U-BOAT'S VICTIM

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 100, 30 April 1941, Page 11

U-BOAT'S VICTIM

TANKER TORPEDOED

ATLANTIC EPISODE

GUNNER'S STORY

A graphic description of the torpedoing of an oil tanker in the Atlantic, of the escape of the crew, and subsequent attempts to salvage the vessel is contained in the following letter received by the relatives of one of the. gunners on board the tanker.

"It happened on the night of January 29, at about 1.10 a.m., some five or six hundred miles off the coast of Ireland. The first I heard of: it was when a terrific explosion occurred " and I jumped out of bed and immediately got dressed and dashed outside. I could not see'a thing at first, but Harry, who was on watch at the time, pointed to the ship next to Us, and said that it"had come from: there, i could just make out the'ship and it appeared to be sinking very fast and almost looked as though it would turn on its side before very long. Well, that was all we had time to see, for there was quite' a bit to do if we should be the next. Just.then the-telephone rang and the order was gun's crew stand by. In the meantime Harry had fitted the rockets so that should we be hit all we would have to do would be to set a match to them, thus" giving the escort a chance to sight the enemy and also to* warn other sh*ips that we had been hit.

"Just as I dropped the receiver of the telephone we got it, so I yelled to Harry to. let the flares go. He set off one and I the other, then we made a dash and ,cut the rafts adrift, but these failed to slide off, so we had to leave them and go for the boats. Before doing so I rushed into our room and put on a lifebelt and also- grabbed my 'crash bag' which was beside my bed, and packed. • "GASSED" BY PETROL. "By the time we got around to the boats, they had already lowered them into the water, or at least what we thought was water, but in reality was petrol, and nearly everyone was in them. The smell of the gas was terrific and I found myself getting very light-headed and I wanted to sing and §hout, but I was able to control myself, although those down in the boat were .singing and yelling for all they were worth. I managed to slide down a lifeline and land in the boat without .getting, wet other than my feet, which, incidentally, were to suffer for it later. Now in the boats the fumes were' just about unbearable, and already several of the fellows had gone unconscious, and I realised that if we did not soon get away we all would be. I was last in the boat, and just managed to yell to' someone in the .bows to^cut the painter, and that is the last I remember. Some of them , managed to get the oars out, but they did not have the strength to use them. The last thing I remember was seeing what I thought was several suns., which in reality was the escort vessel sending up" star shells to try to locate the submarines (or mines). How long we had been in-the boats I have no means of finding out, but on going' over the events now it must have been for sbout an hour or perhaps a little longer."; ;., ■ ' ~ ■^'■V GO ABOARD. : ■' After describing their rescue by a destroyer, the writer goes on: • "JusUbefore dawn all those that were able off our ship were transferred to a trawler, and we were to wait until it was light to see if there was any possibility of our bringing her in under her own power. Daylight found her with the main mast down and a gaping hole in her#side, or perhaps it would be better to say one section of tanks had'been ripped completely out, leaving the decks buckled, while the winch, which must have got the entire force of the explosion, had wrapped itself around the flying bridge. We cruised ■ about all morning and it was thought < advisable not ■to go aboard until more of the gas and fumes had been blown.away. Directly after lunch, volunteers "were called to go aboard and see if it would be possible to get the engines started. Six of us went, under the mate, but when we got aboard we.found that the engine room was in about two feet of petrol, so therefore it would be impossible to start the engine. This message we conveyed to the captain, who .was still. on the trawler, so he sent back to see if there was any chance' of getting any stores, as on the trawler they had next to nothing and as there were thirty-odd of us, we would either have to starve or live on. a few dry biscuits. "We raided the storeroom and had to break the lock, but that did not matter. Next. we loaded the only remaining •lifeboat, then lowered it into the water and set it adrift, and as it drifted past the trawler came along and took everything off. In our boat we managed to get a few things in the way of clothing for some of the less fortunate ones who had to leave in a hurry and did not get a chance to get anything but what they stood in. I was rather fortunate, for I managed to get my typewriter, along with a few other personal things. SHIP PARTS UNDER STRAIN. "When we returned to the trawler, there was a.conference to see if it would be possible to rig up some towing device, and at last it. was agreed that it would be possible, but the towing wire would have to be rigged from our ship and passed to the trawler. Again volunteers were asked for, but only seven of us came forward, which I thought was pretty mean of the crew, considering that there were thirty-odd of them and here were we three, not even paid by the company, volunteering again.

"The time now was dusk, but we were able to get aboard all 0.X., for it was dead calm. We worked for four hours solid, and the fumes were just about killing us; still we managed to get two 190 fathoms of five-inch wire hauled up and made fast to the bitts and we were all ready to pass it out to the trawler ready for towing when damn me if the -ship didn't break in two under us. There was a mad scramble for the boat, and we managed to get safely away, but only just. In the hurry I received a black eye, but how I don't know. Next morning the two halves were still floating about a mile apart, and as we could do nothing further we returned to port."