Stribling (DD 867) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 83 text:

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Page 85 text:

I F ENGINE ROOM BLOWS ITS' TOP Twenty miles off the coast of North Africa in the Mediterranean Sea was the scene of a disaster which claimed few lives. The Empire Windrush, ' ' the Far East when an engine a British troopship, was on its way home from room explosion sent fire and choking smoke sweeping through the ship. Four crewmen in the engine room were killed by the blast. Personnel a- ' ' d their families on board numbered 1428, mostly military personnel an d the Suez Canal Region. their way home from the Far East an ' ' ' b the Captain. Calm- Orders to abandon ship were given immediately y en and children aboard were put ly and with no sign of panic, the 277 wom ' ide laughing, joking and into lifeboats. Many acted like bathers at a seas , Th'n s of any size that would float were keeping the children amused. i g lif rafts Within two hours all pitched overboard for use as improvised e . 1424 passengers and crewmen had been rescued by four other ships which 'bed as one of the most spec- converged on the area. The rescue was descri tacular in naval history.