The Saga Of San Demetrio (Paperback)

THE SAGA OF San Dcmctrio i M I. THE SHIP 3 II. THE GREW 8 IH, THE CONVOY IS ATTACKED 17 IV. SAN DEMETWO ABANDONED 25 V, SAN DEMETEIO REGAINED 32 VI. A DERELICT MADE SHIPSHAPE 41 VH. quot BY GUESS AND BY GOD quot 52 VIH. quot THE LIVING SHALL PRAISE THEE quot 58 IX. LANDFALL 64 X. GOOD TIDINGS 72 XI. SALVAGE 77 quot, quot. .. ......., ILLUSTRATIONS Diagram of M. V. San Demetrio M. V. San Demetrio Signal of Distress Under her own Power Upper Bridge Deck Chief Engineer s Cabin page 2 between pages 29-30 THE SAGA OF San Dcmtrio ex, I - P-i .9 CHAPTER I The Skip THE GREATEST BATTLE till now of this war is the Battle of the Atlantic and it may well remain so, even though die Battle of the Pacific has started. For every man who sails that great and difficult ocean, the Atlantic, in the way of a seaman s duty, is fighting in this battle, a battle that is not yet won and is being perpetually fought. Were it to be lost by us which will never happen not only would Britain starve, but she would no longer be able to make munitions to send to Russia and to those countries in the Near East and the Orient which we are bound to help. Never sit at your table and eat the food the mer chantmen have brought you, never listen to the anti-aircraft guns firing in your defence, without re membering this never see a vessel, dingy and shabby, coming safely into port without thanking her, however silently never see one setting off without the hope that all will be well with her. The life and liberty of man-3 4 THE SAGA OF San Demetrio kind depends not only on the Navy, but also on the Mercantile Marine. There is an old tag which says that the Navy is the Silent Service. It is even truer to call the MercantileMarine the Inarticulate Service, not so much that its members cannot be vocal if they wish, but because they want to get on with the job without any undue fuss, which would mean loss of time. This job was never, at its best, a light or easy one, and it is far worse now. Men who follow the sea are used to danger, but in war time these dangers are more than the usual hazards of the elements death falls from the air, death lies upon the surface of the waters, and death comes from below. The waters all over the globe have been the scene of countless stories of valour since this war started many of them never to be told, because both men and ships are lying fathoms deep. Luckily for the future, sur vivors of some actions have lived for their tales to be recorded for the inspiring of future generations. The bravest of the ships are the merchantmen, so vulnerable, often lost and unescorted, and when in convoy only too often protected by armed merchant liners, vessels manned by those whose gallantry is un surpassed in the proud sea-annals of this war, but which are frail of structure when confronted by a raider s guns, Of the merchantmen the bravest are the THE SHIP 5 oil-tankers, for they may blow up in a blaze of heat and flames directly they are hit and of the men aboard them the bravestand no deck officers or crew will deny this are the Black Squad. And, make no mistake about it, for hundreds of years to come, when a story such as that of H. M. S. Calliope who fought her way inch by inch out of the harbour at Samoa in the teeth of a cyclone, cheered by the doomed American sailors on the United States man-o - war TrenthamOT that of the S. S. Trevessas boats, is told, then the tale of SanDemetrio and the armed mer chantman H. M. S. Jervis Bay, which was in charge of the convoy, will be told also, and may well be given pride of place. There may have been stories of the sea as great, but none greater. M. V. San Demetrio M. V. San Demetrio was, as the initials in front of her name imply, a motor-driven ship. She was a tanker of 8,073 tons gross and 4,815 net, 463 feet in length, and she was fitted with a Kincaid engine, which is an eight cylinder supercharged engine of 502 N. H. P...