Poon Lim
Poon Lim | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | March 8, 1918 |
| Died | January 4, 1991 (aged 72) |
Poon Lim or Lim Poon BEM (March 8, 1918 – January 4, 1991) was a Chinese sailor who survived 133 days alone in the South Atlantic.[1][2]
Poon Lim was born in Hainan, China in 1918. In 1942, during World War II, he was working as second steward on the British merchant ship SS Ben Lomond, which was on its way from Cape Town to Dutch Guiana. The ship was armed but slow moving and was sailing alone instead of being in a convoy.
On November 23, the German U-boat U-172 intercepted and torpedoed the ship in position 0°18′N 38°27′W / 00.30°N 38.45°W, some 750 miles east of the Amazon. As the ship was sinking, Poon Lim took a life jacket and jumped overboard before the ship's boilers exploded.[3] Although accounts differ, out of the crew of 55 a total of eleven other sailors may have eventually been rescued.
After approximately two hours in the water, he found an empty Carley float liferaft and climbed into it. The raft had several tins of biscuits, a forty litre jug of water, some chocolate, a bag of sugar lumps, some flares, two smoke pots and an electric torch.
Poon Lim initially kept himself alive by drinking the water and eating the food on the raft, but later resorted to catching rainwater in a canvas tarp and fishing. He could not swim very well and often tied a rope from the boat to his wrist, in case he fell into the ocean. He took a wire from the electric torch and made it into a fishhook, and used hemp rope as a fishing line. He also dug a nail out of the boards on the wooden raft and bent it into a hook for larger fish. When he captured a fish, he cut it open with a knife he fashioned out of a biscuit tin and dried the fish on a hemp line over the raft. Once, a large storm hit and spoiled his fish and fouled his water. Poon, barely alive, caught a bird and drank its blood to survive.
On two occasions other vessels passed nearby: first a freighter, then a squad of United States Navy patrol planes. Poon contended that the freighter saw him but did not pick him up because he was Chinese. The Navy planes did see him, and one dropped a marker buoy in the water. Unfortunately for Poon, a large storm hit the area at the same time and he was lost again. He was also once spotted by a German U-boat, which had been doing gunnery drills by targeting seagulls.
At first he counted the days by tying knots in a rope, but later decided that there was no point in counting the days and simply began counting full moons.
On April 5, 1943, Poon Lim reached land and a river inlet. A few days earlier, he had known that he was close to the land because the colour of the water had changed; it was no longer the oceanic deep blue. Three Brazilian fishermen rescued him and took him to Belém three days later.
During his ordeal, Poon Lim had lost 9 kg, but was able to walk unaided upon being rescued. He spent two weeks in a Brazilian hospital and the British Consul arranged for him to return to Britain via Miami and New York.
When told no one had ever survived longer on a raft at sea, Poon Lim replied, ""I hope no one will ever have to break that record."[4] People have lived longer lost at sea, the current record being ten months for three Mexican sailors in a disabled fishing boat.[5] However, as of 2010 no one has broken Poon Lim's record on a life raft.
King George VI bestowed a British Empire Medal (BEM) on him, and the Royal Navy incorporated his tale into manuals of survival techniques. After the war, Poon Lim decided to emigrate to the United States, but the quota for Chinese immigrants had been reached. However, because of his fame and the aid of Senator Warren Magnuson, he received a special dispensation and eventually gained citizenship.[6]
Poon died in Brooklyn on January 4, 1991.[7]
References
- ^ "In their disabled boat, 3 Mexicans drift 9 months across Pacific". International Herald Tribune. 2006. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
Among other recorded cases of people surviving long periods stranded at sea, in 1942, a Chinese sailor named Poon Lim survived four months alone in the South Atlantic after a German U- boat torpedoed the British merchant ship he was working on.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Tells of 132 Days on Raft". United Press in New York Times. May 25, 1943. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
Poon Lim told in detail here tonight how he got that "Chinaman's chance" and lived in nakedness 132 days on a life raft in the South Atlantic after being the only survivor of fifty-five men aboard a torpedoed English merchantman.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "S.S. Ben Lomond, Allied Ships hit by U-boats" by Gudmundur Helgason, Ed. Retrieved on 27 November 2008
- ^ Poon Lim
- ^ Mexican trio back after 10 months lost at sea
- ^ "Poon Lim Awarded Medal for 133 Days on Life Raft". Chicago Daily Tribune. July 17, 1943. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Social Security Death Index; Lim Poon; 123-20-0128