PORT BRISBANE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23828, 2 December 1940, Page 9

PORT BRISBANE

OFFICER TELLS STORY SHIP SUNK AT NIGHT ADRIFT in open boats WARSHIP'S TIMELY RESCUE By Tasman Air Mail SYDNEY, Dec. 1 Announcing the loss of a British vessel 400 miles off the New Zealand coast in terms of the statement made br the New Zealand Prime Minister, Mr. Fraser. the Australian Minister for the Navy. Mr. W. M. Hughes, said that, while lie was unable to give further details, he realised that the relatives and friends of those aboard the ghip naturally felt some anxiety about their fate and what had happened to them. "1 point out that the experience of the last war and of this —for instance. with the Alt mark —shows us that we must assume that both the ships' complement and the passengers are taken aboard the raider." continued Mr. Hughes. "Although they xnav be exposed to some privations, still there is no reason to believe that ultimately they will not be returned safely to port and eventually be restored to their friends and relatives. "It is evident that there is a number of raiders. We have the attack on the convoy in the Atlantic, our own experience with the Port Brisbane and the Maimoa. and now this ship. This indicates that there is a number of raiders, but how many we do not know.

Ocean Being Combed "Reports from the Admiralty indicate that the whole ocean is being carefully combed to destroy them and the supply ships on which their very continuance at sea depends. "It will be appreciated that the difii--cultv of the task to which the Royal Navy is devoting itself at this moment is immense. The ocean is vast, ami the difficulty of detecting a ship is not less than that of finding a needle in a bundle of hay." Previously Mr. Hughes had announced the sinking off the Australian coast of the Port Line steamer Port Brisbane. 10.GP2 tons, and the probable loss of the Shaw Savill and Albion steamer Maimoa. of 10,l'_'o tons. An Australian warship had arrived at an Australian port with 27 survivors of the Port Brisbane. On arrival at the port, the second officer. Edward \Y. Dingle. of Whit.ley Bay. Newfoundland, t'ld this story; "Mv story starts somewhere about P. 50 p.m. last Thursday (November 21 L I was keeping middle watch, and. naturally, in bed and asleep at that hour. I was awak- . ened by sounds of gunfire and the alarm to go to stations. A klaxon horn was also sounded as an additional alarm, f got out of bed and dressed as rapidly as possible, and attempted to go down the officers' alleyway toward the stern

Blinded by Searchlight "While I was approaching the afterdoor, the deckhouse was hit and I was thrown in the alleyway, losing my cap. j in a state of concussion. 1 went back to secure another one. I managed to do so. also grasping a couple of tins of cigarettes and my certificate. I got out finally through the forward door, to find at least half a dozen of my shipmates sheltering behind the forward bulwark. ''We were being blinded at the time. I might mention, by the raiders searchlight. Going to the port side. 1 found my boat. No. 4, with a number of men beside it. A shell had struck the ship amidships and the smokeroom and wireless house were on fire. The raider, however, by this time had ceased firing. "There , were obviously more men than my boat's complement, and J found that th? forward starboard boat had been shot away. 1 also learned that the last order* the man at the wheel had received he had been unable to carry out, as we had been hit, apparently in the steering house aft, this rendering the steering gear useless. The captain had sent the bridge boy to bring the men up from the stokehold and the engineers from the engineroom. and the apprentice was sent before this to the wireless room. Lowering of Boat "The wireless officer. Mr. Magee, de•erves the highest credit, because 1 do not yet know how he managed to send the 'distress "signal out in time. The last f saw of him was as he was being led away by the arm by the apprentice from the wireless room, l'or the moment I thought he was injured, but apparently lie could not see too well because he had lost his glasses. "Having got my boat's crew sorted out and the gripes let go, I sent AbleSeaman Clarke forward for any order. He returned, saying, 'Mr. Dingle, as soon as you are ready.' I then sent some of mv men across to the starboard boat,'but they returned and told me that this boat was already lowered. So, without further orders, the 24 men got into my boat, which was then lowered."

