NIGHTMARE VOYAGE

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXI, Issue 196, 21 July 1941, Page 5

NIGHTMARE VOYAGE

AGONIES IN OPEN BOAT

(Rec. 11.47 a.m.) RUGBY. July 2k An R.N.V.R. officer, describing .. voyage ot 1000 miles in an open boal in a broadcast talk, said his 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 persons which finally reached Brazil 23 days later. He was travelling as a passenger when tlie ship was attacked by an enemy merchant cruiser. “We found we had about 10 gallons ol water, 4S tins of condensed milk, and two tins of biscuits,” he said.

“We worked out that we could only have a third of a dipper of water per day, that is little less than an eggeupful, two tins of milk divided, and one biscuit each. After about 10 days we had several storms and were able to catch some rainwater, which permitted an increase in the water ration to about a full eggeupful, and later still it was possible to double the water ration as more water was caught and the number in the boat decreased. “We were soon covered with salt water sores, which were greatly aggravated by the crowded conditions and constant rolling of the boat, which threw ns against each other. It was also impossible to sit, lie, or even stand in comfort owing to the overcrowding. Alter about ten days the 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.”—Official Wireless.