WAR AT SEA 109 



wreckage waved the rescue boats away and pointed to survivors 

 more in need of immediate attention. Discussing the scene after- 

 wards, many realised that they had seen one survivor who had 

 been sitting on an upturned table calmly reading a book and 

 apparently oblivious of the scenes of chaos all about him. 



Challenger and Starwort became fuller and fuller and the counting 

 of survivors became difficult as the men climbed onboard up the 

 scrambling-nets hung along both sides of the ships. Over 800 men 

 were definitely embarked in Challenger, making, with her own 

 ship's company, almost a thousand men onboard the little ship; 

 the even smaller Starwort had rescued nearly 300. By 9 a.m. no 

 further survivors could be seen among the flotsam, and it had 

 reluctantly to be assumed that the four hundred or so now missing 

 must have gone down with the ship. There was no longer any 

 point in remaining stopped in this area, a sitting target for U-boats, 

 and so both ships set off with their human cargoes, slowly at first 

 because of the gross overloading and tenderness of the vessels, 

 but gradually increasing speed as confidence was gained, until 

 1 2 knots was reached. Any undue movement of the steering wheel 

 caused the ships to heel alarmingly. That the weather should con- 

 tinue calm was vital to survival. 



The scenes below in the ship, nowpacked with wet, bedraggled, 

 wounded humanity were indescribable : every hole and corner 

 held its party of shivering men as they waited patiently for clothing 

 which Challenger' s crew provided from their personal belongings, 

 and for hot food from the galley where the ship's cooks were 

 working with a will. 



Many were injured and the ship's Medical Officer, Surgeon 

 Lieutenant W. A. B. Cooper, R.N.V.R., aided by Squadron 

 Leader Monro, a survivor from Anselw, worked unceasingly for 

 the next 24 hours. Only two men died onboard, and Cooper 

 earned a Mention in Despatches for his great night's work. 



A few lines from Commander Jenks' report made soon after 

 the sinking of the troopship are well worth quoting : 



Crammed into every inch of space between decks and on the upper deck, 

 the survivors settled themselves down patiently and quietly for some 24 

 hours of discomfort and by their ready obedience greatly assisted the ship's 

 officers and company in their endeavours to provide sustenance and warmth. 

 Particularly admirable was the conduct of the Royal Marines detachment who 



