Free Java applets provided by
JavaScript
Kit
SS Athelknight & SS Scottish Heather
By Mike Kemble - Created 29 June 2004. Modified: 27 December 2004
The Tanker "Athelknight"
CAPTAIN DOUGLAS CROOK, was a Battle of the Atlantic veteran who achieved an epic feat of seamanship as Second Officer of the tanker Athelknight, which was sunk by U-172 (see below) north-east of the Virgin Islands on May 27, 1942. The U-boat surfaced alongside Crook's lifeboat, and its captain asked if there was anything he needed. Crook said an extra bucket, food and medical supplies. "He gave us the bucket and some fairly mouldy bread," Crook recalled, "but said he couldn't spare any of his medical supplies." Crook, in charge of a lifeboat with 26 survivors, decided he would make for Antigua. He maintained the strictest discipline in the boat. "If anyone was caught tampering with the fresh water, I promised personally to chop his bloody fingers off." They drank condensed mail and water, and ate pemmican and hard-tack biscuits, carefully rationed by Crook. "The best we did was three fluid ounces a day," he recalled. "Eventually we got down to an ounce of water a day. But there was no escaping the sun. Some of the lads wanted to take a dip to cool off, but I refused permission because I considered that they'd be too weak to get back on board. "We became coated in salt, and as time passed our lips began to suffer terribly." After 28 days and more than 1,000 miles, they reached the French island St. Barthelemey, 100 miles north-west of Antigua, and came ashore with water and rations to spare. Crook was awarded an MBE not an over-generous award in the circumstances. Crook at once volunteered to go to sea again, and won the George Medal and Lloyds War Medal for bravery at sea later that year as Second Officer of the tanker Scottish Heather. Scottish Heather was equipped as an oiler to refuel convoy escorts under way. She sailed with the outward-bound convoy ONS154, which was badly mauled by two packs of U-boats, 13 ships being sunk in a running battle which began on Christmas Eve 1942. Scottish Heather was torpedoed by U-225 (See below) on the night of the 27th and most of her crew, including the Captain and the Chief Officer, took to the lifeboats. Crook was about to get into a boat himself when he realised that the ship was not going to sink. He called for volunteers, and took command of the ship. They raised steam, got under way, recovered many of the survivors, including the Captain and Chief Officer, and eventually reached the Clyde.
10:15pm. Torpedo hit on starboard side in No. 6 tank. Captain came on bridge and ordered engines to 'Stop'. Chief Engineer came on bridge for instructions and Captain said we would stand by with engines stopped & boats swung out.
Sub gave us about 10 mins. or ¼ of an hour before she struck us on port side with shell under the port midships boat. Submarine kept ahead about 2 points on port bow ¼ of a mile so that we could not use our aft gun.
When sub started shelling Capt. Roberts flashed a torch from the lower bridge but sub carried on shelling so Captain ordered 'Abandon Ship'. We had tried to get a wireless message out but everything in the W/T room was smashed. Captain’s boat was the first away and Senior Sparks and I were still on the top bridge. I had gone back for my patrol jacket and cap from port wing. Chief Officer was aft tripping rafts and attending to lowering of Second Mate’s boat.
Sparks and I went on lower bridge and shells were falling near the port boat which three or four men were attempting to lower. I told them to leave off and come with us to my (port after) boat but they took no notice and Sparks and I went aft to my boat. Second Mate’s boat was clear of ship. Chief Officer had already started lowering my boat away, and we cast off with 12 men aboard, mostly my boat’s crew, but some of them had gone in Captain’s boat. Not everyone had made for his own boat at the order ‘Abandon Ship’. The Mate said that he would go back to his boat, but didn’t. He came down into mine.
We pulled away and the sub was firing QF tracer shells over the boat. Port midships boat was now in the water and the men were calling out to us that they were making water and needed help. We pulled over to them thus putting ourselves in line of fire from sub to ship. We were quite close to them when a shell struck the ‘Athelknight’ portside amidships and also port midships boats. Shells were now falling thick and fast, and as there seemed to be great danger of our boat being shelled too, we pulled away from the ship. Two of our boat’s crew were injured by either shell splinters or m.g. (machine gun) bullets --- McAlinden, in face & Sheehan, in finger -- and I got some in my left hand.