Enemy Boarding Party The noise of escaping steam and burning timber at this time was so great that none ot these men, although only a short distance away from him, could hear him when ho shouted to them. The boat was lowered by means of signals given with a hand light by putting his; hand in front ol the lamp, Sir. Dingle said. W hen the boat reached the water, the able seaman, the storekeeper and Mr. Dingle went down the lifelines. They proceeded to pull clear of the vessel. At this time the raider passed round the ship outside the lifeboat, which continued to pull away. When thp raider circled around the second time, those in the boat lound that she was between them and the Port Brisbane. "At this time, 1 take ;t," _ Mr. Dingle continued, "the raider picked nj> the crews of the other two boats, and also sent a boarding party aboard the Port Brisbane. We worked round at the raider's stern and endeavoured to keep' dear oi her. She went right round the Port Brisbane again and headed in our direction. Preferred Risks to Capture Mr. Dingle said that he put it to the men that if they showed a light they Would also probably be picked up. The men replied: "We pre!or to take our chance with you, instead of any ot this Altmark business." He (old them not on any account to show a light or strike matches, and to keep down in the boat. By this time, the hoarding party had left' the Port Brisbane and returned to the raider. This was followed by a few explosions, which Mr. Dingle said he thought were time bombs. 'The raider circled back again. Mr. Dingle went, on, "and, 1 should say, just before midnight torpedoed the Port Brisbane in the No. 3 hatch, and their left at a good speed. There were one or two showers of rain in the vicinity, and the exact departure of tile raider was not ascertained." ''Wo rested on our oars and lay off to see the effect of the torpedo. At 1 a.m., I thought that the Port Brisbane was not going to sink, and I suggested to the men that when daylight

came we should board the vessel and see what could be done. The ship, to all appearances, had not sunk very far into the water, but was still oil fire. At 2 a.m., however, the Port Brisbane foundered by the head. We had drawn closer to her, and wo proceeded to row to the position in which she had sunk. We found two empty lifeboats, in each of which .1 placed three or lour men. The three boats were then tied together. J blew my deck pocket whistle and shouted out to see whether I could get a replv from anyone. No answci came. 'Subsequently we came across the starboard boats, which bad been shot away by the raider's guns, two raits, and «i quantity of wreckage. Among the latter, we found several cans of raisins and mail bags. We took aboard the boats a few of the cans of raisins and the mail bags. After one of the seamen had cut the bags open with his knile, we found parcels which contained small bottles of sauce and pickles, and a couple of Christinas puddings, bars ot chocolate, and other small comestibles. "Tliev were very acceptable, considering the predicament in which we found ourselves." Mr. Dingle said that at 5.55 a.m., when daylight was breaking, he estimated the Port Brisbane's position when she was sunk as near as possible from the direction of the course laid by the master, Captain Steele, at noon on the previous day. The men asked where they were going, ami Mr. Dingle replied that they would try and make Australia. This, he admitted, he knew was practically impossible because of the winds, currents, and other circumstances. He tried, however, to bead as far as possible toward Australia, though he estimated that they would not make much way in the boats—rough I v about one and a-half to two miles an hour, lie wished, however, to sta> in the vicinity for some time, as he did not know whether the wireless operator, Mr. Magce, had been able to send out his message, and lie doubted whether, under the circumstances, he had done so. Heading for Mauritius "About G a.m. we put up sail," he confined. "At about noon I issued two small dippers—small cylindrical containers of water—and a small piece of tinned meat to each. "Many of the men were sick, probably from shock and through being unused to being in small boats. At 4 p.m. I put it to the men that we could not reach Australia and that the best thing to do was to head for Mauritius. The men answered that I knew best, and that whatever 1 said was satisfactory to them. Thus, with the three boats still tied together, we made more or less fair wind and set the course for Mauritius. I pointed out to the men exactly what this would mean and that we should be on exceedingly short rations, even with the additional provisions secured from the mail bags,^We would also he short of water, I said, and told them that in future I meant to issue only one dipper of water a day."

Mr. Dingle said that somewhere about 6 p.m. one of the men who was in-j iured sighted something to the northward. The officer decided that it. was the masts of a vessel standing toward them. He then brought the boats up into the wind and steered toward them. Later, they turned out to be the masts of an Australian warship. At 7 p.m. they were taken aboard. Only One Woman Passenger An eye-witness on the warship which picked up the survivors said that on receipt of a raider warning, his ship proceeded to a position indicated in the Indian Ocean and found there an abandoned lifeboat bearing the name of the freighter Maimoa. "We sank this by gunfire about 8 a.m. last. Friday," he said, "and proceeded to answer a call which we had received en route to the spot, that the Port Brisbane was being shelled by an enemy vessel. At about 5.45 p.m. the lookout on the masthead sighted some sails on the horizon. As we approached, they proved to be three lifeboats containing survivors from the Port Brisbane. They were parked up by us and the lifeboats were sunk by gunfire." The Port Brisbane lifeboats were lucky to have been seen. At first only the masts were sighted. Half an hour later, it would have been impossible to see them. The only passenger on board the Port Brisbane was a Miss McShane, who had been on a holiday in Australia. Mr. Dingle said that he was certain that she had been picked up from one of the lifeboats by the raider, since a jumper was found in one of the boats. Ihe full complement of the Port Brisbane was about 92 men.