SHIP BISECTED

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 December 1939, Page 5

SHIP BISECTED

CREW ATTEMPT TO NAVIGATE STAUNCH HALF INCIDENT ON BRITISH TANKER. AFTER HAVING BEEN TORPEDOED. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. LONDON, December 27. How the crew of the British tanker San Alberto (7497 tons) tried to navigate half of the vessel to port after a German torpedo had bisected her on December 9 is revealed by the crew, who escaped in four boats just before her forepart sank. The captain and occupants of three of the boats regained the after part, which was found to be staunch. They raised steam, switched on the lights and went slow astern to prevent the waves from ripping off the plates whenever she faced the head seas. The crew were eventually rescued by a destroyer. A Cadiz report states that the Spanish steamer Ciudad de Melilla rescued the crew of the German steamer Glucksburg (2680 tons), which British warships had chased aground near San Lucar. A message from Oslo reports that the Norwegian steamer Torwood (254 tons) sank in the North Sea after an explosion. Seven of the crew of 11 were rescued.

HEROIC EFFORT

VAIN ATTEMPT TO NAVIGATE REMNANT. DIFFICULTY IN RESCUING CREW. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 9.40 a.m.) RUGBY, December 28. Details are now available of the heroic but vain efforts of the captain of the British steamer San Alberto, which broke in two after being torpedoed' without the slightest warning on December 9, to bring the after part of his vessel to port, after the forepart had gone down. Having abandoned the ship immediately in four boats, the captain later decided that his distress signals could not have been heard and that part of the San Alberto which had been kept afloat by chance was a “place of safety,” which the U-boat, had considerately left for the San Alberto’s crew. After prolonged efforts the engines could be used again and the captain attempted the supremely difficult task of taking her back to harbour. One boat of the four meanwhile was lost to sight in the rough seas. Some time later the San Alberto encountered a Belgian tanker, which vainly searched the seas for the lost boat and also failed, owing the extreme roughness of the seas, in attempts at rescuing the San Alberto’s crew from their ship, which by now was slowly disintegrating. Eventually, a destroyer came up and stood by till daylight, when the crew of what remained of the San Alberto were safely taken off before she sank by the stern. Eventually, the missing boat was discovered and the crew rescued after five days at sea in their open boat.

STEAM UP

GERMAN SHIPS IN BRAZILIAN PORTS. READINESS TO DEPART. NEW YORK, December 27. The Rio de Janeiro correspondent of the “New York Times” says that 15 German ships in Brazilian ports are keeping steam up in readiness to depart. Some are already loaded and others are loading. It is believed they will leave singly.