STIRRING DRAMA OF THE SEA.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 1407, 1 June 1916, Page 4

STIRRING DRAMA OF THE SEA.

17 STORM-TOSSED. MEN ADRIFT

FOR SIX. DAYS

SUBMARINE ' VICTIMS- ATTACKED BY ARABS ON REACHING LAND.

Issued by the. Press Bureau, a document bearing the matter-of-fact title, "Report oh the sinking of. the / s.s. Coquet and Subsequent Adventures of her Crew,'"' proves to b e a sea'^s'tory of real life eclipsing in its thrills even the pages of Captain Marryat. The Coquet was sunk by "an enemy submarine oiv January 4th last. The astonishing experiences which resulted are described in a personal narrative, which Captain Arnold C. B. Groom, late commander of the vessel, has given to the Imperial Merchant Service Guild. Having explained that he and his crew were ordered into two lifeboats while Austrians from the submarine blew up the Coquet (having first looted her), the Captain adds: — , < The two lifeboats were hear the submarine, and baling was in full progress in each boa*,' with two or three buckets. I pointed this out to the commander of the submarine, and the fact that both their bilge planks had most likely been sprung alongside" his awash deck. I told him it was nothing short of murder to send 31 men away like -'that. middle of Svinter, too, so far from land, He' laughed," '-'and 1 said .-he 'would save the next ship and serVd/her to.' look .for SHIP THAT PASSED IN THE NIGHT Tlie' boats' were alongside by this time, and the Austrians searched them for anything valuable, taking chronometers.' sextants, arid charts,, and also . etory scrap of paper they could find. ' They ordered me back 'into my boat, arid then left me. ' " As we' were well to the nor -westward, I deemed it" -wisest. 'to steer south, ' as we should then be running right across all the" tracks' of the steamers between Port Said and Alexandria and Malta. We ran l so until nearly dark when a steamer was 'sighted, we ' sa\v * her" hull. The mate's boat, which was a' good bit nearer to her ttiair We were, ; showed three "red flares," and we showed one, but if she saw'-themi-and I don't see how she* Could have failed r to" do so if any look-out' af all -was, being kept— she took no.riotice of us. • .' " " The sea was getting too dangerous to sail ariv'ipnger, So mast And' sail were taken down and sea anchor put into use. ' We 'were very • soon all. wet through, and ' remained so practically 1 for the next six days (the whole* of the time,, we Nvtere in the boat). , . "ALLOWANCES" I-N ( ■ THE BOAT. Heavy Weather With a cold wind continned all 'that iiiglit. "Allowance" of biscuits aiid 'water was started - 1 away that nighiP-2^ •biscuit's and 2 gills of water per man per day; latterly I increased the water allowance, 'finding that it was not enough with so much salt spray about. '>'■<•>< >" •' All, the able-bodied men had to take their turn at baling^ two, at a time ; the steward.* who -was old and ill, I made exempt from this' work ; also the four" boys I had, who were very young', alsoseaside: and somewhat frightened I

fancy.; ..•*'•' The .boat was veiy overloaded with 17 in it, and was ankle-deep with water, in spite of vigorous baling with the two buckets. Nex;ti.day I got tlie carpenter to take out three *>of the water-tight tanks, on the side, where the plank was split, and caulk it roughly from inside with bits of shirt.; this stopped the leaking a little. The weather continued the same all this day and nightj and -not a. sign did we see of anything^ ' ''' Tho weather got a little worse that night,' and we used the oil -bag with good effect in keeping the breaking seatops flat," I No change oh the day or night of the 7th; everybody chilled to the bbhe' with. that s cold ;wind blowing right through our saturated Clothes. AFRICAN^ COAST AT LAST!

In the early morning of the Bth # the weather moderated, some, and I decided' to set sail' arid : make 'for the African, coast.. So we steered south again, ana made fairly good Weather of it; During the 9th, just after midnight^ I made out land "to th,e south- west, ahd just then the wind started to freshen considerably and shifted td*'sriuth.

As we got nearer [shore, the wind fell lighter ' and' lighter, ai>d this nasty lumpy swell still in' evidence. We eventually tppk.dotyn the sail arid got the oars out;, as I Cold see a decent looking' landing in a little , bay, With houses in the background/ The men were so thoroughly "done up" 'With their long exposure, short rations, etc., that they could: hardly keep headway on the boat, the bailing, also hampered the rowing. We even-' : tually got into the bay, and, after getting'the boat nearly/ • swamped t^ice, we succeeded in ■tfuiking'n. satisfactory landing, "'and' after sending' a couple of hands ,'to lckik for water, we made "the boat comparatively safe for the night. ' We slept- on the sands, that night, after haying slaked our thirst wi th' some welj water- and eaten' a quantity of limpets ' from the rocks with' bur' biscuits. 1 : There 1 we're a quantity of cavfe dwellings around the bay, but they were all so "damp and 'smelly l that 'We deemed, it wiser )j6 ": sleep iii " the open .on: the sandy .beach:

