HEROISM AT SEA

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 64, Issue 4558, 10 April 1942, Page 3

HEROISM AT SEA

TWO VESSELS SUNK VICTIMS IN THE PACIFIC Tales of hardship and of heroism during long sea voyages in open boats are told by the survivors of two ships, the Donerail and the Prusa, both of which were sunk recently by Japanese submarines in mid-Pacific, wrote the Suva correspondent of the New Zealand Herald on March 18. The Donerail whs chartered by the Union Steam Ship Company. Her survivors were 38 days at sea in an open boat and sailed 2000 miles under conditions of considerable hardship before they reached comparative safety. Of the 24 who escaped from the Prusa when she was torpedoed, 11 men reached safety, but another boat containing 12 men has not been heard of since. TWENTY-FOUR KILLED BY SHELLS' The Donerail, a 3000-ton motor vessel, was in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands when she was attacked. Mr M. Chambers, of Sydney, a member of the crew, said the submarine, a large ocean-going type, loomed up ahead of them at 9 o’clock in the evening. She was so close that the Donerail almost rammed her, and she had to crash-dive to avoid the merchant ship. Soon after, however, the submarine surfaced again, and this time opened fire with her gun, a torpedo having' missed the ship. The' Shells Were aimed at the boat deck, and it was here that the casualties occurred, 24 people out of the 42 on board being wiped out by the seven shells which landed on the deck. There were passengers on board—two women, five men, and an 18-months-old baby. All were in the lifeboat which was swung out from the davits when it received a direct hit, which killed them outright. Mr Chambers was also in the lifeboat, and was the sole survivor, not receiving a scratch. The 24 remaining members of the crew got away in the port lifeboat, a steel boat with accommodation for 50 passengers. This boat had been badly holed by shell splinters and sank to the gunwales the same night, being only kept awash by the air tanks, which remained intact. BISCUITS AND FLYING FISH The occupants spent two days under these conditions before they succeeded in getting some freeboard on the craft by plugging the holes With torn-up clothing, biscuits, and flying fish. What food there was on board had been practically ruined by salt water, hnd the principal diet of the castaways consisted of salt water-soaked ship’s biscuits and what flying fish they could catch, a case of milk, and some vitamin tablets. The boat’s water supply had been damaged and much of it lost, but fortunately from this point of view there was heavy rain practically every night, and those bn board Caught rain water in sails. 17 DEATHS IN LIFEBOAT Of the 24 men in the lifeboat, only seven survived. The master, Captain Pii, was washed overboard by a heavy sea and drowned, and the others died from starvation and exposure. Heavy north-east gales were experienced practically all the time the lifeboat was at Sea. The Donerail was within 200 or 300 miles of Honolulu when she was sunk, and" at first the survivors made for that port, but had to give up the attempt after a week, owing to bad weather, and they made for an island which the survivors eventually reached. From this island Mr Chambers set out with Mr Harold Stead, mate of the R.C.S. Nimanoa, and Mr Jenner, of the Burns Philips staff, in a lagoon boat, in which he and Mr Jenner reached Nanouti, Mr Stead leaving the boat at an island en route. Mr Chambers said it was his intention to try and make Fiji in the open boat, but at Nanouti the rest of the party from the Donerail caught up with him, having come on a motor boat. • Although it was risky sailing the open sea in a boat built for lagoon sailing, Mr Chambers said that it was much better than the trip in the lifeboat, as they had plenty of food and water, being able to put in at various islands en route. They were three weeks on this trip altogether. ONE OFFICER SURVIVES The mate was the only officer to survive from the Donerail, and, with the exception of Mr Chambers, who is an Australian, all the survivors are Danes. The passenger list of the Donerail was as follows Mrs F. Morrison and infant, of Canada; Miss Enid Board, of Sydney; Mr David Stuart, of the United States; Mr H. J. Bozier, of England; Mr J. W. McKenzie, of Canada; and Mr C. K. Tremlett, of Sydney. Mr Tremlett died in one of the boats some days after they had left the ship. Although badly wounded by Shtapnel,

he had been one of the brightest spirits in the boat. Indicating the straits to which the party had been reduced, one of the survivors stated that, as the strongest left in the boat, he took it on himself to put Mr Tremlett’s body overboard, in which task he succeeded after an effort which compelled him to take several rests.

■ Tfib party was weak and exhausted, but quickly picked up when fresh food was obtained at the first island they touched.