SINKING OF LINER

Grey River Argus, 22 July 1941, Page 7

SINKING OF LINER

SURVIVORS’ 1,500-MILE VOYAGE. IN OPEN BOAT. (BOW) RUGBY, July 20. An R.N.V.R. officer, describing his voyage of 1,500 miles in an open boat, in a broadcast talk, said that Ins, ship, a British liner, was sunk last March by an armed merchant cruiser in the South Atlantic, and he was in command of a lifeboat with 82 persom, which finally reached Brazil 23 days later. He was travelling as a passenger when the ship was attacked by an enemy merchant cruiser “We found that we had about 18 gallons of water, 48 tins of condensed milk, and two tins of biscuits. We worked it out that we could only have one-third of a dipper of watei per day, that is, a little less than an eggcup ful, two tins of milk divided, and one biscuit each. After about 10 days, w’e had several storms, and were able to catch some rain water, which permitted an increase in the water ration to about a full eggcup ful and later still it was possible to double title water ratioh, as more water was caught and the number in the boat decreased. We were soon : covered with salt-water sores, which I were greatly aggravated by the ; crowded conditions and the constant rolling of the boat, which threw _ us > against each other. It was also impossible to sit, lie, or even stand in comfort, owing to overcrowding. After about ten days, hardship and privation began to tell and each day three or four persons died. We had no charts, and our only aid to navigation was a compass. We sighted land when we expected to. Of the 82

persons, who were originally in the lifeboat, 13 Europeans and 25 natives survived.”