S.S. Sontay

liverpool annie · Jan 22, 2009

Being a wartime photographer brings more than its fair share of occupational hazards, as the Daily Mirror's Tom Grant found out.

In May 1917 Tom was onboard a French craft, the S.S. Sontay (named after a famous battle involving the Troupes de Marine in 1883).

The Sontay was transporting men and cargo around the eastern mediterranean when it was attacked by a german U-boat. Within four minutes of the attack commencing the boat had sunk. Tom later gave his own account of the action... "I was enjoying an afternoon sleep in my cabin when the craash came, a great concussion which afterwards I learned had shattered our bows.

I grabbed my lifebelt ... camera and shoes and made for the deck in my stockinged feet. The sailors were working frantically to lower the boats and as I slid down a rope to reach my boat she was carried away, leaving me dangling with the sea swirling around my feet.

My camera case, suspended from a strap around my neck was becoming a serious burden and just as I had given up hope of hanging on any longer the boat was dashed against the side of the ship by the heavy sea. Someone grabbed my leg and I fell in"

Luckily Tom's camera stayed dry throughout and he managed to get a few quick snaps before the Sontay disappeared forever. His last words though are a tribute to the captain of the doomed vessel ... "The captain was splendid. He refused a lifebelt because there were not enough undamaged boats to save us all, and just before the end he scrambled up the slope to the highest point of the stern. 'Vive le France!' he cried defiantly, waving his cap. That was the last we ever saw of him."

45 lives were lost with the Sontay.
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http://mirrorpixarchive.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html

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S.S. Sontay

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