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[Page 61]
While employed in the Adriatic, the units of the Australian Flotilla were occasionally despatched in outside errands. Oil fuel ships arrived and departed from Brindisi at regular intervals, and these, and other ships always needed an escort, and so it happened that now and again we would be switched off our patrol duties, and ordered to escort S.S. "so & so" to Patras in the Gulf of Corinth. From there, they found their way through the Corinth Canal, and more or less land locked waters immune from the lurking Fritz to Milos, where they would pick up the main convoy, and accompanying escort for whatever port they were bound for.
Another time a T.B.D. was required to escort the C. in C. Mediterranean from Malta to Alexandria, and Port Said and back. The "Torrens" was told off for this duty, and a very pleasant trip it proved which, however, did not lack its note of tragedy as in fact, in those days tragedy was ever at ones elbows.
This was when after arriving at Alexandria the "Torrens" was detailed to proceed to the outer limit of the swept channel, and scout round for submarines until the fast convoy consisting of such well-known ships as the "Kaiser-i-hind", "Caledonia", "Malwa", "Canberra", "Indarra" and "Lissowe Castle". The convoy got clear about 4.10 p.m., at 4 p.m. the following afternoon the "Torrens" outward bound from Alexandria met the survivors of the "Lissowe Castle" returning in H.M.S. "Ladybird" to Alexandria. They had been torpedoed about midnight the previous night with the loss of many gallant men. The two ships cheered each other as they passed, even as they did the previous day as the convoy passed to the westward, and the "Torrens" back to Alexandria. Again it was the "Torrens" in company with H.M.S. "Redpole", was ordered by wireless to the rescue of the Italian T.B.D. "Cairoli". I cannot do better than quote from a letter written by an officer of the former ship in relating to this incident.
"Four night ago, we got an S.O.S. and shortly after were ordered by wireless to the rescue. This was at 5 a.m., very dark, blowing three parts of a gale, "Despatch is necessary" ran the signal. From a comfortable twelve knots, we went on to nineteen, when things were anything but comfortable, as we were steaming into it: at 5.30