I dont know if it is of any interest to anyone but I was reminiscing about my dad and was looking through his Merchant Seaman papers. He was torpedoed in 1940 whilst being the assistant cook on board The Pacific Ranger in 1940.
It was torpedoed by U59. Im quite good at finding a little humour in most things and this is no exception.All souls were saved and my dad was one of 22 that rowed to the coast of Ireland, whilst the other 33 were picked in one way or another. Their lifeboat was approached by a Naval Vessle 500 yards from the shore and oferred to pick up the crew. They told them in no uncertain terms where to go!!!! They had rowed this far, they were going to row the rest of the bl**dy way! Which they then proceeded to do. Dad went on to become Chief Steward in 1942 and finished his service in August of that year due to frostbite sustained on board The Merchant Ship Campus whilst defending on deck.
I would love his name to be added to the crew list of The Pacific Ranger and wonder if a moderator could do that for me? His name was Charles Kirven. Sadly he passed away 2 years ago at the grand age of 94. I have a couple of photos of him in uniform and of course all of his medals. Thanks