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On Nov. 23, 1942 off the coast of Brazil the U-172 fired a torpedo at the merchantman Benlomond sending her to the bottom. Six of the 53 man crew managed to make it into lifeboats, five in one and one in the other. The lone man, a Chinese mess steward named Poon Lim was about to face an ordeal that nearly cost him his life. Mr. Lim lost sight of the other five survivors (who were never found) and drifted on the open sea until rescued by some Brazilian fishermen on April 5, 1943, an astounding 133 days later. This is the record for survival at sea in an open boat beating the men from the whale ship Essex who had drifted around from Nov. 20, 1820 until Feb. 27, 1821 (the last survivors being picked up from an island on April 9). Recently a claim was made by a group of Mexican fishermen that they had been adrift on the sea for nine months, leaving San Blas, Mexico and landing in the Marshall Islands however, this story has not yet been completely confirmed. |
© 2006 Michael W. Pocock MaritimeQuest.com |