A CALLOUS CAPTAIN

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20995, 23 December 1939, Page 22 (Supplement)

A CALLOUS CAPTAIN

UPBRAIDED BY SEAMAN TORPEDOED AT NIGHT “BETTER DUCK NEXT TIME” (Times Air Mail Service.) LONDON, Nov. 29. Patrick O’Neil, taken with 15 othei seamen on board a U-boat which had sunk their ship, the Darino, of Liverpool, faced the submarine commander indignantly, and said: “ Why didn’t you torpedo us in daylight and give us a chance? ” The U-boat chief replied: “It is better for us to do it at Gijie.’’ Reproachfully came Patrick’s retort: It may be better for you, but it isn’t sailor-like, you know! ” Said the commander: “ How many were there in the ship’s crew? ” Said Bosun Kearon: “ Twentyseven.” The submarine’s captain counted the survivors. “ I’m sorry, but this is war,” he said. “ Better luck next time.” Patrick and his mates lost everything they possessed when their ship went down last Sunday. Eleven of their fellows, it is feared, lost their lives. Sank in Six Minutes The Darino, 1439 tons, was on her way from Oporto, with a general cargo, when the U-boat attacked her. She sank in six minutes. Nearly all her crew were sleeping n their bunks. Patrick was one of the few on duty, in the wheel-house. He was trapped by debris, had to fight his way out, and he cut his right wrist badly in the struggle. The crew were either hurled or flung themselves into the sea. They grabbed pieces of wreckage—four men were hanging on to one bit of wood—and drifted about, calling for .help. After half an hour the U-boat came to the surface and took them on board. Its crew rubbed down the shivering men, gave them blankets. The commander ordered rations of rum and coffee all round. They watched the submarine’s crew at work. They saw ratings scrawling the names Churchill and Chamberlain with their fingers on the petroleum jelly coatings of their torpedoes before pressing them into the tubes, laughing as tfiey did so. Crash-Dive The Darino’s men were about 12 hours in the submarine . before they were transferred to an Italian vessel which brought them to England. While they were in the U-boat the “ crash-dive ” alarm was sounded and she submerged 100 feet. The officers put their fingers to their lips as a warning to the survivors not to make any noise. A warship was passing overhead. Fireman William Locke brought to London with him a souvenir of the U-boat’s activities—a packet of cigarettes given him by one of the crew pencilled with the names of the three ships it had sunk. The second was the Cresswell, a Fleetwood trawler, in whicn six men died, the third the Arne Kjode, a Norwegian vessel. The crew told the Darino’s men they had been at sea ever since war broke cut, but hoped to be home for Christinas