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

Torpedoed: The True Story of the World War II Sinking of “The Children’s Ship” is a nonfiction account of a World War II disaster, written for young readers by acclaimed author Deborah Heiligman. During World War II, as Germany began dropping huge numbers of bombs on British cities in an operation known as “the Blitz,” Britain began evacuating children through an organization known as the Children’s Overseas Reception Board (CORB). To leave England, the children had to sail through waters patrolled by German U-boats, and torpedo strikes were a constant threat. A finalist for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction, Torpedoed tells the dramatic story of the sinking of the City of Benares, a British ship carrying nearly 100 CORB children as well as other passengers. Through the intertwined stories of surviving children, chaperones, and other passengers, Heiligman recounts the attack and harrowing rescue attempts, exploring The Human Cost of War, The Ethics of Evacuation, and Heroism and Resilience in the Face of Danger.

This guide is based the 2019 Henry Holt and Company Kindle edition of the text.

Summary

By September of 1940, World War II had been underway for a year, and the Germans had begun to drop bombs on London. Eager to keep children safe, the British government started a controversial program called the Children’s Overseas Reception Board, or CORB, which would evacuate children to British outposts around the world. One ship that was part of the program was called the City of Benares, a large and modern ocean liner scheduled to depart Liverpool on September 12, 1940. The ship would carry 90 CORB children along with 10 volunteer chaperones and nearly 100 paying passengers. In total, there were 123 children on board.

It was a hard decision for families to send their children away, but they genuinely believed they would be safer far from the war. However, leaving Britain presented its own dangers: The City of Benares would have to pass through waters patrolled by German U-boats that frequently launched torpedo attacks. To make the children as safe as possible, the City of Benares would travel in a convoy of 19 ships escorted by three Royal Navy warships. This might make the Benares safer, but it also meant the ship had to travel more slowly and spend more time in hostile waters.

Most of the children aboard the Benares were excited for a grand adventure. Some of the youngest were homesick, but most understood that they weren’t safe at home. They were awed by the Benares, a modern passenger ship designed for luxury travel, and particularly enjoyed the quantity and variety of food at mealtime.

Early in the morning on September 17, the Royal Navy escort left the Benares convoy to escort a new group of ships back to Britain. The Captain of the Benares wanted to break away from the rest of the convoy and sail faster to get through hostile waters more quickly, but some of the ship’s other officers didn’t agree, and as a violent storm made torpedo attacks less likely, the ship continued to sail slowly with the rest of the convoy. They didn’t know that a German U-boat had already spotted the ship and planned to attack.

The crew of U-boat 48 had no idea that there were more than 100 children on board the City of Benares when it shot a torpedo at the ship around 10:00 pm on the evening of September 17. The crew watched the Benares start to go down and celebrated a great victory. They also shot and sank another ship in the convoy.

The torpedo hit the City of Benares in the back, where the CORB children had their cabins; many were killed instantly, and others were badly hurt during the impact. Those that tried to make their way up to the deck and their muster stations often found their way blocked by debris or rising water. The Benares was going down fast, and crew members were struggling to launch lifeboats in a storm that pounded the sinking ship with high waves and freezing rain. Some lifeboats were hit by waves as they launched, dumping their passengers into the ocean. Others filled with water, causing some of the smaller children to drown even as they sat in their lifeboats.

The crew and passengers who made it into lifeboats or life rafts had to survive the stormy night in the open ocean. Some were lucky enough to be in relatively dry boats, others, like teenagers Bess Wader and Beth Cummings spent over 19 hours clinging to the keel of an overturned lifeboat, battered by the waves. The Benares had managed to send out an SOS message, and a nearby ship, the Hurricane, was on its way. However, the Hurricane could not travel quickly in the storm, and it was midafternoon on September 18 before the rescue began. By then, even many of those who had made it into lifeboats had died of exposure.

The Hurricane concluded its rescue efforts and officials began preparing condolence letters for individuals who had not been recovered. However, one lifeboat with over three dozen survivors had been missed. Lifeboat 12 was still adrift in the Atlantic Ocean with six CORB boys, two chaperones (Father Rory O’Sullivan and Mary Cornish), dozens of crew members, and a number of other passengers. The skipper of Lifeboat 12 began planning early and rationing food and water in case rescue took longer than expected, but as the days stretched on, supplies began to dwindle. Mary Cornish took responsibility for the boys’ well-being, telling them stories and looking out for their physical needs as best the she could, even as she herself began suffering more and more from the effects of exposure and lack of food and water. Lifeboat 12 had been at sea for eight days, and everyone aboard was near death when they were spotted by a seaplane. The lifeboat was able to signal to the plane that they were survivors from the City of Benares, and the plane sent a ship to rescue them. With the exception of one sailor, everyone aboard survived the ordeal.

In total, 258 of the 406 people aboard the City of Benares died. Out of the 90 CORB children, only 13 survived. In total, 98 of the 123 children on board the Benares died. After the tragic sinking, the CORB program was discontinued, and the City of Benares remains a “watery grave” at the bottom of the ocean.