- Contributed by听
- jcryan
- Location of story:听
- The Indian Ocean
- Background to story:听
- Royal Navy
- Article ID:听
- A3437912
- Contributed on:听
- 22 December 2004
I served in the Royal Navy from July 1940 to February 1946 as the convoy signalman (serving in the merchant ship made commodore of the convoy).
In November 1942 in SS Nova Scotia, we were returning to Dunbar, South Africa from Port Tewfik, Egypt (via the Red Sea) alone. In Massawa Eritrea we collected about 800 civilians and 1200 South African soldiers (as guards). The voyage was uneventful until we were within about 24 hours of Durban, South East of Lourenco Marques on November 28th. It was 9am and I was off watch and just starting to clean up our bit of the mess deck 鈥渃rash!鈥 and a second later 鈥渃rash!鈥 two tinfish. From out of the alleyway and up the nearest ladder (water already pouring down) up to the bridge to do anything that might need doing (nothing did) and to the main deck to get the life rafts overboard. After a few minutes I decided it was time to abandon ship. Instead of a drop of 10 to 15 feet I stepped into the ocean and struck out away from the ship. She went down after I had swum about 10-15 yards and I was sucked under. I came up through a thick oil slick and saw a large life raft about 50 yards away.
Though the sea was unbroken there was a heavy swell and so I could only see the raft every now and then. I must have stopped thinking as reaching the raft was not happening. Then came night, twelve hours as I was in the sub-tropics. Time must have passed but I have no real memories as to what happened. Then daylight and I seemed to be no nearer or further away from the raft. My swimming strokes were no more than pawing at the sea. No thoughts of anything, complete exhaustion, but a very powerful thought. I was about a yard above the sea looking down at the hulk which was me, saying 鈥渓et go you silly 鈥
I must have almost reached the raft without knowing and a sailor saw me and pulled me on board. I didn鈥檛 know. Sometime later I realised that I was no longer struggling and came back to life.
Two days later we were picked up by a Portuguese warship and taken into Lourenco Marques, then by train (3 nights and 2 days) to Durban to carry on with a more uneventful life at sea.
As told to the staff of Chesterfield Library
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