Torpedoed: The True Story of the World War II Sinking of "The Children's Ship"

In the afternoon of the fifth day, the passengers of lifeboat 12 spotted a ship. They waved and shouted and raised Mary Cornish’s petticoat up the mast as a distress signal. They were sure that rescue was finally on the way, but then the ship turned away.

The wrecked hope of rescue destroyed morale aboard lifeboat 12. For the first time, the CORB boys “were inconsolable.” Instead of Mary’s story, Father Rory stepped in to tell the boys about a shrine in France with a bell that supposedly rang when someone was saved from drowning promised to visit the shrine. The boys made a vow to visit the shrine when they were rescued and derived hope from imagining the bell ringing at that moment. Once again, their “[t]ears turned to determination” (233).

For six days, Mary had been the boys’ primary caregiver and source of comfort through a terrible ordeal. Back home, where she was presumed dead, her friends, family, and former students mourned her loss and celebrated what a selfless, caring person she had been. Though “[h]er lips were crusted, her mouth dry, her tongue swollen” (235), Mary kept telling her stories, even though she was so tired she could barely follow the thread of her own thoughts.