Torpedoed: Chapters 1–4

In the mid-Atlantic Ocean, a German war submarine has an ocean liner in its sights. The U-boat commander and his crew have been following the ship all day.

In his first speech as prime minister, just four months earlier, Churchill had vowed “to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime.”

The Grimmonds had managed to add on to their Anderson shelter—made of corrugated steel—to make room for their large family.

Firefighters and medics drove their fire trucks and ambulances as best they could through dark, rubble- strewn streets.

Firefighters quickly unfurled hoses to douse fires.

They married and had a family, ten children in all. They were very close, the whole large brood, but now five might be able to escape to safety.

But Gussie and her brothers and sisters were in a kind of stupor, drained from the long nights in the underground shelter and dazed from the shock of seeing the rubble that used to be their home.

A century earlier, the streets and alleys had teemed with ruffians and smugglers.

Privateers and pirates preyed on passing ships.

They say the male Liver Bird faces inward, to the city, to see if pubs are open, reflecting Liverpool’s sense of humor and fun. But the female Liver Bird faces outward, toward the docks, waiting solemnly for sailors to return home safely.

But when the next letter came, they discovered that CORB had a very specific packing list, which restricted them to a lot less: it included a gas mask, shirts, pants, pajamas, a sweater, a cap, shoes or boots, towels, six handkerchiefs, an ID card, a ration card, stationery and a pencil, and a Bible.

Each child was also supposed to carry a sufficient supply of food and thirst-quenching fruit to last twenty-four hours.

All the clothes had to be marked with names in indelible ink.

During the announcement, Bess and Louis had been in the street helping their father fill sandbags for fortifications in case the Germans invaded.

He told them to be strong, stoic, and British. “When things go wrong, as they often will,” he said, “remember you are British and grin and bear it.”

But Bess was quiet and reserved, while Beth was talkative, lively, and full of excitement, like Liverpool, her hometown.

Every ship that carried CORB children had Royal Navy warships—equipped with artillery—escorting and guarding it through dangerous waters.

Jack Keeley was immediately bowled over by how large the ship was. Years later, he’d realize it wasn’t as huge as it looked to a nine-year-old boy. But at this moment, it seemed titanic. And so fancy. All the children were struck by the ship’s grandeur.

England to India and back again was the ship’s sole route in its first years, which is why it was named City of Benares, after the holy city on the Ganges now known as Varanasi.

The Benares had been brightly painted, but once Ellerman Lines offered it to the British government to use for the CORB program, the British Ministry of War had the ship repainted to attract less attention.

“We should illuminate these ships and depend even on the Germans, not to do anything to the children on their journey across the ocean,” he said. "I would be prepared to put that trust in humanity although it may be at a very low ebb.”

German U-boats were attacking ships throughout the Atlantic. They had fired on ships traveling alone and in convoys. Government officials decided that a convoy would be safer. So the Benares was part of a convoy, with military escort ships.

The ship had forty-three crew members from Britain, but most of the crew was from India. The 166 lascars, as Indian sailors were called, served as deck crew, cooks, bakers, waiters, porters, kitchen helpers, pantry boys, cabin boys, and stewards.

Bess, whose father brought home experience of a wider world, was thrilled to see, waiting for her and the other children, “Indian stewards wearing turbans and brilliant blue cummerbunds and shoes that turned up at the ends. We were in seventh heaven.”

The forty-four girls slept on the port (left) side, the forty-six boys on the starboard.

Colin put on his red jacket and wore it all day from the very first. Everyone on the upper decks got to know him right away because of it. The color prompted someone to nickname him Will Scarlet, after one of Robin Hood’s Merry Men.

One day he brought an actual bomb back home, to the dismay of his mother.

It was "just” an incendiary, not a big bomb.

Inside the box, which was lined with green felt, were four rings and a diamond brooch.

Upstairs on the promenade deck, Colin Ryder Richardson, in his scarlet-red life jacket, found the library.

Also on the promenade deck was a lounge for paying passengers, with carpeting, comfortable upholstered chairs, tables, a dance floor, a cocktail bar, and a card room.

The lounge was the muster station for Colin and the Bech family. All passengers were assigned a muster station—where they would gather in the event of an attack or an accident.

Your duty on hearing the Alarm Signal is to see that the children under your care get their Lifebelts and suitable clothes, and proceed to the Assembly Station allotted for your group.

Without instructions from their escort or the ship's officials, children must not leave the accommodation allotted to them.

Children will not be allowed on the upper decks during the hours of darkness, or when coming alongside or leaving any landing stages, or at any other time when the winches are being worked or ropes handled on their parts of the upper deck.