The German pirate : $b his methods and record — John Shaqi
The German pirate : $b his methods and recordAjax
History
The German pirate : $b his methods and record
Ajax
World War, 1914-1918 -- Naval operations -- Submarine
During the night both wind and sea increased considerably, and the
chief officer's boat had lost touch with the others by the following
morning, which was Tuesday. At 10 a.m. the weather compelled them to
take in all sail, and they lay-to, keeping her head-on to the enormous
seas with the help of a sea-anchor and the occasional use of the oars.
They proceeded in this way throughout the day and during Tuesday night,
which was very dark. They were thankful to see day break on Wednesday.
They had lost their sea-anchor in the night, so lashed a couple of
oars together, which served as a fairly good substitute. The weather
improved during the morning, so they hoisted sail again and proceeded
east.
During Tuesday night the _chef_ had gone mad, and on Wednesday he died.
Being accustomed to the warmth of a galley fire, he could not stand the
cold. Meanwhile, the chief officer had taken control of the provisions
and water. He served out the water in the morning and evening at the
rate of half a dipper-full to each person. During Wednesday night the
storekeeper went mad and had to be lashed down. He died about noon on
Thursday, and a third-class passenger also expired on the same day.
That night there were heavy squalls, so they had to take in sail and
put out their improvised sea-anchor. On Friday morning the weather
moderated, and they were able to set full sail again. An A.B. died
during the day, and everyone had now begun to endure agonies of thirst.
They continued to sail all Friday night, but exposure and exhaustion
were reducing them to a state of callousness, and at times they
suffered from light-headedness. These attacks were worse in the night
than by daylight. On Saturday morning a fireman was found dead in the
bottom of the boat, and during the day a third-class pantry-boy died.
There was little doubt in the chief officer's mind that the secret
drinking of salt water was hastening the death of many. He did his best
to prevent it, but he was working watch and watch at the tiller, and
there are limits to what one man can accomplish. They drifted with sail
down all through the night of Saturday, there being no stars to steer
by; but sail was re-hoisted at daybreak on Sunday. A cattleman, who
had been behaving in a peculiar way for two days, made three attempts
to jump overboard, and at last succeeded. The enfeebled state of his
shipmates rendered his rescue impossible, although they turned the boat
round and sailed about in the position where he had disappeared.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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