The Shipwrecked Floating Bomb that Saved the Crew

After being shelled and set ablaze by the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer during the destruction of Convoy HX 84, the British tanker MV San Demetrio was abandoned in the North Atlantic with over 11,000 tons of highly volatile aviation gasoline still on board. Nearly two days later, sixteen survivors drifting in an overcrowded lifeboat made the astonishing discovery that their burning ship was still afloat. Facing almost certain death at sea, they made the extraordinary decision to re-board the blazing tanker, extinguish the fires, rebuild its engines and electrical systems, navigate without reliable charts, radio, or even a functioning compass, and attempt the impossible voyage home. Battling storms, flooding, mechanical failures, dangerous gasoline vapors, and the loss of one of their own, the crew slowly brought the shattered vessel back across the Atlantic under her own power. Their incredible feat not only saved one of Britain's most valuable wartime cargoes but became one of the greatest survival and seamanship -- As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Seas sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect. I do my best to keep it as visually accurate as possible. All content on Dark Seas is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas.