hms manchester

jrk · 09-01-2005, 05:59 PM

one of my dads old work colleagues was onboard this ship when it was dive bombed by jap planes.one of the bombs went straight down one of the funnels ripping the ship apart.the guy in question was blown clear over the side of the ship at least 30 feet in the air.he hit the water unconscious and one of his shipmates brought him round.he went on to tell the story of how he became one of the 'lucky ones'.apart from the bomb blast killing a lot of his shipmates a large number of crewmembers were killed by roaming sharks.it still brings tears to his eyes when he tells that story to this very day.

Glider · 09-02-2005, 11:04 AM

JRK Sorry to say this but he may have the wrong ship. HMS Manchester was sunk on 13th August 1942 when she was torpedoed by Italian MTB's MAS 16 and MAS 22 off Tunisia.

jrk · 09-05-2005, 06:36 AM

i dont know what to say glider.i believe you and at the time he told my dad he sounded convincing.thanks for the info though glider.i was just listening to a story told by somone so i took their word at the time to be truthful

Glider · 09-05-2005, 07:59 AM

Don't worry. I would suggest that you let him have his story. We did lose a number of Cruisers to jap air attack and he could well have got them mixed up. Time and the shock of combat can mess things around.