大象传媒

On the 3rd Feb 1940 my father was serving
on HMS Boreas when the ship intercepted a
signal from HMS Speedwell saying that the
HMS Sphinx had been badly damaged by two
bombs.The Boreas proceeded to the position
with HMS Brazen to render any assistance.
The Sphinx had been taken in tow by
HMS Skipjack and on arrival the Boreas
and Brazen undertook a/s screening,the
Boreas on the stbd. side and the Brazen to
port.Conditions were extremely unpleasant.
The wind was of gale force,the night was
very dark and the sea rapidly becoming very
rough.The Speedwell signalled shortly after
that the tow had parted followed by 'standby
the Sphinx abandoning ship'.The Boreas closed at 16 knots.Between 0330 and the time
the Sphinx rolled over the Boreas went
alongside 3 times and took off 7 men.On the
first two occasions only one man was taken
off each time.On the third occasion 5 were
rescued.The sea at that time was now very
rough.The Sphinx had a big list to stbd.
and the men were very reluctant to jump to
the forecastle of the Boreas which was moving up and down some15 feet.At the second
and third time of going alongside an attempt
was made to float a carley raft between the
ships but this failed due to the prevailing
conditions.Abandoning this idea a signal was
sent to the Sphinx that the Boreas was coming alongside again.While attempting this
the Sphinx foundered.The Boreas went windward of the largest group of men in the
sea and drifted down on them.By 0515 the
Boreas had rescued 30 men.Of these one
subsequently died.Only two were not picked
up from this group,one of whom was the
Sphinx's coxswain.They drifted astern and
were lost.The Boreas's crew worked hard to
save these men.Conditions were bad as could
be imagined with Boreas rolling anything up
to 40 degrees either side and the cold made
rescue work very difficult.A number of the
Boreas's crew at considerable risk to
themselves went over the side on bowlines
to fasten ropes around the men in the sea
as the only way to save them.My father recalls it as a terrifying night with the
horror of those who could not be reached
drifting away into the night.Although he
can not remember the name of the Boreas's
commanding officer he has never forgotten
his superb seamanship.

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