In pulling away we lost Dewar fireman. He jumped or fell overboard but Chief Officer and I managed to haul him back aboard again. The boat was making water fast and we had to keep bailing continuously. Rowing was difficult for we had to keep ducking down below the gunwale to miss the m.g. bullets which were passing over the boat. We had some difficulty in steering because we had a broken rudder pintle.
After a while the sub had moved to the starboard side (of Athelknight) & the shelling had set the magazine on fire. We could see the shells & cordite going off like fireworks. We lay off the ship all night and some of us were violently sick.
In the morning we could still see the Knight about 2 miles away. She was on fire, but seemed to be upright, so we decided to go back and if we couldn't get the ship moving, we would take extra stores and a sextant and chronometer. On the way back we saw what we thought was the Captain's boat & thought that they must be making back for the ship too. But after we were a bit closer we saw it was the submarine, so we sheared off to the NW where we thought the Capt. & 2nd mate's boats must be.
At daybreak, the sub started shelling the ship again, but must have found it slow work sinking her by shell fire, for he soon gave her another torpedo which hit in the Engine Room starboard side. She sank in a few minutes stern first and heeling over to starboard. The last thing we saw was the fo’c’sle head going under. The Chief Engineer shed a few tears. He had served in the ship for many years.
After a while we saw a sail and rowing up to it found it to be the Second Mate & his crew with the Captain and his crew. We were told the motor boat (no. 1) had been holed when lowered on a jagged plate in No. 6 tank, so 2nd Officer had taken the whole of No. 1 crew aboard his boat. They had also picked up the damaged Mate’s boat, No. 2 port midships, with 2 dead men and 3 badly injured. 1 died a few hours later, shrapnel in the stomach. Moore O.S.., Gaisford & McGrath A.B.s were dead.
We took 13 men on board our boat making us 25 in all and leaving them 26, two of whom were severely injured. The Captain told us the sub Captain had promised to radio our position when he was clear of the area. The sub had given No. 3 boat a bucket to bail with and several loaves of hard German black bread. The Captain passed over 2 loaves to us.
Arranged with the Captain’s boat to keep in touch if possible & flash a light at night....
Tried to keep Captain’s boat in sight but had lost a lot of way. Rudder had been shot to bits, and oar is difficult to steer with. When darkness fell, we lost No. 3 boat altogether. Continued rowing until about 10.00 pm and then packed up and brailed sail for the night. Hands tried to sleep but not much success owing to cramped positions.
|
Food Supplies in Lifeboat |
|||
|
Item |
on May 26 |
on June 10 |
on June 26 |
| Biscuits | 35 (16-oz) tins | 22 tins - ration cut from 1 to 1/2 biscuit per meal. | 4 tins |
| Milk Tablets | 35 (16-oz) tins (1 tablet = 1/3 oz) |
29 tins | 16 tins |
| Pemmican | 97 (6-oz) tins (1 level teaspoon = 1/6 oz) | 79 tins | 23 tins |
| Condensed Milk | 48 (14-oz) tins | 21 tins | 16 tins |
| Chocolate | 35 (16-oz) tins (1 piece = 1/5 oz) | 21 tins | 2 tins |
| Drinking Water | Got an extra 8 gals. from an abandoned raft. Later made an awning to catch rainwater. | ||
4.00am. Breeze freshened from ENE. All sail set and proceed course WSW. true. Lost steering oar. It's hard to judge speed but I should think we're doing 3-4 knots in this good breeze.
Breakfast 7:00 am - 1
bisc. 2 choc. 2 milk tablets, 2-oz water.
Dinner noon - 1 bisc. 1 tsp pemmican, 2 milk tablets, 2 1/2 oz. water
Tea 6.00 pm. 1 bisc. 1 tsp. pemmican, 2 milk tablets, 2 chocs., 3 oz.
water.
Day ends with gentle breeze ENE. Compass WSW true.
Ready-made cigarettes are gone, also cigarette papers. There are 4 lbs. of shag tobacco and a few plugs aboard, so we are using shag tobacco and pages of Nautical Almanac for rolling cigarettes. Nautical Almanac is of no use to us, for we have not a sextant aboard.
. 0300 heavy rain commenced and continued until 0700. Collected 14 gallons and refilled empty service tanks.
. Issued the milk myself today, and used about 2/3 of a tin, against 1 ½ tins when I passed the tin round for each man to help himself.
