Colin1
Senior Master Sergeant
Daily Telegraph 30 October 2009
A seaman's wartime log has been discovered that discloses how 67 British sailors survived for 20 days and drifted 1,200 miles at sea.
Chief Officer Maurice Case wrote in his diary of how the stricken crew faced starvation and hypothermia after their merchant ship, SS Rhexenor, was sunk by a German U boat after leaving Freetown, Sierra Leone in February 1943.
The men were stranded in four lifeboats and survived on water biscuits, raisins and the occasional raw fish. They drank salty rainwater and tins of condensed milk salvaged from the wreckage. The entry for February 4th read:
"Breakfast: 1 biscuit with condensed milk, 2oz water.
Midday: 1 biscuit, milk, 6 raisins and 2oz water. Everybody satisfied."
The newly-discovered log tells of how the men were often drenched by heavy rainstorms, leaving them cold and wet for days afterwards. Three men died from hypothermia and exposure and had to be buried at sea in the middle of the Atlantic.
The survivors navigated by the stars and eventually made landfall on Antigua. Although severely malnourished and 'a bit groggy on the legs' the men were in good spirits when rescued.
Mr Case, who received an MBE for taking charge of one lifeboat, died in 1988 aged 87.
A seaman's wartime log has been discovered that discloses how 67 British sailors survived for 20 days and drifted 1,200 miles at sea.
Chief Officer Maurice Case wrote in his diary of how the stricken crew faced starvation and hypothermia after their merchant ship, SS Rhexenor, was sunk by a German U boat after leaving Freetown, Sierra Leone in February 1943.
The men were stranded in four lifeboats and survived on water biscuits, raisins and the occasional raw fish. They drank salty rainwater and tins of condensed milk salvaged from the wreckage. The entry for February 4th read:
"Breakfast: 1 biscuit with condensed milk, 2oz water.
Midday: 1 biscuit, milk, 6 raisins and 2oz water. Everybody satisfied."
The newly-discovered log tells of how the men were often drenched by heavy rainstorms, leaving them cold and wet for days afterwards. Three men died from hypothermia and exposure and had to be buried at sea in the middle of the Atlantic.
The survivors navigated by the stars and eventually made landfall on Antigua. Although severely malnourished and 'a bit groggy on the legs' the men were in good spirits when rescued.
Mr Case, who received an MBE for taking charge of one lifeboat, died in 1988 aged 87.
Last edited:
I've got "In Harm's Way", and it is an amazing story. The whole time I read it, I kept thinking about that scene from "Jaws" where the guys are drunkenly comparing tattoos, and the skipper (forget his name) mentions one he's had removed. The scientist laughs and asks "what'd it say, 'Mom'?" Skipper stares off in the distance and says "No. USS Indianapolis." The other two guys sober up immediately. Never really understood that scene until I read the book.
