Sinking of the RMS Transylvania
Henry BUTLER (1896 - 1981)  When
aged 15, he left his native Gloucestershire village of Winchcombe
and joined a school for sailors near Birkenhead. Although trained
as a wireless operator, many ships still did not have a radio, so
he got his first voyage as a deck boy in 1911. Over the years he
travelled the world, reaching far flung places such as Manila, Hong
Kong, Buenos Aires and New York. In 1916 he missed his ship at Liverpool,
so managed to get signed onto the RMS Transylvania. At 14,315 tons,
she was built in 1914 by the Anchor Line to carry passengers over
to the United States. In 1915 she was requisitioned by the British
Government for troopship duties during World War 1. Within a month
of signing on, he was promoted from AB to Quartermaster and was
soon at work, plying the Mediterranean carrying Allied troops.
 Escorted
by two Japanese destroyers, the Matsu and Sakaki, on 3rd May 1917
the Transylvania left Marseille bound for Alexandria with a full
complement of crew and troops, some 3060 in total. The following
day, whilst Henry was at the helm, she was hit amidships at 10am
by a torpedo from the German submarine, U63. He did his best to
make for shore 3 or 4 miles away, but at 10.20 another torpedo struck.
With this, the vessel rapidly took on water, and after doing his
best to help others, abandoned ship. It was some two hours before
he was rescued. Over 400 died.
After being put ashore at Savona, west of Genoa, his clothes soaked, all the Missions to Seamen provided him with was a cup of tea. He spent ten days in a school, with only straw to sleep on. A 15 hour train ride on wooden seats to Marseille was followed by another in the dark to Paris. With Paris in darkness, he went on to Boulogne, where the travel company Cook and Sons looked after his welfare. A night-time trip to Southampton on a troopship ensured he returned to England safely. After some leave, he returned to the sea, transporting wounded soldiers back to Australia. His final voyage was in 1924, after meeting his wife to be. |
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