Wavelength #78

Survival at Sea Poon Lim On 10th November 1942 the SS Benlomond left Cape Town bound for Surinam. Sailing in the South Atlantic at that time was notoriously dangerous, so with hindsight, it would have come as no surprise that the slow tramp steamer would be easy ‘prey’ for a U-boat. That scenario was played out 13 days after departure when a German submarine launched two torpedoes at the SS Benlomond.

Both found their target.

On board the merchant navy vessel there were 53 crew, including the Master. Such was the damage caused by the German weaponry that it took less than 2 minutes for the stricken ship to sink, leaving only 6 survivors from the SS Ben Lomond blast being able to abandon ship. Among them was Poon Source: www.photoship.co.uk Lim, who managed to grab a life jacket and jump into the sea before the boilers exploded. He lost contact with the Before casting his line, Poon Lim wrapped his hands other initial survivors and spent a lonely two hours in the in canvas in preparation for the struggle he would face frigid water before he came across a wooden raft. with any shark he managed to catch. It was not long 2 The raft, which was 8 square ft (0.74m ), had a partial before one took the bait. Poon Lim dragged it onto his canvas cover. There were no navigational aids and no craft before striking it repeatedly with a jug half full of method of propulsion, but there were provisions. These, seawater. Eventually, he prevailed, cut open the creature which were intended to last for 30 days, comprised and drank the blood from its liver. He then cut up the fins tinned biscuits, nearly 9 gallons of water, chocolate, a and left them to dry. kind of beef jerky, long lasting crackers, sugar, malted After catching the shark, he saw some vessels but not milk tablets and lime juice. Additionally, there were two one of them picked him up. His greatest chance of smoke pots, a flashlight and some rope. rescue came when US patrol planes spotted Drifting in the South Atlantic, Poon Lim made him and dropped a marker buoy. However, his rations last for as long as possible. He also a storm caused him to be swept away from tied his wrist to the raft so that if he fell off, the location of the buoy and he was lost he would not be separated from it – a fear he again, but fortunately, not for long. On 5th had because he was not a strong swimmer. As April 1943, after 133 days aboard the life raft, his supplies began to dwindle, he realized that Poon Lim was rescued near a river inlet by he would have to make use of the resources three Brazilian fishermen. around him. He did this by collecting rainwater During his ordeal he had lost 20lb (9.1kg), in his life jacket and fishing with strands of but could walk unaided. He was relatively hemp from the rope for the line and a hook unscathed, but was hospitalized for four made from wire he took from the flashlight. weeks before returning to Britain, where he He used the crackers as bait. When his cast received the British Empire Medal. Of the was successful and he had landed a fish, he cut six initial survivors from the SS Ben Lomond, it up with the metal from the biscuit tin that Poon Lim Poon Lim was the only one who did not he had shaped into the form of a knife. He Source: https://en.wikipedia. perish. His record of surviving for 133 days org/w/index.php?curid=12372728 then dried the fish on a hemp line. on a raft still holds as does his story, which Although Poon Lim had managed to has become incorporated into manuals sustain himself, he was no nearer to of survival techniques. His story also being rescued. Indeed, he had a major became widely known on the other setback when a storm destroyed his side of the Atlantic. This helped him dried fish stock and contaminated his to emigrate from Britain to America, supply of drinking water. In desperation, where at the behest of the US Navy he set a trap with fish to lure in birds. and President Truman, he assisted in It worked and he was able to catch the reconstruction of the raft he had a seabird and drink its blood. He survived on. He died in Brooklyn on repeated this ruse several times, but 4th January 1991 at the age of 72, knew he needed to target larger prey. but his adventure lives on, serving as a So, he removed a nail from the raft, timeless reminder of how fundamental attached it to some rope and bent it to Poon Lim sitting on a resourcefulness and resilience are in form a hook to which he added bait in times of adversity. reconstruction of his raft the form of bird remains. His target was Source: www.offgridweb.com Sources: en.wikipedia.org a shark. www.youtube.com, www.cgtn.com www.thevintagenews.com, www.offgridweb.com