ADRIFT ON RAFT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 April 1940, Page 3

ADRIFT ON RAFT

SWEDISH SEAMAN’S ORDEAL EIGHT COMPANIONS DIE. RESCUE SHIPS PASS BY. A terrible story of ordeal at sea was told by Stig Bergstrom, aged 27. when ho was landed at an East Coast of England port by the Norwegian vessel the Leka, says the "Manchester Guardian.” The Leka rescued him from the raft which bore the frozen corpses of five of hig shipmates, members of the crew of the Swedish vessel the Foxen. which was sunk by a mine or torpedoed in the North Sea on January 18.

For four days Bergstrom had been on the raft without fresh water and with only' a case of tinned provisions. He was suffering severely from exposure. frostbite and thirst. Though ho know it would bo certain death if ho drank too much, ho could not help sipping the soa waler. He was brought aboard the Leka delirious, All night ho cried out for his brother and other shipmates, imagining all the time he was still on the raft. Drenched, and without water, nine Swedish seamen were at the complete mercy of the bitterly cold weather, and one by one eight of them died either from exposure or from the effects of drinking sea water. When the Leka sighted him Bergstrom was still clinging to the raft. In hospital Bergstrom told his story' through an interpreter. "I and eight others,” he said, "were aft in the crew's quarters at the time. | We ran on deck and clung to the raft I which was lying on No. 3 hatch. The f forepart of the ship went down first and as the water rushed over the decks the raft floated. I then. saw the ship almost perpendicular in the sea with its stern above our heads. It seemed ns if it was on the point of tumbling on top of us. but quite suddenly she. disappeared and we were left on the raft.

"Another ship came on the scene and circled several times looking for survivors. We shouted and waved frantically, but in the darkness she did not see us. Then we heard a cry for help, but we could not find whence it came. The raft was very deep but only six inches above the water and the icy sea was continually flowing over and drenching us. “Next day the cook and the mess boy were frozen dead. We had on the raft a box containing blankets and raincoats, which we shared, and also a case of tinned provisions. We had no means of opening the tins until I found a large nail, with which I forced open a four-pound tin of coined beef. This cut my hands severely and later they became very sore and caused me much pain, "Next day another seaman and a , fireman died. The fireman complained bitterly of thirst and in spite of I our protests he drank sea water. He i became insane and dived overboard. ! My own brother. Malte, held out un- ! til the Saturday night. We cheered i each other by singing and trying to 1 comfort one another. Early on the Saturday night a steam trawler or drifter came slowly towards us until she was only fifty feet away. We hailed her at the top of our voices, but i to no purpose. ■ "Two more mon died that night. 1 ' began to suspect that my own broth- I or was losing his reason. 1 fell asleep j and when I woke up 1 saw him in i the water. Ho was raising his loft hand and crying to me for help, but I was too weak-. All I could do was watch him disappear. "There were only two of us left and three hours before I was rescued my last comrade died. I was left alone on the raft with five dead shipmates around me.

"1 suffered terribly from thirst and I could not resist the temptation to drink sea waler. 1 knew it would mean certain death if I drank too much, so I merely sipped it. Then, to my indescribable joy. I sighted the Leka when she was several miles away. 1 struggled to my feet and with a piece of cloth fastened to a pole I frantically waved until I collapsed

On my knees I prayed that they had seen me. All 1 could repeat was. I 'Please. God. make them see me. - 1 "That was all 1 know until I was j lifted and collapsed as much from joy as from exhaustion." Captain Frithjof Utne, master of the I.oka. told how he saw a speck on the sea which proved to be a raft, and promptly altered his course towards

"The other five men were dead." hi said, "and poor Bergstrom was nearly done too. How he survived the bitter cold I do not know, but he showed remarkable will power in refusing to take more than a few drops of sea water. That undoubtedly saved his life."

The master of the Leka also said that on the same voyage he saved the captain and four members of the crew of the Norwegian ship Manx, which had been sunk by enemy action. He found them clinging to an overturned lifeboat. Beneath it were two dead mon.