An Cosantóir

shortage of drinking water - most of it had been lost during the launch - made eating the dry sea biscuits extremely difficult, keeping warm from the biting cold February weather was the main priority as the North Atlantic at that time of the year was a very harsh environment, especially in an open boat. A canvas canopy provided the officers with some shelter while the Indians wrapped themselves in blankets, but within four days hypo- thermia began to set in. Drinking water ran out after eight days and by the 13th day, when land - the Lizard Peninsula in Corn- wall - was finally sighted, only three Europeans and two Indians remained alive. Too weak and exhausted to try for the safety of Falmouth be- yond the headland, the survivors attempted to steer the lifeboat into a small cliff-lined bay called Caerthillian Cove. Unfortunate- ly, the turbulent sea capsized the lifeboat and all the occupants were thrown into the raging surf. Ayres and two other survivors managed to scramble back on board the lifeboat as it was right- ed and dragged back out to sea by the undertow. A second at- tempt was made at landing but the waves capsized the lifeboat again and the occupants were thrown back into the sea. Three evacuee schoolgirls from London who were walking the cliffs above gathering firewood, saw the lifeboat being capsized. One of girls ran down to the beach and shouted to the men to keep swimming as help was coming, while another dashed across the fields and alerted the coastguard. One of the boat's occupants managed to reach the rocks but was washed off and drowned, while a second managed to hold onto the overturned lifeboat but lost his grip before the Lizard lifeboat arrived. Ayres managed to keep afloat and was rescued from the sea by a member of the coastguard who ran down to the beach, waded into the sea and managed to drag him ashore more dead than alive. Ayres was then brought up the cliff on a hurdle to Lord Semphill's large house at the top of the cliff and was later removed to Heston Cottage Hospital to recover from his ordeal. The bodies of the other two men drowned in the second The torpedo hole in the hull of the SS Gairsoppa history | 29 SS Gairsoppa are commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial, London, and the 70 Indian sailors on the Chittagong War Memorial. Second Officer Ayres was later awarded an MBE for his ef- landing attempt were later recovered and identified as Radio Officer RF Hampshire and Gunner Norman Thomas. The bodies of two unidentified Asians were also recovered and all four remains were buried at Landewednack, Cornwall. The captain and the 10 British crew members who drowned U-101 forts to rescue his fellow sailors. After an eight-month long recovery he returned to sea and later reached the rank of cap- tain. He subsequently became a British India Steam Navigation Company cargo superintendent, serving in Calcutta, Singapore and Bombay. He retired in 1964 and died in 1992. Two weeks after announcing the discovery of the Gairsoppa, Odyssey announced that it had discovered the First World War shipwreck SS Mantola, which was carrying a cargo of silver valued at £110,000 (1917 prices) when it was torpedoed by U-61 on February 7th 1917. The wreck was discovered in 2,500m of water about 100 miles away from the wreck of the Gairsoppa. In September 2011 the UK Department of Trade awarded the contract for the recovery of the Mantola's cargo to Odyssey, with the company again allowed to retain 80% of the net silver salvaged. Footnote: The U-101 was stricken at Neustadt on 21 Oct, 1943. It was scuttled and the wreck was subsequently broken up there on May 3rd 1945. 'ZEUS' Odyssey's Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE

• Cover