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As the late afternoon sun began to slide towards the South Atlantic horizon on 27th November 1941, a disparate flotilla of six Carley rafts containing the remaining seventy-two living members of HMS Dunedin's ship's company lay spread across ten miles of sea. For the remaining men, a fourth night without rescue beckoned. Most had little hope of seeing the next morning. Unknown to these men, through a mixture of luck and the skill of an eagle-eyed third mate, rescue was within reach. The US merchant, SS Nishmaha, en route from Takoradi in West Africa to Philadelphia, had strayed into the path of the survivors after engine trouble had forced her to drift on the ocean currents. Aboard Nishmaha, while the early evening light began to dim,
In the course of the next five hours the men of Nishmaha rounded up the seventy-two men on six rafts spread across about ten miles. It was dark by the time the last man was hauled aboard and Nishmaha was ready to move on - to Port of Spain in Trinidad. Five of Dunedin's remaining ship's company died on the voyage to Trinidad. For the remainder, there followed a voyage of a week and a half during which time the crew of Nishmaha looked after them with wonderful care and attention. In gratitude to the crew of the Nishmaha, the sixty-seven survivors signed the following letter during the voyage: We whose names appear below, having been rescued from the ocean on 27th November, 1941, by SS Nishmaha, wish to place on record our deep appreciation of the skilful seamanship by which we were picked up from our rafts; and our heartfelt gratitude for the constant care and attention which have been lavished upon us during the subsequent ten days passage. In caring for 67 men, a large number of whom were injured and helpless, the task so willingly undertaken by the 36 members of your ship's company was one whose magnitude we fully realise, and we can find no words adequately to express our thanks for all they have done for us. The generosity and kindness which we have experienced under the United States Flag, and the skilful care by which so many have been nursed back to health by yourself, your Officers, and crew will never be forgotten by us. Signed by the sixty-seven........
Click here to read Roy Murray's own extraordinary account of what happened and here to read the sad news of his death in 2010.
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third mate Roy
Murray (right), aged 22, spotted a small raft in the distance and ordered a course
change. In the ocean's swell the raft disappeared from view each time it fell to
the base of a wave, appearing again as it rose to its crest. As Nishmaha sailed
closer, so the men on the raft could see a ship approaching. One of the three
remaining survivors on that raft was my father. The three of them summoned all
their last reserves of energy and yelled and waved and screamed, then slumped
again in relief as it became clear that they would be
delivered from their horrible ordeal. It was Thanksgiving Day 1941.
Sixty-four years later, Nishmaha found the Dunedin survivors
again. That eagle-eyed third mate - (now Captain) Roy Murray (left) is alive and living
in Houston and met the four known remaining survivors in England in June 2005. It
was a most extraordinary
and emotional occasion.