30 HOURS IN BOAT

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20804, 6 June 1942, Page 3

30 HOURS IN BOAT

LOST SHIPS CREW ENEMY U-BOAT VICTIMS SURVIVORS GRIM ORDEAL (By Telegraph—*Fresa Assn. —Copyright.) (10.30 a.m.) SYDNEY, June G. All of the rescued men from the Australian coastal freighter sunk by a Japanese submarine were suffering from shock and immersion. Two had injuries. Ambulances met a naval vessel when she berthed with the survivors, a number of whom were taken to hospital. Describing the torpedoing, the chief officer said: “I was below and heard a terrific explosion, which came without warning. I was taken down with the ship, but came to the surface again amid a lot ol debris. I. made for a raft and was joined by others.” Another member of the crew was also carried down, but struggled to the surface. One of the survivors took the event as a matter of course. It was the second time the Axis had disturbed his rest in 18 months. His first experience was in the north Atlantic, when a U-boat sank his ship. One of the undamaged ships reached port during the night. Members of the crew said that it had been shelled by a submarine which came to the surface, but no torpedoes were fired at it. Race for Safety Two merchant vessels, one of which was shelled by Japanese submarines, arrived at an Australian port after racing for safety. They were within 75 miles of each other on Sunday night when one was shelled, but the other made port without interference. Four shells were fired at one vessel from various angles. Within a few minutes of the shelling, an SOS was received from the vessel which was torpedoed but the shelled ship could give no assistance. With its engines racing flat out, it reached haven. The chief officer, who went to the gun platform immediately after the first shell was fired by the submarine, said the submarine would not show fight. The captain manoeuvred his ship into a fighting position, but was given no chance to engage his attacker which submerged. Twenty-five more men from the carge vessel sunk by Japanese submarines on Wednesday night are safe. They landed in a ship’s lifeboat at a small fishing village on the coast before daylight yesterday. Thirtyseven members of the crew of 49 have new been saved. The men who landed yesterday were weary, suffering from 30 hours’ exposure in rain and bitter cold. Some of them were clad only in pyjamas and drenched to the skin. Second Submarine on. Scene Some of the survivors believe that a second submarine was at the scene of the sinking and possibly an enemy reconnaissance plane also. After the ship sank a lifeboat cruised around the wreckage and picked up as many survivors as could be seen. Then a course was . set by the stars and the men began to row through the heavy sea. Some hours later the sea abated and conditions became slightly easier. “We saw an aeroplane three times during our long puff to the shore,” said a member of the crew. “We did not do anything to attract its attention for we thought it might be an enemy reconnaissance plane. I was on deck as a member of the watch when the submarine was sighted. The alarm was sounded but before the men below, in bed or in the engineroom, could be warned a torpedo ctruck. I saw the submarine that apparently hit us, but there appeared to be two of them working together. I saw one submarine signalling to the other.”