A TALE OF THE SEA

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume XLV, Issue XLV, 14 September 1917, Page 1

A TALE OF THE SEA

OF WHICH A DUNEDIN LAD IS THE HERO. The following is an extract from an article in the " Merchant Service Review and R.N.R. Gazette,' entitled ' The Silent Merchant Service': I wonder if my readers have ever'heard about the terrible experiences of the survivors of tho Glenogle. One of her lifeboats was picked up near the Smalls by one of tho Admiralty trawlers last month. The lifeboat was in charge of the chief officer, Mr William Russell Woebling, a young mail of about~22 years of age, who had sailed her for about five days and nights from the spot where the vessel was torpedoed, a matter of 350 miles. The boat's ' crew consisted of the chief officer, chief engineer, third engineer,' chief steward, and 17 Chinese seamen. Heavy gales were encountered. It was bitterly cold, and the excellent lifeboat, thanks to the skilful seamanship displayed by the chief officer, survived it all. On many occasions, by .constant vigilance, the boat was saved from being capsized by heavy seas, and the only man who could relieve the chief officer, who knew anything about boatsalving, was Quartermaster Lofthouse. He. poor fellow, did his best, but the exposure and terrible weather played havoc with him, and he was in a terrible condition when he landed. Indeed, they all had a terrible tifne, suffering from exhaustion, semi-starvation, and badly swollen feet and hands. Their food consisted of hard - biscuits, and they had one beaker of water between the lot of them. By judicious distribution this was made to eke out for a few days; but, exhausted as he was, Mr Woebling kept cheerful through it all, and repeatedly encouraged the others by telling them tfiat they would be all right in a few hours, and, even if they Were not picked up, they were getting nearer home every minute. I am inclined to think that many a man has won the Victoria Cross under lees dramatic circumstances than'those experienced by the chief officer of the Glenogle. The case of the Glenogle adds one more page to the illustrious deeds of gallantry displayed by the heroes of the sea. .[Mr' Russell Woebling, who was educated at the Kaiko'rai School, i 6 a son of the late Captain Woebling, so well known in intercolonial shipping for over 35 years. The Glenogle was a new ship, not a yeqir old, of 18,000 tons d.w., and was the eighth ship of the Glen Line to have been torpedoed.]

r A LETTER FROM THE HERO HIMSELF. Under date April 7, the gallant chief officer thus writes to his mother:— l Here we are again, by a* bit of rgood luck and with the especial care of Providence, safe and sound, though stillunable to walk more than .a few steps, pit's that Kaiser again trying to get one oil to the family. We were torpedoed 350 jniles south-west of the Smalls on" Tuesday fortnight last, the 27th March, by a " G'umin " submarine. This is how the yarn runs: At 4.20 p.m. I was off watch,' but had come up on the bridge with the result of an observation I had taken at 4 p.m., when I spotted a couple of broomsticks (periscopes) coming towards us at the rate of knots. The.old "man yelled out to man the gun, so with the quartermaster I ran aft, but did not gt*t further than the wireless room when I was thrown violently to the deck, the effect of an explosion in No. 5 hatch, caused by torpedo. 1 felt beastly sick for "a couple of minutes, then decked' myself out in a lifebelt and

•got my boat clear for lowering, after finding as many blankets as I could to throw into the boat. At 5 p.m' the order was given to lower awav.. everything running perfectly, 110 one being luirt. We tlieu pulled clear of the ship, and shortly after the beggars put another pill into the ■engine room., making a lovely bang and splash. The ship promptly up-ended, and. eank almost, at once, leaving us alone on the deep blue sea. and jolly lonely. I can tell you—but not for long. The submarine shortly after came to the and made its way to my boat, training its 4in gun right into our packet. You should have seen the Clunks getting out of the way of the muzzle at this burst of. frightfillness; The beggars had revolvers, tot), pointing them at us ; and when they ordered me on board—good Lord ! I'm not any worse than most boys, but those beggars covering me with their. popguns—no joke! They asked me all about the ship, and then said she was an auxiliary cruiser, and were going "to detain me; but I firmly assured them I' was only first officer, anil they then let me go. Before leaving, as 1 was getting on fair terms with a petty officer during interrogations, I asked them for a drink, and they unfortunately brought, me a tin dish of water, all oily

and brackish. However, I had. to drink it, then got into my boat again, and was sick for two hours. We then set sail, and headed n d; but, as there was little wind and a large swell, did nothing. We kept company with the third mate,,_as his boat was leaking badly. We also took two of his passengers. We ultimately left them all at 2 p.m. next day, my" boat outsailing them all—unluckily for us, as they were all picked up within the next 36 hours. That night it came on to blow, and I spent the worst 36 ho'urs from then on I have ( ever yet spent. A howling westerly gale, winter time, in the North Atlantic, in a ship's boat, is sufficient to describe it. Rain and sleet, the sea- just boiling. Well, there must have been some special Providence with us. 1 thanked goodness, too, for all the experience I had had in small boats, as I was the only one who could handle the boat," the quartermaster (a perfect hero) apologising for not knowing more about it. Our next difficulty was, of course, water—or tihe want of it. We had only one small keg among 22 of us (5 Europeans, 17 Chinks), so we had only two or three mouthfuls per day. Towards the last the Chinks used to go down on their knees, put out their tongues, " showing how dry they were, and • beg for water. They started to drink salt water, so I had to go round them and take all this from them, also a razor and hatchet they had stowed away. On Thursday we signalled a- sailing ship, whieE promptly cleared out, accompanied by a few choice epithets from our boat. On Friday had 1 hail, for which we -were thankful, as we caught some of it and ate it. On Saturday morning we" sighted another submarine, which came and looked at us, then fortunately went away again. Saturday night, at 11 o'clock, we sighted a light,' which proved to be the Smalls Lighthouse, and on Sunday morning, at 10 o'clock, landed at Milford Haven, three-parts dead, but still kicking. We. stopped there four days, and then the majority of us came through here to leaving the quartermaster with awful feet, which the doctor says might have to be taken off; also, two or three Chinese were unfit to travel. My feet were not exactly a picture when I landed, as the quartermaster and I had the brunt of things. I was walking on puddings, not feet, and was glad there was no feeling in them. However, the swelling has all gone, and under treatment, following the doctor's advice, I hope soon to get rid of the pain in them. An engineer who was ' in my boat, living not far from here, was sick all the time. Though not suffering so much from exposure, lie will be a long time getting- over it. It was hard luck to lose all my gear and knick-knacks; but I suppose I should be thankful I got out of it in one piece. My clothes, fortunately, were insured for £SO; but I stand to lose £4O more on them, owing to the present price of things. I have only been out of the house once, and then landed back in rotten condition, hardly able to stand. The doctor says I am to feed up for a bit, and keep off* mv feet as much as possible. V