What a stench there is in the boat, 25 men haven’t had a bowel movement for 17 days and all packed in a boat like sardines in a tin.
. Men are complaining about there being no issue of condensed milk for last 3 days, but we’ll have to cut down rations still more if these calms continue. All hands in water about six times today.
Checked stores again, and have about enough for 12 days if we cut them by half again.
Everyone feeling weak and thirsty now. Some of the men are drinking salt water, but if one stops them during the day, they drink twice as much at night time.
Opens cloudy, calm & smooth sea.
Breakfast: 1/2 bisc; 1
choc; 2 milk tablets; 1 tsp brandy; 1 oz water; 1/6 oz pemmican
Dinner noon: 1/2 bisc; 1 choc; 2 milk tablets; 1/6 oz pemmican; 1 oz
water.
1400 approx. sighted ship. Picked up by SS 'Empire Austin', bound for Capetown. All hands aboard by 3:45 and lifeboat sunk.
In Capetown, the Chief Officer requested a copy of the log. An edited copy was made and given to him before we left Capetown for Glasgow aboard the 'Warwick Castle'.
At 2135 hrs on 27 December 1942, the Scottish Heather was hit on the starboard side forward of the bridge by one torpedo from U-225, shortly after it had refuelled HMCS Chilliwack (K 131) about 15 miles behind the convoy ONS-154. The corvette had spotted the surfaced U-boat before the attack and opened fire. The U-boat went on full speed and outmaneouvered the warship on the surface for the successful attack on the tanker. The corvette forced them to dive and dropped depth charges but did no damage to the submaine.
Transcript of Newspaper report, circa 1943
Three boats were lowered
when a ship was torpedoed. The captain and most of his officers were
shattered by the explosion. Second Officer Douglas Crooks, M.B.E., of
Selbourne-grove, Keighley, Yorkshire saw there was a chance of saving
the ship and called for volunteers to stay:- Last night's official
citations name these heroes of the low deck, each of whom receives the
B.E.M. for outstanding bravery and devotion to duty at sea.
1. The cabin boy - Thomas Dillon, aged 17, of Countess avenue,
Whitley Bay, Northumberland, displayed conspicuous gallantry in
remaining on board, although as the youngest member of the crew he
should have gone off in one of the lifeboats.
2. The greaser - Denis Andrew Byrne, Last-street, North Shields
worked all night to get the engines running again.
3. The cook - Ernest Bainbridge, of Park-crescent, North Shields,
came out of his galley, was one of the first to volunteer to stay in the
ship.
4. Ordinary Seaman - James W. Walker of Chirton, West View, North
Shields, tough man of the sea. He has volunteered for several dangerous
trips, would have still been working in the engine-room of his ship had
gone down.
Second Officer Crooks, adds the George Medal to his M.B.E. and
22-year-old, Sixth Engineer Gordon Allan of Harrison-place
Newcastle-on-Tyne, gets the M.B.E. Crooks and his volunteers saved the
ship and picked up the survivors. The ship is now at sea again.
Fate of U-172. Sunk 13 December, 1943 in the mid-Atlantic after a 27 hour fight west of the Canary Islands, in position 26.29N, 29.58W, by depth charges and Fido homing torpedoes from Avenger and Wildcat aircraft (VC-19) of the American escort carrier USS Bogue and by some 200 depth charges from the US destroyers USS George E Badger, USS Clemson, USS Osmond Ingram and USS DuPont. 13 dead and 46 survivors. http://www.uboat.net and also http://www.ubootwaffe.net/ops/ships.cgi?boat=172;nr=1
Fate of the U-225. Sunk 15 Feb, 1943 in the North Atlantic, in position 55.45N, 31.09W, by depth charges from a British B-24 Liberator aircraft (Sqdn 120/S). 46 dead (all hands lost). http://www.uboat.net and here http://www.ubootwaffe.net/ops/ships.cgi?boat=225;nr=1
|
|
Merchant Navy Day.com would like invite all families and relatives, friends and companions, to submit the names of their loved ones to the commemoration page for 3rd September in recognition of their contribution to the years 1939-1945. |
http://www.gordonmumford.com - an authors pages. Reproduced by permission. You can read much more on this by visiting this site.
Chronology of WW2 In The Atlantic Ocean
