大象传媒

Battle of the Atlantic. Part Three

The ship was already starting to go down by the stern, and as the bow reared up in the air, we found the boat gear jammed. During the next few minutes it was, literally, every man for himself and as I swung myself, Tarzan fashion, back down to the Promenade Deck below me, I found myself being sucked down into the water with the ship as she now started to sink quickly in a near vertical position. After what seemed an age, I popped back up to the surface due to the fact that I was already wearing my full, waistcoat-type, Kapok-filled lifejacket, was a fairly strong swimmer and had, most importantly the natural will to survive.

From the moment the torpedo struck until I found myself floating on the surface must have been no more than a few minutes before the ship was gone! It was later confirmed at an Enquiry held in Liverpool on 3rd October 1941 that SS AVOCETA sank in two minutes in position 47deg57minN 24deg5minW.

Finding myself alone in the water after seeing my ship disappear beneath the waves, I took stock and looked around for anything that might help me stay afloat for however long it might be before help arrived. Strangely, I just did not consider the probability that help may not be forthcoming. Most ships carried life rafts, in addition to lifeboats, and as these were kept loose on deck they were in effect self-launching. AVOCETA had three of these rafts, two were for鈥檃rd and there was a larger one aft.

It is surprising how well one can see in the 鈥渄arkness鈥� and I was able to spot and get hold of a large chunk of solid cork from our cargo which had been blown out of the ship in the explosion. This helped me considerably and I now felt even more confident of survival. Some time later I saw a raft a distance away and decided to swim for it. As I drew closer I could make out figures lying on the raft who appeared to be in a bad way. So, with no help available, I made the difficult solo effort, my uniform was soaking wet and as heavy as lead and I was tired after my swim, to haul myself up on to it. Once on the raft I, too, lay down to recover, and we all managed to hang on for two or three hours, when I saw the bow of a ship edging slowly and cautiously towards the raft. At that moment I had no idea if it was friend or foe, but it turned out to be one of our escorting Corvettes which had been ordered to drop back and search for survivors. She was HMS JASMINE, commanded by Lt. Commander C.D.B.Coventry RNR and was a most welcome sight. As she came alongside the raft no time was lost in climbing the scramble nets they had put over the side and when I reached the top I found myself being hauled quickly and unceremoniously over the rail by willing hands and was then treated to an extra large tot of rum! I have since learned that Rear Admiral Creighton, our Master Captain Harold Martin, Captain Frith of AGUILA, our Chief Officer Malcolm Robertson and AB Les Swinbourne were rescued in a similar way by another searching Corvette, HMS PERIWINKLE.

On 26th Sept. U124 sank the British Steamers PETREL (1354) and LAPWING (1348) both owned by the General Steam Navigation Co. Later that night, U124 also sank CERVANTES (1810) owned by McAndrews & Co. On the 27th, U201 commanded by Kap/Lt. Adalbert Schnee, hit HMS SPRINGBANK with two torpedoes, but she did not sink. U201 did however sink the Norwegian SIREMALM (2468). SPRINGBANK lost one Officer and 31 Ratings in the attack but still stayed afloat.

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