THE LOST APARIMA.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 January 1918, Page 6

THE LOST APARIMA.

AN ENGINEER'S GRAPHIC STORY. A graphic account of the torpedoing of the s.s. Aparima in the Channel is given by Mr. James MeKeegan, who was an engineer on the ship, in a letter to his father, Mr. Charles MeKeegan, of Wellington:— "I was on watch in the engine-room," he writes, "when, at about five minutes to 1 on Monday morning we got a torpedo well aft. There was a terrific explosion, and it just about blew the stern clqan off her. There was very little time to JJiinlc, I hopped up to the middle platform to shut the water-tight door in the tunnel. By the time I got there the wate- was rushing out of the tunnel full bore. The chief engineer arrived on the scene, and we managed to close it, but it was no good. The pressure of water was too great, and it forced the bulkhead door out. By this time the water was half-way up the engine columns. There was no chance, of doing anything further. When I got on deck the'water was level with it. . . It was pitch dark and the decks awash, and her bow stuck up in the air. I made tracks for No. 3 lifeboat on the starboard side. All the clothes I had on was a boiler spit, a pair of socks, and a "sweat rag." 1 had just stepped into the lifeboat whcfi the ship took sier last plunge, and in doing so the lifeboat davit" caught the boat and capsized it. All hands landed in the cold briny; some ot them, poor fellows, never to come out. When the boat overturned all the gear dropped out and I got angled up in it. . . I managed to get a lump of wreckage, and hung on with one hand, while with the other I succeeded in clearing myself of the i ope. . . I started to swim for it. Gee whizz! The water was not half cold —54deg. I had been swimming about ;half an hour, when right in front of me 'oomed up a lifeboat My temperature wettt up bang. I called out, and thank God, they lumrd me, Willing hands helped me on board. She drifted about until 4 M a.m., when wc were picke'd up by a Norwegian steamer—They could not do enough for us—hot coffee' when wo arrived, g?.ve us all clothes, fixed up the | wounded ones, plenty of cigarettes and cigars; ham and eggs'for breakfast. They took us up to St. Helen's Bav. where we transferred into a navy patrol steamer, which took us up to Portsmouth On the navy boat they also treated* us royally and at 2 o'clock on Mondav afternoon we landed at Portsmouth. We were met on arrival by a R.N.R. Commander, who, after having sent the rest of the crowd to the Sailor's Home, took the skipper and me to his. office, I being the only other officer in the boat. After having heard our story, he sent me, with four o? the cadets, to the leading hotel in Portsmouth, where we were well looked after. We came to London yesterday morning, a«jd the company has treated us handsomely. . . We are going to be sent back to N»\v lZen.la.nd a« passengers. The hardest part about this turn out is that 17 out of 28 cadets lost their lives. The chief engineer, chief officer, second officer, and chief steward were all lost. • . . Some of those who were saved were real heroes, especially the cadets. If some of the brave and self-sacrificing things done on that fatal morning did not deserve the V.C., then I will turn it