Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-09-05
81 British al Baltimore
After Rescues From
2Torpedoed Ships
Swedish Boot Brings Them;
Sub Sank SIoop and Vessel
Thut Took on Survivors
BY the Associated Press.


BALTIMORE, Sept. 5.-Thirty-
seven haggard and disheveled Brit
ish seamen, eight Of them injured,
told a grim tale today of disaster
and death in the war at sea.
Landed here Unexpectedly last
night by the Swedish freighter Elk
naren, they wefe the sole survivors
of crews of two British vessels, the
4 ,000-ton freighter Blairmore and
the Royal Navy sloop Penzance, both
torpedoed and sunk August "a about
TOO miles of the Irish coast.
More than 100 of their shipmates
were lost.
Their stories, pieced together
through a wall of censorship
clamped down by British consular
officials, indicated the eight injured
men were the only survivors of the
Penzance.
Rescue Ship T0rpedoed.
These, burned, cut and daZed.
were among the Penzance sailors
taken aboard the Blairmore when 1t
sped to the flaming warships aid
only to be torpedoed in turn a few
minutes later by the same U-boat.
With 20 Blairmore survivors, they
were rescued again by the Eknaren.
So secretive was the Eknaren's
voyage that Capt. John H. Taylor,
the British Consul here, said he
knew nothing of the rescue or that
the freighter would dock here until
late yesterday. The vessel made no
stop at Norfolk, and radioed to Bal
timore for ambulances to be at the
pier.
Customs and immigration inspec-
tors, caught equally unawares, put
tight guard around the freighter
until the injured men were taken
on and quarters arranged for the
Blairmore's officers and crew. Capt.
Taylor issued strict orders to the sea-
men against giving information of
military value to the enemy"
Survivors Put Up CHEEKY Front.
Despite their double torpedoing
and painful injuries, the Penzance
survivors put up a CHEEKY front.
One. his face a mass of powder
burns. told hospital attendant:
I'VE were torpedoed once, and they
had just finished us TOUT when
another torpedo got the rescue ship
and down We went again"
The 81 survivors were II hours at
sea in two of the Blairmore's life
boats before the Eknaren sighted
them.
Capt. Eric Kallstrom of the Elk
naren babe personal farewell to
each seaman. and officer, including
Capt. Campbell of the Blairmore
who still was wearing a muSsed, torn
uniform coat.
Most seriously injured of the Pen
zance survivors was 26-year-old
Charles Allen. brought ashore in a
stretcher and placed under an
anesthetic Immediately at the hos
pital. His face and eyes appeared
burned.
Other crewmen gave their names
at the hospital as Francis Tookey. %;
Leonard Barber, So: Duncan Miller,
81; John Draizey, 26; William Nc
Laughlin. 81; Harry Hyde, 20, and
Jack Burditt, %. OF the six able
to walk from the ambulance. three
had to be assisted. All were I'M
shaven, their clothes dirty and
ragged. Several wore pajamas. Ten
doctors, six orderlies and six nurses
attended them.
Despite the official silence on the
two sinkings, it was learned the
Penzance was sunk by a submarine
it never saw. None of the crew
below decks escaped.
Sinking of the sloop was an
nounced Tuesday by the British
Admiralty. Loss Of the Blairmore
had not been previously disclosed