WAR AT SEA loj 



ever greater vigilance. All onboard were conscious of the vul- 

 nerability of the convoy, the low speed, the corvette with the 

 defective asdic gear, the great bulk of the Anselm — it was like 

 walking naked through a huge room full of people ; the eyes of 

 every U-boat must be upon them. 



On the night of ^th July the little convoy was right in the 

 middle of the North Atlantic ; the night had been one of varying 

 visibility, fog sometimes cutting off from view the escorts and 

 the troopship. The Captain had been on the bridge nearly the 

 whole night, but shortly after daylight at 6 o'clock the visibility 

 cleared and he went to his cabin to rest and in a few minutes was 

 dozing in his armchair. Just under an hour later he was awakened 

 by the impulsive jarring ring of the alarm gong, the worst 

 awakening known to a naval man, and one which remains in the 

 memory. He ran to the bridge, jostling as he did so the men who 

 were hurrying up the ladders to their action stations. As he 

 reached the bridge he saw Anselm astern; she was down by the 

 head with a slight list to port, moving slowly ahead through the 

 water. The Officer of the Watch said that she had been torpedoed 

 — he had heard the detonation and had turned to see a vast column 

 of brown coloured water falling onto the upperworks of the 

 troopship . 



Jenks ordered the two leading corvettes to hunt the U-boat 

 while he turned Challenger so that she came round astern of 

 Anselm where already men were in the water stringing out behind 

 her like a trail of refuse cast overboard, while alongside the 

 troopship boats were being lowered. Slowly Jenks manoeuvred 

 his ship ahead through the drifting men, lowering his seaboats as 

 he went and with the ship's company hauling onboard those men 

 who were able to hold onto the ropes thrown to them. Eventually 

 he was able to put Challenger^ s forecastle head alongside the 

 troopship's port quarter. Though it was calm there was a swell 

 running and the relative movement of Challenger's bow and the 

 troopship's stern was considerable. Although hammocks were 

 got up to break the fall of those who jumped from the Anselm 

 onto Challenger's forecastle, the troops preferred to step across 

 to welcoming hands each time the Challenger's bows came level. 



It was a difficult job for Commander Jenks to keep the bows 



9 



