大象传媒

During his service in the Royal Navy in the Second World War, my father, Adam F Warrander, served on a number of ships, but the two he mentioned in particular were Cornwall and Frobisher. The former was unfortunately sunk in the Indian Ocean in 1942, the latter took part in the Normandy landings amongst other actions. The sinking of the Cornwall was a particularly traumatic experience which is related in the account below which is taken from a report in the Natal Daily News of April 28th, 1942, which is amongst my father鈥檚 papers.

Sinking of Cornwall and Dorsetshire

The first full story of the sinking of the cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire in the Indian Ocean on April 4th was told today by South African survivors who recently arrived in Durban.
The cruisers were attacked by a formation of between 40 and 60 Japanese dive bombers and both were sunk within 20 minutes. Describing the operation to a representative of the Daily News, Seaman WJ Spickett of Capetown, who was on lookout duty on Dorsetshire said he saw the whole action from start to finish.
鈥� We were steaming to keep a rendevous 鈥� he said, 鈥� and when about 400 miles off land, a seaplane which we could not identify, started shadowing us. This was about 10 o鈥檆lock in the morning. Dorsetshire and Cornwall were steaming fast, keeping about four miles apart. At 20 minutes to two we spotted a large formation of between 40 and 60 aircraft coming towards us. Within a few minutes they were overhead 鈥� so high they were mere specks. Then they came straight for us in formations of three, diving at such a steep angle that it was impossible for our guns to get at them. I saw the first bomb, a silvery flash in the sunlight, come straight for us. It was a direct hit, blasting our aircraft platform to pieces. In that first attack, I think 10 bombs were dropped. We were steaming at high speed but eight of those 10 were direct hits. The other two were near misses. The ship listed badly and within 10 minutes of the first bomb being dropped we got orders to abandon ship. We got away two whalers and a skiff and several rafts. There were hundreds of us in the water and then three planes came over and added to the horror of these moments by machine-gunning us in the water. Many were killed and wounded in this attack but apparently it was just a gesture of victory for it was not repeated.鈥�

The Cornwall was also hit in the first attack. Men from the two ships estimate that between them they sustained 48 bomb hits in the ten minutes the attack lasted. The planes were dive-bombers from a Japanese aircraft carrier. Sub-Lieutenant R Ellis Brown, son of the mayor of Durban, who was in Cornwall, said he was down below in the control room of the high angle guns when the warning was flashed that aircraft were attacking.

鈥淎lmost immediately afterwards there was a terrific explosion and the ship lifted out of the water and listed to port, 鈥� he said. 鈥淭his was followed almost immediately by another hit. The lights went out and I continued on to the sick bay. I went forward from there to contact the control officer and shortly after I left, a bomb dropped on the sick bay, killing most of the men there. I could not get through on account of the flames, so went to the aft deck. Here we managed to get a whaler and also five or six floats. We got the men off and I looked up and saw a dive-bomber coming down at me. I saw the bomb released at about 700 feet and it appeared to be coming straight at me. Although I knew that if a bomb appeared to be coming straight at you it would actually fall far beyond. I must say I did not like it one bit. The men jumped into the water and finally the two other officers and myself left on this deck followed them.鈥�

Sub-Lieutenant Ellis Brown said that the men were in the water for about 30 hours. The wounded were placed in a motor boat which had floated off when Cornwall sank. The remainder stayed in the water, hanging on to debris and floats. To the discomforts the men suffered in the water was added the horror of knowing they were in shark-infested waters. 鈥淲e saw several fins cutting the water but as soon as they came near, the men would kick and shout and they would make off.鈥�

After 30 hours in the water, ships appeared and picked up the survivors. Many of the wounded died in the boats and one man off Dorsetshire was attacked and killed by a shark.

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