Honouring the Men who gave their lives whilst serving in the Merchant Navy
and whose names are on the Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll
and whose names are on the Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll
S.S. KALINGO (Sydney)
WW2
WW2
The Sydney Morning Herald (N.S.W.) 21-1-1943
SHIP TORPEDOED OFF COAST
TWO DEAD, 32 REACH PORT
FISHING LAUNCH TO RESCUE
An allied freighter has been torpedoed and sunk with the loss of two lives while steaming off an Australian Port. Thirty two survivors crowded into one of the two lifeboats - the other was shattered by the blast of the exploding Torpedo - and rowed and sailed nearly all the way back to port before being sighted by two brothers setting out in a four horse-power motor launch on a fishing expedition
STOKERS WERE KILLED AT POSTS
Victims of the torpedo attack, which was made without warning, were stokers;. F. Lewis, of Glebe, Sydney, and J. Corcoran, of Westport, New Zealand.
They were probably killed at their posts, because the torpedo exploded on the port side near the stokehold. With the exception of a few men on watch, most of the crew, and two passengers were asleep in their bunks when the freighter was torpedoed. As the ship began to list rapidly to starboard there was no time to collect personal belongings. Spectacles, false teeth, and clothing were left behind. Some of the scantily-clad survivors were badly sunburned before they were sighted by the fishing launch on the afternoon of the following day. Graphic stories of the submarine's attack on the freighter were told by survivors when they reached port.
BLASTED FROM BUNK
The master said: "I was asleep in my cabin when I was blasted from, my bunk by a terrific detonation. The lights went out and I had a struggle to reach the bridge, where I at once realised what had happened. Not far away to port I could clearly see the outline of a large submarine on the point of submerging. She made no attempt to fire at us. My ship by that time had a sharp list to starboard and was fast settling down by the head. I lost no time, therefore, in sending an S.O.S. and ordering our only remaining boat on the starboard side- the port boat having been shattered- to be lowered. Thirty of the crew and two passengers were aboard. A search had been made for the missing firemen, but there was little doubt as to what had been their fate. No sooner had we touched the water than a rain squall obscured our view of the ship, but at 5.30, when we were about four miles off, we could see no sign of her. "We sailed the best part of our way back to port. When we were a few miles off the coast we were sighted by a fishing-boat and were towed into port."
NO WARNING GIVEN
The lookout man on the bridge said he saw no sign of the submarine before the explosion. The first he knew of its presence was a deafening crash and a blinding sheet of flame from the port side of the ship, which shuddered from stem to stern with the shock. He was thrown with a thump into the bridge wing, but on recovering himself saw the submarine a short distance off. The wheelman had a similar experience, but did not catch sight of the submarine. He received a heavy knock when he was blown by the explosion across the wheel. "The weather was good," he said, "and we were not expecting trouble. All except those on watch were in bed. They were glad to escape in what they stood up in. We lost everything except our pyjamas." The chief engineer said relays of six oars pulled the lifeboat. Even with the assistance of the sail the men were very tired when they were taken in tow.
ESCAPED THROUGH PORTHOLE
The chief steward said that he was thrown from the settee on which he was sleeping by the explosion. The sea came pouring in through a porthole, and when it stopped pouring he went out by that porthole.
He found the lifeboat gone, and thought he had been left behind, but the boat had been blown to pieces. He thought the explosion was an accident until he met the gunner, who said, "It is old Tojo again."
The chief cook, who was on the former aircraft-carrier Furious in the last war. and was twice torpedoed, said that he should be blase about torpedoes, but wasn't. He had lost both his teeth and his glasses.
Among those rescued were two Seventh Dav Adventists -Mr. R. H. Adair and Mr. S. Gillis. Mr. Adair is manager of the Australasian Conference Association. Ltd., and was on a business trip. Survivors were thought to be a fishing party when their lifeboat was sighted six -miles from port by two brothers on' a fishing cruise. The brothers said that from a distance the lifeboat, with sail hoisted, and with six men rowing, looked as if it was a boat hired by a fishing party, but then one of the rowers shouted: "Can you give us a tow?"
