loS CHALLENGER 



well up to Anselm's stem, more particularly as he was thinking 

 of the future. He hoped to rescue a very large number of men and 

 it was vital that he should not damage Challenger so much that it 

 might prejudice the carrying of them many miles across the 

 Atlantic to safety. 



The Captain was utterly cool, giving his orders calmly to the 

 Coxswain in the wheelhouse as he manoeuvred his engines to 

 keep Challenger in position — his calm bearing was infectious, and 

 all, rescuers and rescued, were behaving magnificently as the 

 numbers of men onboard Challenger increased minute by minute. 



All this time Amelm^s bows were settling slowly and steadily but 

 after about 12^ men had stepped across onto Challenger's fore- 

 castle the stern began to rise into the air as the bows submerged 

 more rapidly and the sea began to flow in over her foredeck. It 

 was obvious now that she was about to plunge. Only a hemp rope 

 held Challenger to Anselm and when Jenks saw that she was about 

 to go he shouted to the troops to jump for it as he slowly moved 

 astern, parting the hemp rope as he did so. The stern of the 

 troopship reared vertically into the air, men leaping off all the time 

 in a great fan-shaped mass of humanity. Many landed on the fore- 

 castle of Challenger, breaking their ankles and legs as they landed, 

 despite the layers of hammocks laid out to break their fall. The 

 trooper's stern "vs^as now 200 feet above Challenger's bows and the 

 rudder and screws looked strange in such a position, yet still men 

 were jumping off^, hitting the sea with a great splash. 



As Challenger went astern Anselm reached a completely vertical 

 position as her funnel met the water; then she slid down like 

 a giant lift to the accompaniment of the noise of crashing gear 

 and bursting bulkheads. No vortex was created on the surface of 

 the sea — she was there one second and gone the next, leaving 

 the heaving surface littered with a mass of human and material 

 debris. 



All Challenger' s boats and those of the third corvette were now 

 in the water collecting and bringing onboard many of the hundreds 

 of survivors who were clinging to the wreckage. The other two 

 corvettes were hunting the submarine far away on the horizon: 

 the shudder of their distant depth charges being felt from time to 

 time. The calmness of those in the water was almost unbelievable : 

 many who were on rafts or clinging to substantial pieces of 



