Kiwi WWII Navy Stories

[Dave Homewood]

This thread will be interesting WWI stories of Kiwis in the Navy.

TORPEDOED AT SEA

SAILOR'S DESCRIPTION

MANY HOURS ON RAFT

“We got ours at about half past eleven at night, just when we were asleep,” said Able Seaman P. A. Fearon, formerly of Hamilton, in a letter to his parents describing a torpedo attack on the ship in which he was serving. "It put our engines out of action as it struck the after boiler room. The ship straightened out well after a few minutes and the gear was made ready to send a tow rope aboard one of the other ships with us. She had just pulled the tow aboard and was making it fast when the second torpedo hit.
“This was about three quarters or near an hour after the first. As soon as the second hit us, the other ship slipped the tow rope. I have never seen anything disappear so quickly, but it was not any good her standing by, as she would only have caught a packet as well. A few minutes after the third struck and the order to abandon ship was given. Carley floats and spanner rafts were a dropped.
Suction at Ship’s Side

“Trying to swim away from the side of the ship was like swimming against the current of the Waikato River, as the suction was so great. I thought I might do better if I ditched my shoes, and after a struggle I managed to rid myself of them but found myself back at the ship’s side again. Her port gunwale was about awash then. So I swam alongside the ship to the stern in order to get where there was less suction. I got a fair distance from the ship and found a raft, held on and turned to have a look at the ‘old girl.’ The fourth and fifth torpedoes struck then and finished her off. There was a destroyer standing by a couple of hundred yards away, so we made for her. We had not gone far when the stern was blown right away by two ‘tin fishes.’ The other destroyer was firing star shells and the lighting effect was wonderful.

Destroyer and Submarine
“A ‘sub’ surfaced and the destroyer blazed away at her with machine-guns which took the periscope away. The destroyer then tried her 3-inch gun on the sub. The first shell fired was a star shell which bounced off like a ball. The submarine crash dived and the destroyer steamed over her and dropped a packet of depth charges that blew her sky-high. The depth charges made our stomachs rattle as we were still in ‘the drink.’ It was just like a horse kicking you in the tummy and we were numb from the chest down to the big toe. Charges were dropped all night. The water was fairly warm and lovely pieces of phosphorus seemed to cling to you just like sparks going up a chimney. Just after that one of our boys came paddling along in a raft (he's a big fat chap) just like a Maori in a war canoe, and sang out to me “All right, Pete?’

“Another fellow when the order was given to abandon ship jumped, as he thought into the sea, but landed on the well deck. My raft, there were about 45 of us hanging on to it, was picked up by a destroyer about noon next day. A lot of neat rum and a rub down soon warmed us up, and not long afterwards we were fast asleep. We were sent back to London. Sixteen days’ survivors’ leave in London was great.”

WAIKATO TIMES, 3 MARCH 1943

[Dave Homewood]

NEW ZEALAND SEAMAN

ATTACKS ON CONVOYS

“LIKE SWARM OF BEES”

(United Press Assn. —Elec. Tel. Copyright) (Special Correspondent) (Received Jan. 6, 3.15 p.m.) LONDON, Jan. 6

The only New Zealander serving in a destroyer which was in an autumn Russian convoy and also accompanied a convoy landing the North African army was Able Seaman Andrew Turnbull, of Wanganui.

He was a member of a pom-pom crew. His gun definitely accounted for four torpedo-bombers during an attack when the convoy was bound for Russia.

“They appeared like a swarm of bees on the horizon,” he said. The crew averaged three hours’ sleep daily on that trip. Later the destroyer went to Algiers, Philippeville, Bougie and Bona.

“The most marvellous sight I have ever seen was that North African convoy,” said Able Seaman Turnbull. “It was a clear, sunny day and the Mediterranean was a perfect blue. Everywhere we looked were ships of all shapes and sizes. Our destroyer was one of the first to anchor in Algiers harbour after the commandos landed.

“From then on we were divebombed continuously. Our narrowest escape was when a Messerschmitt acted as a decoy and attempted to distract our attention in the dusk while nine dive-bombers got into position over us. They each dropped four bombs, all of which missed, one going within six feet of the forecastle.”

Able Seaman Turnbull is going to H.M.S. King Alfred for a commission shortly.

WAIKATO TIMES, 7 JANUARY 1943

[Dave Homewood]

NEW ZEALAND SEAMAN

AMAZING EXPERIENCES ON GERMAN SUBMARINE

United Press Assn.— Elec. Tel. Copyright) (Special Correspondent) LONDON. Jan. 6.

When Petty-Officer B. D. Mac Kay, of Ashburton, left New Zealand nearly three years ago, he had never imagined he would one day board a German submarine in the South Atlantic and be given a large bowl of chicken broth by Germans, but that is a fact and not fiction.
Petty-Officer Mac Kay, who says his second name should be “Lucky,” has been torpedoed twice and mined once, but has come up smiling each time. His third escape included horror and amazement. He was returning to England from South Africa in a merchant ship which was torpedoed at dusk eight days outward bound.

“Of the 4000 on board, it is estimated that 3000 were saved,” said Petty-Officer MacKay. “The torpedo hit the mess deck and killed some 600 Italian prisoners, outright. I was playing cards below. I fetched my overcoat and then helped to fling rafts overboard and get women and children into the lifeboats. Only one woman and one child were lost out of the 140.”

“That scene in the pitch dark, with the cries of the wounded, had to be seen to be believed. Many lost their lives when oil flooded the stairs, so that they were unable to get up on deck, and went down with the ship.”

“I slid down a rope into a lifeboat. We had great difficulty in getting away from the ship, because the waves kept washing us against it, but finally, after what seemed years, we got away. The ship sank about ten minutes later.”

Pack of Six Submarines
“We kept hauling men into the lifeboat until it held 96, which is nearly double its capacity,” Petty-Officer MacKay continued. “We could see rafts’ lights round us like great glow-worms. A submarine surfaced and shone a searchlight, revealing eerily struggling men in the wreckage. It turned out that there was a pack of six submarines, including Italians. They surfaced and took women and children on board.”

“For four days they prevented us from making for Nigeria, stating that they had radioed for a French cruiser. On the fourth day, they returned the women and children to the lifeboats and gave us a meal of chicken broth, also rum and water. We stood on a submarine’s deck drinking the broth, which was excellent.”

“Then all the submarines disappeared, and just at dusk on the fifth day a French cruiser appeared and took nearly 900 of us on board. We were battened down and were allowed on deck for an hour daily. We were taken to Dakar, and then to Casablanca.”
“We were put in a barbed-wire prison camp and not allowed out. We were torpedoed on September 12, and remained in the camp until the Americans landed at Casablanca. We were certainly pleased to see them. They sent us to Virginia and then to New York, where we stayed for a fortnight, having a grand time. We then went to England in a convoy, arriving last week.”

WAIKATO TIMES, 8 JANUARY 1943