MAN IN PYJAMAS
"They then shouted to us that they had been torpedoed and had rowed and sailed 100 miles," one brother said. "One man was in his pyjamas, and most of the others wore only trousers.
"Many of them had bags over their heads to protect them from the hot sun, and all of them had lifebelts tied round their bare chests. "Answering our questions as their boat and our launch bounced about in
the rollers that tossed them and us high and then low into the trough of the waves, the survivors said they were making for port. "We asked them if they wanted a drink, and they shouted back that they
had water. When they knew more was available from our launch they all had a drink. Some ate biscuits as we fastened a tow-rope to their boat. "In the rolling sea the stern decking of our launch was torn away as we were carried upon the crest of a wave while their boat was down in the trough of a breaker. "All the survivors seemed cheerful, and they frequently shouted to us to land them soon as they wanted a mug
of beer. During the six miles' tow we did not see any sign of a submarine."
OFFICIAL COMMUNIQUE
The official communique on the sinking issued from General MacArthur's headquarters yesterday: "A small Allied vessel was torpedoed and sunk in Australian waters, with two casualties. All others were rescued," This is the first time for several months that submarines have sunk shipping near the Australian coast. The last announcement, on September 5, told of enemy action some time before, when five men on an Australian freighter were killed and nine injured by the torpedoes of a submarine which attacked after darkness and in heavy mist. A passenger ship was shelled off the south coast of Australia in the first
week of August, but escaped undamaged. A few days previously a British trawler had been attacked off the east coast. Two members of its crew were killed and four wounded, but the trawler was able to reach port.
SHIP TORPEDOED OFF COAST
TWO DEAD, 32 REACH PORT
FISHING LAUNCH TO RESCUE
An allied freighter has been torpedoed and sunk with the loss of two lives while steaming off an Australian Port. Thirty two survivors crowded into one of the two lifeboats - the other was shattered by the blast of the exploding Torpedo - and rowed and sailed nearly all the way back to port before being sighted by two brothers setting out in a four horse-power motor launch on a fishing expedition
STOKERS WERE KILLED AT POSTS
Victims of the torpedo attack, which was made without warning, were stokers;. F. Lewis, of Glebe, Sydney, and J. Corcoran, of Westport, New Zealand.
They were probably killed at their posts, because the torpedo exploded on the port side near the stokehold. With the exception of a few men on watch, most of the crew, and two passengers were asleep in their bunks when the freighter was torpedoed. As the ship began to list rapidly to starboard there was no time to collect personal belongings. Spectacles, false teeth, and clothing were left behind. Some of the scantily-clad survivors were badly sunburned before they were sighted by the fishing launch on the afternoon of the following day. Graphic stories of the submarine's attack on the freighter were told by survivors when they reached port.
BLASTED FROM BUNK
The master said: "I was asleep in my cabin when I was blasted from, my bunk by a terrific detonation. The lights went out and I had a struggle to reach the bridge, where I at once realised what had happened. Not far away to port I could clearly see the outline of a large submarine on the point of submerging. She made no attempt to fire at us. My ship by that time had a sharp list to starboard and was fast settling down by the head. I lost no time, therefore, in sending an S.O.S. and ordering our only remaining boat on the starboard side- the port boat having been shattered- to be lowered. Thirty of the crew and two passengers were aboard. A search had been made for the missing firemen, but there was little doubt as to what had been their fate. No sooner had we touched the water than a rain squall obscured our view of the ship, but at 5.30, when we were about four miles off, we could see no sign of her. "We sailed the best part of our way back to port. When we were a few miles off the coast we were sighted by a fishing-boat and were towed into port."