We ! "Woke up -,chilled through' and through, with etfery ! bone aching ; we slept owing td the fact that it*was the (first opportunity' we "had had of sleeping since leaving the ship. Tlie buildings' we 'had seen from the sea proved to. be long deserted ruins, and there was ho sigrij&f life any where. THE ARAB FROM' NOWHERE,

On the./llth, after breakfast, ; I set out with 'three men- to try and find some human- 'boing who could tell me which way J,o head for the nearest • civilised port. R>. was <• very -bad walking; some, times jgpugh,. muddy ground, strewn with big stones,- sand hills with ankle-deep sand, etc. We felt' it terribly. We plodded-^on -until about noon, . without seeing' anything that we wanted, and were just giving up hopes, when, a very tall Arab appeared. He came back to the camp with us. One of the firemen, a Greek, could speak Arabic, and *^hen it was made known, to tho Axjih;. wliat "we wanted he Wanted us all'to 'get- in the boat there and then and he would pilot us to the nearest port. This, alas, was impossible, as the boat was (entirely beyond any .repair that we. could do. So the project was put an end to.

The,; Arab suggested that I should go with him to the nearest town om foot; this I coidd not do as I was utterly "done up" with the six or'seven hours' walking, that day ; but I eventually sent two Greeks firemen with him,' one spoke Italian and the other Arabic, 'and told them to try and get some .boat to take us out of this as soOh as' possible.

WAR-DANCE AND BULLETS

That night the rest of us slept in one of the cave dwellings with a big wood firo in the centre. After the next day, I was just going off to a pool about 9.45 a.m., thinking to have a bathe;- when we were all surprised by seviSral ' rifle bullets whizzing rbiind us. ■■••■•-

On looking, wo found they came from two Arabs on a hill some distance inr land, whb, : 'between shooting at us, were dancing wildly and laughing and yelling. Thinking they were two Arab boys who had got<hold of Tifles somehow and were just amusing themselves, I told our people to take cover, which we did in a deep trench,^ formed by the ruins of some -old buildings.' ' v Half an hour later ' about 15 Arabs, with rifles, suddenly appeared over the ■edge of our trench, and after having given a preliminary yell, began jabbering hard in Arabic at us.

The two closest to me had their rifles all ready to fire. I help. up. my han'dp to indicate that I was unarmed ; one of them still jabbered at me, but the other took carofuraim at my head; I ducked forward and to one- side a little at just the same instant as he pulled the trigger, so that the bullet took a track through the flesh across the back of my shoulders, instead of hitting my head. The Arab was only about 6ft from me' when he fired ; the force of the shot knocked me backwards. I remember falling and my head hitting the - sand ; after that I must v have- lost consciousness, as when I awoke everything was quiet except for the groaning of the

carpenter, who was rolling between m'e and the edge of the water, about 6ft. . CARRIED OFF BY BEDOUIN.

I found that he was horribly mutilated, but still alive. He asked me to dragJjim away from the sea. I tried to. but no was a big man, and my wounc was very painful. „ A little way out in the water thi steward was floating, face doWn wards': whether he was shot or drowned or botl I do not know. Further up the trench .the little Italian 'messroom boy was lying dead. ' ' •■' I could see nothing of anybody else, and was afraid to go out of the trench, thinking that if the Bedouin saw inc alive they Would' come back '16' finish me off. I had been keeping my eV-.* open for the boat 'tha't'"' I hoped'* war coming to fetch lis, and was o*erjoye<' to see tlie 'smoke and funnel of, a smaT steamer coming round the point, am' more still later when I 'made out thai she was flying 'the' Italian flag. -" '

When I came out from the trench thenwas not a sign of the -Bedouin or tin rest of our people, except a sailor named Lord; who" was lying on the saix! some distance from the' trench mosl brutally wounded by. both bullet and bayonet.

He said that the others', ten of them had been .carried off as prisoners by the Bedouin, after having had every thing of -any- ' value taken from 'them'-.: they were taking him also, but he thinks that they thought that he' 'war so '.wounded that he would be a-hind-rance to -them, and i so tried to finish him off on the spot, and left him for dead. \ " Tlie commander of the fort at Marsa Susu took us aboard the little steamer, arid our wounds were washed and bandaged as well as 'was' possible,; The carpenter died just as we were starting to wash his 'wounds.-

We landed at 'Ma-rsa SusU, and were taken to- the Military Hospital/where we have received infinite kindness.

Tlie submarine had. fto nlark or'number' on her, but I concluded that she was Austrian as the officers on' her had the Austrian Crown on the badges o; their caps. -

There is nothing in the above report to indicate what happened to the men in. the Coquet's second boat.