FOUGHT U-BOATS
Gallant Merchantman Submarine Damaged The spirit of Trafalgar lives on. “England expects that every man will do his duty," wks Nelson’s signal 134 years ago. And as the great victory which that message preceded was being celebrated in London came news showing that the same spirit and pluck are still with us, says the Sunday Dispatch of October 22. Two British merchantmen ploughing their way through the Atlantic hundreds of miles apart are attacked by U-boats. Each gives battle with its only means of defence—a single 4.7 inch gun—prepared to fight to the end. After a running fight lasting several hours, one is sunk. The other cripples its attacker, sees it finished off by a destroyer which races to the scene. Three hundred men, women, and children, passengers and crew of another British ship torpedoed in midAtlantic, crowd into the boats without panic—and join in singing “The Yanks are coming” as an American liner comes to their rescue. A dramatic story of how the 4204ton British tanker London Trader not only kept a U-boat at bay for seven hours, but damaged it so badly that it could not get away, was told by Antonio Cutajar. a Maltese seaman. “We were on a voyage from Bristol to South America when, early one morning, the submarine attacked us,” he said. “We are once brought our only gun into action, and so efficiently was it handled by the gun crew—both exNavy men—that the U-boat was compelled to keep her distance. Shot for Shot •’But there were times when she was still near enough for us to see clearly the members of her crew manning the gun against us. “For hour after hour w6 exchanged shot for shot, but the U-boat hit us only once, when one of our lifeboats was smashed by a shell. “Then our gun crew got in a shot which holed the submarine below the waterline. This meant that she could not submerge again, as she had done so often during the time she had been fighting and following us. “Then, at about half-past two in the afternoon, a destroyer appeared on the horizon in answer to our signals and we knew that the U-boat was done for. “The submarine crew tried to put up something of a fight against the warship by gunfire, but it was hopeless and very soon she was sent to the bottom. The crew were saved by the warship.” Mess-Boy’s Story Equally thrilling was the story of the one-sided battle between the 5000-ton West Hartlepools cargo boat Heronspool and the U-boat which torpedoed her after a running fight lasting several hours. Frank Elders, the Heronspool messboy, who told the story when the crew of 36 were landed in New York from the American liner President Harding, which rescued them, is only 14—but he wasn’t scared. “I was far too excited,” he said. “We couldn’t see the U-boat in the murk, but we started to dodge and zig-zag about. This went on for some time, and then the U-boat suddenly appeared quite close to us—so close I could see the officers smoking in the conning-tower. “Signalling with lights, she told us to ‘Heave-to.’ “Our answer was a shot. The Üboat then fired once across our bows, but we kept on trying to escape. For hours we dodged about and we were beginning to think we had beaten her when there was a tremendous explosion—the U-boat had submerged and had let us have it with a torpedo.
“We took to the boats. Ours leaked badly all night, and we couldn't bail her out fast enough. The water was knee deep when we were picked up—and, blimey, was I glad! We couldn’t have lasted much longer.” Kept on Singing When the survivors of the British steamer Yorkshire (10,183 tons) were landed at Bordeaux from the American liner Independence Hall, they were still singing. As the crowded rescue steamer was warped into the pier, the survivors crowded the rails cheering, and singing “God Save the King,” and—as a tribute to their rescuers—“ The Starspangled Banner.” Altogether 300 survivors were landed, including members of the crew of the British steamer City of Mandalay, which was sunk at the same time. Nearly 70 people are missing from the two ships. Most pathetic among the survivors were Hazel Armstrong, aged six, and her brother, Kenneth, aged seven, who lost both their father and mother in the disaster. Also rescued was a four-months-old baby, Margaret Cole, whose mother is among the missing. A Mr Clements, a British subject, was buried at sea before the Independence Hall made port. Mrs Clements Is among the survivors.
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Bibliographic details
Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVII, Issue 21504, 17 November 1939, Page 11
Word Count
773FOUGHT U-BOATS Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVII, Issue 21504, 17 November 1939, Page 11
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