Lifeboat Number Seven

Account by Lt West
- References to Captain Collie

....At 0645 on the morning of March 25th 1941, a ship was sighted and the events which followed brought destruction and suffering and all the horrors of war at sea. The pleasant, comfortable ship with her crew and passengers faced her last few hours and we on board were reminded that we were at war and not on a pleasure cruise.

* * * *

On Tuesday 25th March 1941....Lieutenant Harman, R.N.V.R. was officer in charge of look-outs on the poop deck and Sub-lieutenant McIntosh, R.N. on the bridge.

With Harman were two Naval ratings, Seigwright and Wheater and it was Siegwright who at about six-forty-five a.m. first sighted a ship...on the port bow.

...Alarm bells were sounded....I hastily pulled on some clothes over my pyjamas and, with my cabin mate Bailey, waited in the cabin or the main companion way.

...Suddenly they saw the spurt of flame that told them the ship was an enemy surface raider...The Chief Officer had now arrived to take charge on the poop and gave orders to open fire...

...an enemy shell burst immediately above them. Men went down like nine-pins....

...The Chief was trying to get the gun working again, but found its mechanism damaged....Wheater and others were launching the smoke floats over the stern...

...In addition to the smoke from the floats dropped over the stern, funnel smoke was made and Britannia altered course slightly to port to get behind it. This cover was effective and firing ceased....

...During this brief respite, several of us took the oppotunty to visit the main galley, where we were given large, thick slices of bread on which we spread marmalade. This we ate hungrily...

...we could have spent some of our time more profitably. ..How much would we have valued medical supplies, scissors, aspirin, matches, cigarettes and food, all of which could so easily have been put in our pockets...

...Having got through our smoke, she commenced firing once more and at nine-fifteen a direct hit on the after-end of the boat deck started a fairly large fire as a tank containing inflammable fuel was ignited. At nine-twenty our Captain struck colours and orderd Abandon Ship.....

...Still the shells from the raider were being hurled at us....

...By now Britannia's decks were a shambles with....damaged lifeboats hanging despairingly in their davits. Such was the scene as I ran half the length of the ship to my lifeboat station...

...By this time I had reached nmy boat station and the firing had ceased. To my unspeakable relief Lifeboat Number Seven was still intact and sitting safely on its chocks. I became aware of figures. No words were spoken as together we silently inspected the boat for damage, none dared voice our common fear. Davies and Lyons with experienecd eyes found holes, ragged and torn from splinters of shell. Davies stuffed his handkerchief into one and Lyons plugged another with a piece of wood

.......We raised our boat from the chocks ...and out went the boat in its davits, our drill had been worthwhile. MacVicar and McIntosh had joined us and others whose own lifeboats were damaged....

...Meanwhile other boats were being lowered. Number One had immediately become waterlogged, but Numbers Five and Six fully loaded were getting away from the ship's side. Numbers Nine and Ten were badly damaged and hanging in splinters in  their davits....

By this time the raider was close in and giving us a chance to get away in the boats. We were too much occupied to take notice of it, being anxious only to control our boat and embark its load of passengers. The Indians cane swarming down the ladder and a knotted rope. Many seemd to have brought most of their belongings....

...McIntosh, MacVicar and the others were frantically straining to hold the boat in position and keep it under control. Davies and Purdie worked like supermen as the men were packed in. Cases and bags were thrown over-board depite the ptotests of their owners...

....The whole operation was carried out with orderliness and efficiency, calmness and skill. We were vaguely aware of other activities around us, of tables, rafts, baulks of timber, and so on, being thrown overboard form Britannia and of men swimming.

A Naval Lieutenant, R.N.V.R., named Strong, who had assisted nobly to control the flow of Indians into our boat, would not join us, saying we were already overloaded. He threw his gun and binoculars into the hands of Wheater, standing amidships in the lifeboat, shouting at the same time that they might be of more use to us than to him. Our last sight of him was as he jumped into the water and swam towards a raft.

The next move was to get away from Britannia as quickly as we could and reach a safe distance before she sank.

...An Aldis lamp on the bridge of the raider blinked a message: "Abandon Ship. I am about to open fire." The Captain and Officers of Britannia remaining on board gave, for the first time, a thought to their own safety and how they too might get away. The Fourth Officer, Mr. Leaitch with several others launched a small dinghy. Doors, tables and anything that would float and support men in the water were hastily thrown overboard by those reaming on board and then they themselves jumped into the sea. Captain Collie, the Chief Officer, Second Officer, Purser, two Engineer Officers and Third Wireless Operator had nothing left but a damaged lifeboat which they lowered but almost at once it became completely waterlogged.

...We were well away as the raider from very close range fired several rounds into the for'ard holds. Britannia's bows slowly lowered into the water...

.. ....It was with relief that we saw the enemy vessel make off...

(...I have since met a Naval Officer survivor who was one of the last to leave the ship. He is emphatic that...a small raft on which was one man, drifting towards the German vessel. As it floated alongside the occupant was hoised aboard.")

....McIntosh...MacVicar, equally forceful, was able to keep men at the oars....

...But between them they had driven us so hard that we were enabled to get a safe distance before Britannia sank. Our boat was rapidly filling with water and all who coukd were set to bale

...Four other lifeboats were at times visible, spread over a considerable area. One had already got its mast stepped and sail hoisted. Another was doing so and a third, quite close to us was obviously sinking, with water over the gunwales, its occpuants appealing to us with outstretched arms and pleading voices. Our own plight was by now nearly as bad as theirs, for we had no more than six inchs of free-board and were filling rapidly....

...All our efforts were now concentrated on keeping sufficient way on with the oars to enable McIntosh to control the boat, and to bale frantically while MacVicar and Davies, withe help of one or two Lascar seamen stepped the mast....

Their efforts were eventually successful and the foresail was set. We then rode more comfortable before the wind and were able to stop rowing. This enabled us all to cocentrate on baling...

..Soon the othere lifeboats were out of sight.

Colin Bower
30 November 2024

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