大象传媒

Memories of the last voyage of the SS Browning. October-November 1942.

I joined the Browning in Birkenhead docks and we worked on her alongside for quite a few weeks, before leaving for Barrow-in-Furness. While there we loaded a military cargo, for where we did not know. The only hint we had as to our destination was when we where mustered by No.3 hatch and the skipper, Captain Sweeney informed the ships company that we were going on a very hazardous journey and in the event of any action he wanted no panic, if there was panic, he said 鈥渉e had a revolver in his cabin鈥� and he would not hesitate to use it.

We eventually sailed towards the end of October and joined a convoy of over sixty ships.
After passing around the top of Northern Ireland we headed south, apart from the occasional depth charge, we had a fairly good passage.

Eventually we entered the Mediterranean and proceeded along the Algerian coast to a place called ARZEW BAY just beyond Oran, where we anchored on the night of 11th November 1942. Next morning we weighed anchor and led a convoy of about a dozen ships westward. Around 2 pm on 12th November 1942 when we were about 16 miles off ORAN we altered coarse to follow a minesweeper into port. We had only just straightened up when an almighty explosion sent shock waves through the ship. We had been torpedoed in No.1 hatch where we had 1,700 tons of TNT plus shells as cargo. As luck would have it, the ship had a false bottom in that hatch to counteract the empty space taken up by lorries and lighter vehicles. This appeared to delay the eventual disintegration of the Browning.

At the time of impact I was in a bosun鈥檚 chair, blacking down the aftermast stays, to this day, how I managed to reach the safety of the deck I cannot remember. One thing I do recall is dashing to quarters for our life jackets, one crew member tripped over the storm step and in the ensuing panic, four more piled on top of him.
Eventually the order came to abandon ship. The entire crew,took to the lifeboats and with the knowledge of what we where carrying as cargo we rowed for our lives, trying to put as much distance as possible between us and the sinking ship. All the time we where rowing we could hear one explosion after another, hatch by hatch until finally the biggest bang of all filled the sky with plumes of billowing black choking smoke, the sea seemed to be on fire from the cargo of pitch, which was to be used for surfacing runways and from petrol stored in 45 gallon drums as deck cargo. The Browning was no more, blown into a million pieces, a once proud ship reduced to nothing more than floating debris.

We where picked up by a navy corvette, landed at Oran,and taken by lorry to the local hospital. I鈥檒l never forget what we were given by way of food, a bowl of Camels Eye soup.

From the hospital we were taken to the S.S. URAGUEY an American troop carrier, where we were fed , watered and treated like heroes.

Next day, we where transferred to the Empress of Canada to be taken home as D.B.S. and landed at Greenock. My mother received a letter from the shipping company about the sinking of the Browning the day after I arrived home.

My next trip to sea ended in very similar circumstances, Torpedoed again, The ship was the Merchant Prince, sunk in almost the same position just off Oran on 16 March 1943,
She didn鈥檛 sink and was successfully salvaged, but that鈥檚 another story.

Bill Owen

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