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Type | Steamship | Sunk | 28th November 1917 |
Gross Tonnage | 7,832 tons | Length | 426 feet |
Built | 1914 |
The APAPA was a twin
screw steel steamship and was built in 1914 by Harland & Wolff in
Glasgow, as were also the quadruple expansion engines. Capable of
fourteen knots, she was one of the largest ships in the Elder Dempster
fleet.
It was a clear moonlight night
and she had just passed the Middle Mouse on her starboard bow when she
suddenly shook from stem to stern. Many passengers were thrown from
their bunks and it was obvious that she was sinking. At that time she
was still on an even keel and the Captain ordered the engines to be
stopped. Close examination showed that a torpedo had rent a huge hole
in the starboard side towards the stern of the ship, and Captain Toft
then ordered that the boats should be lowered. |
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As the lifeboats were being
loaded, a man was seen disappearing down a companion-way. His mission
was one from which he never returned. His name was Mr. Harragin, of
the Gold Coast Customs, and he was coming home with his wife to spend
a well-earned rest in England. She was lying in their cabin, ill with
black-water fever and he tried to carry her on deck, but she declared
herself too ill and too weak to be moved. And so he stayed with her -
just two of the forty passengers who lost their lives. |
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By this time many of the passengers were safely in the lifeboats and the ship had developed a list to starboard. Suddenly, there was a streak in the water and a second torpedo hit the ship, again on the starboard side but this time further forward. Some of the lifeboats were swamped and the ship lurched to starboard. As she did so, the stays supporting the funnel snapped and the funnel collapsed, falling onto a lifeboat that was loaded and was just about to be lowered into the water. It was this second torpedo that contributed to the large number of casualties. A few moments later the ship plunged stern first to the bottom of the sea. |
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