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[Page 95]
Army officers, for Gallipoli, via Mudros. The Capt, a good fellow, was well-aware of the seriousness of his task with such a cranky rotten boat, but he was there to obey orders. He determined to carry them out. He knew full well that the enemy submarines had been accounting for an average of 2 transports weekly on the Alexandria-Mudros run for the last 2 months.
Well, the Ramazon Rameses left Alexandria, under orders to take a definite course which was judged to be the only safe course. Lo & behold, before she was 3 miles out, a picket boat came bounding along the ship's side with sealed despatches. The Captain hurriedly tore them open & to his amazement found that his course had been altered – he was to go round the south of Crete & then steer north – quite opposite to his original orders. It was a rather significant sign, though perhaps not fully appreciated at the time, that the paper giving the altered course was not officially signed, only the covering memo bore signature. This was contrary to set rules governing despatches of the kind, but the Capt believed everything to be OK, & so off he started on the new trail.
They reached Crete safely & turning with & were well on their way north before anything happened. The unexpected came like a bolt from the blue. It was early morn, the sea was in an oily calm, & not a breath of wind disturbed its surface; & then the two ominous & dreaded black objects suddenly appeared on the surface not half a mile away, one to right & the other to the left. The ship was caught in a cleft stick. The alarm was immediately given, & the troops crowded the decks & rushed for – alas, the much-needed but missing life belts & boats. They were welcomed instead with a terrific fusillade of shot & shell from a quick firer & rifles on each submarine which swept broadcast the deck of the ill-fated vessel with callous & brutal butchery. Five boats were only available. These were launched as quickly as possible, but two were so riddled with bullets that when they touched the water they simply turn filled & turned turtle emptying the poor devils of occupants into the icy sea. The Captain was the last to leave the ship & after a hard struggle reached one of the seaworthy boats which had been successfully launched. The submarine lost no time in putting a couple of deadly torpedo into the doomed vessel & she sank within blew up & sank with a gurgling roar in five minutes after she had been struck. Three boats had managed to get away, luckily they had some filled water kegs aboard – otherwise their occupants would certainly have died