.) However, maps show that these coordinates would put the ship about 100 miles from the Cuban coast.

Cuban radio broadcasts, monitored in Miami Wednesday night, made no mention of the incident.

Informed sources in Miami said the Bahamas Line had protested to the U.S. government several months ago that its ships had been threatened by radio and occasionally followed between Miami and the island of Hispaniola.

Only a limited number of routes are open to ocean-going vessels of the Johnny Express' size through the Bahamas archipelago, the sources said.

After the seizure of the Lyla Express, the Johnny Express was instructed to take a different route - east between the Great and Little Inagua - in a attempt to avoid a second incident, the sources said.

The Cuban government had said it would bring criminal charges against some of the 14 crewmen aboard the Lyla Express.

It claimed the vessel had landed agents, arms, and explosives in Cuba for the CIA on three occasions in 1968 and 1969.

The Babun family has long been active in exile attempts against Cuba.

In exile circles here, Santiago Babun is believed to have been a ranking agent for the CIA in Oriente Province until he left the country for the United States in 1960.