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...
General
Imprint: |
Read Books
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Release date: |
March 2007 |
First published: |
March 2007 |
Authors: |
F.Tennyson Jesse
|
Dimensions: |
216 x 140 x 5mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
96 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-4067-6918-0 |
Categories: |
Books >
Humanities >
History >
General
Books >
History >
General
|
LSN: |
1-4067-6918-5 |
Barcode: |
9781406769180 |
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