included 2,750 tons of pig iron, 2,750 tons of general cargo and mail, and, the remainder, jute, linseed, and groundnuts. The ship was hit by a torpedo that exploded just abaft the mainmast on the starboard side, throwing up a tall column of water but showing no flash. The hatches and beams from No. 5 hold were crushed; No. 4 hold flooded; the deck gun was blasted off its platform onto the deck; one of the six lifeboats was rendered useless; and the remaining boats, like the ship as a whole, were completely covered with oil from the tanks.
The Master, Captain A. G. Freeman, followed the book: He stopped engines; sent out wireless messages, which were acknowledged; fired two white rockets and showed the red light; and, when the ship had almost lost headway so that boats could be lowered without fear of their capsizing, he threw the Confidential Books overboard and ordered Abandon Ship. Freeman left last in No. 2 boat after making certain that no one remained on board. By that time, the ship was quickly sinking aft and the poop was awash. Fourteen minutes after the torpedo hit, Freeman heard a loud report, which he assumed was the No. 4 deep tank bulkhead collapsing, following which the vessel folded in two and disappeared. An hour and a half later, the survivors were picked up by
Birdlip
and by the convoy’s second trawler, H.M.T.
Arran,
and taken by them to Freetown. Not one of the eighty-seven-man crew and two gunners had been lost. Freeman reported: “I consider this Convoy was inadequately escorted.” 35
The last ship to be hit by Henke, who had expended only nine eels to cause seven sinkings—an unusually successful economy of firepower—was the British freighter
Clan Macpherson
, 6,940 GRT, out of Calcutta, Durban, and Takoradi for Freetown and the United Kingdom with 8,421 tons of general cargo that included 2,750 tons of pig iron, plus zinc, mica, jute, linseed, tea, and groundnuts. 36 His crew, including gunners, numbered a large 140. No one saw the track of the torpedo, which exploded, “not violently,” in No. 2 hold on the starboard side. Knowing that the hold was 100 feet in length and 134,000 cubic feet of space, and fearing that it would fill quickly, the ship’sMaster, Captain E. Gough, immediately ordered Abandon Ship. He switched on the red light, fired two white rockets, sent out a W/T message, and threw overboard the Confidential Books.
“All my men lined up like soldiers,” Gough reported, “no one attempted to do anything without orders, and within ten minutes the five lifeboats and the one small boat were clear of the ship,” which, they saw, did not go down as expected. The men on the small No. 2 bridgeboat were taken on board a freighter,
Silver Ash,
and the occupants of the other five boats, keeping in contact with each other by means of flashlights, had the opportunity of being rescued by
Arran;
but, instead, Gough asked the trawler to stand by them until daybreak, when he and the crew from the five boats reboarded their still floating vessel. The pumps were put on and all the engineers went below to raise steam. By 0920 the ship was under way doing twenty revolutions, and Gough had her under helm on a course of 047° toward Freetown, some 67 nautical miles distant. But, after a short while, it became apparent that No. 1 hold was filling, and some measure had to be taken to balance the ship.
Accordingly, Gough ordered the Chief Engineer in the engine room to fill tanks Nos. 4 and 5 in an attempt to bring the boat down by the stern. When that action was completed, though, the ship was listing to starboard, and the sea was lapping at the fore deck. Gough rang the engine room: “Finish With Engines.” He thought he might take a tow, stern first, from
Arran.
But it was no use.
Clan Macpherson
was not going to make it. He again ordered Abandon Ship and personally phoned the engineers and engine room crew to order them out. Unfortunately, two minutes after the boats were away, the ship
The Master, Captain A. G. Freeman, followed the book: He stopped engines; sent out wireless messages, which were acknowledged; fired two white rockets and showed the red light; and, when the ship had almost lost headway so that boats could be lowered without fear of their capsizing, he threw the Confidential Books overboard and ordered Abandon Ship. Freeman left last in No. 2 boat after making certain that no one remained on board. By that time, the ship was quickly sinking aft and the poop was awash. Fourteen minutes after the torpedo hit, Freeman heard a loud report, which he assumed was the No. 4 deep tank bulkhead collapsing, following which the vessel folded in two and disappeared. An hour and a half later, the survivors were picked up by
Birdlip
and by the convoy’s second trawler, H.M.T.
Arran,
and taken by them to Freetown. Not one of the eighty-seven-man crew and two gunners had been lost. Freeman reported: “I consider this Convoy was inadequately escorted.” 35
The last ship to be hit by Henke, who had expended only nine eels to cause seven sinkings—an unusually successful economy of firepower—was the British freighter
Clan Macpherson
, 6,940 GRT, out of Calcutta, Durban, and Takoradi for Freetown and the United Kingdom with 8,421 tons of general cargo that included 2,750 tons of pig iron, plus zinc, mica, jute, linseed, tea, and groundnuts. 36 His crew, including gunners, numbered a large 140. No one saw the track of the torpedo, which exploded, “not violently,” in No. 2 hold on the starboard side. Knowing that the hold was 100 feet in length and 134,000 cubic feet of space, and fearing that it would fill quickly, the ship’sMaster, Captain E. Gough, immediately ordered Abandon Ship. He switched on the red light, fired two white rockets, sent out a W/T message, and threw overboard the Confidential Books.
“All my men lined up like soldiers,” Gough reported, “no one attempted to do anything without orders, and within ten minutes the five lifeboats and the one small boat were clear of the ship,” which, they saw, did not go down as expected. The men on the small No. 2 bridgeboat were taken on board a freighter,
Silver Ash,
and the occupants of the other five boats, keeping in contact with each other by means of flashlights, had the opportunity of being rescued by
Arran;
but, instead, Gough asked the trawler to stand by them until daybreak, when he and the crew from the five boats reboarded their still floating vessel. The pumps were put on and all the engineers went below to raise steam. By 0920 the ship was under way doing twenty revolutions, and Gough had her under helm on a course of 047° toward Freetown, some 67 nautical miles distant. But, after a short while, it became apparent that No. 1 hold was filling, and some measure had to be taken to balance the ship.
Accordingly, Gough ordered the Chief Engineer in the engine room to fill tanks Nos. 4 and 5 in an attempt to bring the boat down by the stern. When that action was completed, though, the ship was listing to starboard, and the sea was lapping at the fore deck. Gough rang the engine room: “Finish With Engines.” He thought he might take a tow, stern first, from
Arran.
But it was no use.
Clan Macpherson
was not going to make it. He again ordered Abandon Ship and personally phoned the engineers and engine room crew to order them out. Unfortunately, two minutes after the boats were away, the ship
Similar Books
