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Battle or Action:
SS Lady Drake, Sinking of
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Detail : |
"The Lady Drake began its round-trip voyage from Canada to the West Indies in mid-April, 1942. Her Master was Captain Percy Ambrose Kelly M.B.E. The Lady Drake called at Boston, Demerara in British Guyana for sugar, Trinidad, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Guantanamo before sailing to Bermuda. They set off from Bermuda early on Monday the 4th of May, fully aware that "there was vigorous submarine activity almost amounting to a blockade ninety miles north of the island. In order to try to hasten the passage a fuel oil which had been taken on in Trinidad was used, however it was found to produce a thick black smoke visible for 25 miles around when extra speed was asked for, Captain Percy was faced with going slower and imperiling the 268 people on board, or going faster and giving the ship's position away to prowling submarines. Not 24 hours into its passage, when just 186 miles north of the island and 430 nautical miles southeast of Nantucket U-106 under Kapitaenleutnant Hermann Rasch struck with two torpedoes.
In order to avoid submarine attack Captain Percy had deviated 45 degrees off course the swung back hours later, and was zig zagging, so that the first torpedo was seen by the Naval Gunners to pass 50 feet from the stern. There were ten lookouts posted: one on the monkey island above the bridge, two on the lower bridge, one on the forecastle head and two on the games deck aft and four gunners on duty. The second topedo, however was deadly to a dozen of the people on the ship: it struck between the cargo bulkhead and engine room, shutting out all power and lights on the ship before the lookouts could convey their intelligence to the bridge. Since the main radio was out of commission the Radio Operators tried to send out on the emergency set, however there is no indication that they succeeded, and it appears that due to a high level of static the messages never got out. (NOB Bermuda's Commandant noted on 7th May that "It seems strange that neither the LADY HAWKINS nor the LADY DRAKE made a distress call.") In the ten minutes from 9:00 to 9:10 pm the Lady Drake was evacuated of 256 survivors - the six passengers and six crew who perished being unaccounted for. Among the dead were Ship's Boy Emanuel Cozier, aged 24, Second Steward Harold Stanley, aged 39, two Firemen in their twenties: Anthony Yearwood and Hewley Edward White, and General Servant Graham Carter. Amongst the passengers lost were Oscar Greenidge, aged 23, Eric Seymour Hamblin, aged 26, Cuthbert Alleyne Reid, aged 29 and Thomas W. Reid, aged 21, though it is not known if they were brothers, and Andrew R. Bradshaw." |
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