TRAMPS DEFEND THEMSELVES

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 53, 28 June 1940, Page 24

TRAMPS DEFEND THEMSELVES

"THE MERCHANT NAVY FIGHTS: Tramps against U-Boats." By A. D. Divine. John Murray, publishers, London. |: the early days of this war cold, formal Admiralty messages «= announced the sinking of ‘merchant ships and the destruction of German U-boats. There were no details, merely precise statements of fact. Yet behind the loss of each ship was often a tale of courage as fine as anything in the

long history of the sea. Four of the ships which met the German blow were the Stonepool, the MHeronspool, the Rockpool, and the Otterpool — blunt, squat merchant vessels. Neither their funnels nor their bridges knew any nonsense * about streamlining, or even about art. They were built to carry cargo and every line suggested a maximum load with a minimum of fuss and bother. Their speed was between eight and nine knots; if they did more they were flying. Each ship carried one small

anti-submarine gun and one anti-aircraft gun, mounted in the stern since that is demanded by international law. And under that law such ships fight only to defend themselves in flight; they must never attack. Yet those ships fought, courageously, splendidly, against overwhelming odds. One was sunk by bombs. When her guns were put out of action her captain lay on his back on the deck, firing at a great Heinkel bomber with his old rifle. It is a stirring story. It gives a lift to the heart to read that men will fight in such circumstances, The Stonepool was filled with coal, lumbering through the Atlantic when the U-boat put a shot across her bows just after dawn. Within minutes the little

gun was manned, the captain swung his ship ready for fight. For hours he fought the U-boat dodging her torpedoes, turning in the ocean like the hunted thing that old ship had become. Shells from the U-boat splintered her side, leaving a gaping hole through which the water poured. Her lifeboat was wrecked. Then, as she fired her 15th shell, something happened. The shell had found its mark and the U-boat threshed the water helpless. When, hours later, a destroyer arrived, she was scuttled by her crew. For hours the Rockpool fought another U-boat-and won. She was on her way back to England, but lost her protective convoy in trying to repair a lifeboat which had been damaged in a terrific storm. This was perhaps the most gallant fight of all, if comparison may be made in courage, faith, and the certitude of victory. Three torpedoes missed their mark as,the ship turned and twisted in the water; the 4-in. gun misfired and for, the remainder of the fight she was fired by a lanyard. Untrained gunners lined their sights on a target which sat like an armchair on the waste of water. When the bubbling evil track of a torpedo came towards the ship the second officer asked: ‘‘ North or south, sir? Shall we toss for it?" "Toss nothing," said the captain. "South!" and the ship swung off her tortuous course again. Thus the fight went on, from noon until far into the night. The ship’s officers prayed for a fog; a full moon came instead. Down in the stokehold every ounce of steam possible helped the ship to keep ahead of the U-boat. Then, as eyes strained over the moonlit water, the submarine disappeared. No flash came from her guns which, a few hours previously had scattered their wicked shrapnel over the ship in an effort to kill the gun crew, Slowly, steadily she made through the sea. When she reached the English Channel there was a welcome, They had got their U-boat. A destroyer had found her helpless on the water. The stories of these ships have been admirably told by A. D, Divine in the first book of its kind to be issued since the outbreak of war. Each is a story of magnificent courage against terrible odds.