NO WARNING GIVEN
The lookout man on the bridge said he saw no sign of the submarine before the explosion. The first he knew of its presence was a deafening crash and a blinding sheet of flame from the port side of the ship, which shuddered from stem to stern with the shock. He was thrown with a thump into the bridge wing, but on recovering himself saw the submarine a short distance off. The wheelman had a similar experience, but did not catch sight of the submarine. He received a heavy knock when he was blown by the explosion across the wheel. "The weather was good," he said, "and we were not expecting trouble. All except those on watch were in bed. They were glad to escape in what they stood up in. We lost everything except our pyjamas." The chief engineer said relays of six oars pulled the lifeboat. Even with the assistance of the sail the men were very tired when they were taken in tow.
ESCAPED THROUGH PORTHOLE
The chief steward said that he was thrown from the settee on which he was sleeping by the explosion. The sea came pouring in through a porthole, and when it stopped pouring he went out by that porthole.
He found the lifeboat gone, and thought he had been left behind, but the boat had been blown to pieces. He thought the explosion was an accident until he met the gunner, who said, "It is old Tojo again."
The chief cook, who was on the former aircraft-carrier Furious in the last war. and was twice torpedoed, said that he should be blase about torpedoes, but wasn't. He had lost both his teeth and his glasses.
Among those rescued were two Seventh Dav Adventists -Mr. R. H. Adair and Mr. S. Gillis. Mr. Adair is manager of the Australasian Conference Association. Ltd., and was on a business trip. Survivors were thought to be a fishing party when their lifeboat was sighted six -miles from port by two brothers on' a fishing cruise. The brothers said that from a distance the lifeboat, with sail hoisted, and with six men rowing, looked as if it was a boat hired by a fishing party, but then one of the rowers shouted: "Can you give us a tow?"
MAN IN PYJAMAS
"They then shouted to us that they had been torpedoed and had rowed and sailed 100 miles," one brother said. "One man was in his pyjamas, and most of the others wore only trousers.
"Many of them had bags over their heads to protect them from the hot sun, and all of them had lifebelts tied round their bare chests. "Answering our questions as their boat and our launch bounced about in
the rollers that tossed them and us high and then low into the trough of the waves, the survivors said they were making for port. "We asked them if they wanted a drink, and they shouted back that they
had water. When they knew more was available from our launch they all had a drink. Some ate biscuits as we fastened a tow-rope to their boat. "In the rolling sea the stern decking of our launch was torn away as we were carried upon the crest of a wave while their boat was down in the trough of a breaker. "All the survivors seemed cheerful, and they frequently shouted to us to land them soon as they wanted a mug
of beer. During the six miles' tow we did not see any sign of a submarine."
OFFICIAL COMMUNIQUE
The official communique on the sinking issued from General MacArthur's headquarters yesterday: "A small Allied vessel was torpedoed and sunk in Australian waters, with two casualties. All others were rescued," This is the first time for several months that submarines have sunk shipping near the Australian coast. The last announcement, on September 5, told of enemy action some time before, when five men on an Australian freighter were killed and nine injured by the torpedoes of a submarine which attacked after darkness and in heavy mist. A passenger ship was shelled off the south coast of Australia in the first
week of August, but escaped undamaged. A few days previously a British trawler had been attacked off the east coast. Two members of its crew were killed and four wounded, but the trawler was able to reach port.
Fireman James Joseph CORCORAN
Born: Granity, New Zealand New Zealand Merchant Navy Died at Sea 18-1-1943 aged 30years Son of John Cornelius and Norah Corcoran, of West Port, South Island, New Zealand. Honoured: Sydney Memorial, Rookwood, Sydney, New South Wales - Panel 10 Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll |
Fireman Thomas Frederick David LEWIS
Born: Cardiff, South Wales Australian Merchant Navy Died at Sea 18-1-1943 aged 61years Son of David and Sarah Lewis Husband of Elsie Marion Lewis, of Glebe, New South Wales. Honoured: Sydney Memorial, Rookwood, Sydney, New South Wales - Panel 10 Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll |