The ship he was on, the SS Silver Walnut, though remembered fondly by those who lived on board during WWII, was not in tip top shape and its sailors perceived real dangers during many stoppages and breakdowns.
["Convoy preparing to leave Bedford Basin in Halifax, WWII"]
My father writes:
“Quite possibly there was the odd submarine about when the Walnut started her antics off the African coast.”
Antics. He’s being kind.
["Photos from or of books found in Canada's War Museum"]
“The first hint of trouble was when she slowed down, and a more severe hint was when the Captain ordered the engineers below in the deplorable heat to make repairs. About 15 minutes was all the men could stand, and then the Captain, in no uncertain terms, sent more men below; meanwhile the convoy was stopped, the escorts were circling, and all eyes were on the Walnut.”
For darn good reason. A sitting boat is a sitting duck and endangers all who travel with her.
“Minutes became hours; we all suddenly became quiet, our stomachs churned, and we doubled up on our lookout stations.”
Lest you think I’m being dramatic without cause, allow me to share a few words from a historical essay about the submarine war found at the back of a thick book entitled ‘U-Boat War’ (1978), an inside look at submarine warfare by German writer - Lothar-Gunther Buchheim (author of The Boat) - and onboard observer in real wartime (WWII) conditions.
The essayist, Michael Salewski, writes the following:
“Nothing was to be gained by ranged naval battles in the North Sea and the Atlantic. British supremacy on the Atlantic could never be broken, but it could quite literally be subverted - by the submarine.”
“For the submarines did not join battle with the enemy’s warships; their real targets were enemy freighters. Control of the seas was nothing other than the ability to guarantee one’s own merchantmen a safe passage, while curbing the enemy’s ability to do likewise.”
In other words, protect and save your own freighters and merchant mariners; pursue and sink the enemy’s freight and merchant sailors.
I have to ask myself. Why did my father enlist in the Merchant Marine?
I think I have the answer in yet another of his articles, but that’s for another time.
Salewski continues:
The Germans recognized early on that “they couldn’t maintain their own Atlantic trade routes. There was nothing for the German Navy to protect in the Atlantic.”
“Therefore, the German High Command had one single aim: the destruction - despite British sea power - of the objects of that power’s protection; namely, the essential lifelines of Britain’s overseas trade.” (The Submarine War: A Historical Essay)
What did dad say Canadian sailors spent time painting on the sides of their landing craft? Wasn’t it Maple leafs?
["The thoughts of a merchant mariner"]
They might as well have painted targets, because boats such as the SS Silver Walnut, filled with freight, supplies, food, medicines, etc., were the German sub’s chief prey.
More to follow.
***
Memory Lane Pt 5
Memory Lane Pt 4
Memory Lane PT 3
Memory Lane PT 2
Memory Lane PT 1.
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