Product Description

On August 21st, 1940, a German warship sank an English freighter, the Anglo-Saxon, in the mid Atlantic. The German ship, the Widder, was part of a class of converted merchant ships known as surface raiders, warships that would disguise themselves as harmless vessels from neutral countries and prey upon Allied shipping. A small band of survivors from the Anglo-Saxon - initially seven of them - escaped in its jolly boat and embarked on what would become one of the longest open boat voyages in recorded history. Within a few weeks, only two men lived: Bob Tapscott and Roy Widdicombe. On September 24th, they made the last entry in their scant log: "All water and biscuits gone, but still hoping to make land." For the remaining 37 days they subsisted on rain, seaweed, minute sea creatures and, of course, the dwindling reserves their bodies retained. They contemplated suicide, fought with each other and weathered a three-day hurricane. On 30th October they landed in the Bahamas after sailing more than 2700 miles. Today the jolly boat is the only survivor of this horrific episode. It was preserved at Mystic Seaport, America's leading maritime museum, until 1997 when it was returned to England. It is now the central object in the Battle of the Atlantic exhibition at London's Imperial War Museum.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #492005 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 363 pages

Nathaniel Philbrick, author of IN THE HEART OF THE SEA
'Vivid, meticulously researched - a heartfelt tale of incredible heroism and endurance'

About the Author
J. Revell Carr was for 31 years curator and then director at Mystic Seaport, America's leading maritime museum. He had responsibility for the Anglo-Saxon's jolly boat for more than 25 years. He retired in 2000 and lives on the coast of Maine.

Customer Reviews

A great, well written book
This book talks about the Anglo Saxon, other merchant ships and the german officers who sank them. You may think that a 384 page book about 7 people in a small rowing boat may strain after a while but this is very well written and keeps you gripped throughout. The story is quite incredible with tales of survival i didn't know possible. There are some sad parts but i think the tales of heroism out way this by far.

A great book for those interested in the merchant navy and general WWII activities, very much recommended.

A gripping account of Merchant Navy in WWII
This is a very well researched and vividly written book not only about the terrible fate of the Anglo-Saxon ship, but also of the dangers faced by the Merchant Navy and its sailors during WWII. I am probably biased in my interest in this book as my Uncle, Walter Murray Pickford, was the Third Officer on the Anglo-Saxon. I first saw the story about the Anglo-Saxon survivors in a clipping in my father's photo album about 28 years ago, but only came across this book in late 2008. These ships continued with their normal peacetime work of carrying cargo and passengers across the Atlantic, sometimes in convoys, and at others completely unprotected. They were hunted down by German submarines and treacherous "raider" ships and many of them were sunk, and many of their sailors killed in the attacks, or drowned afterwards. Having experienced one attack, surviving sailors carried on with their careers, working on other ships that were then attacked and sunk as well. The book highlights the courage of these Merchant Navy seamen to continue with their work, yet they received very little recognition for it. It also describes in depth the career and outcome of Ruckteschell who was the commander of the raider ship, the Widder, which sank the Anglo-Saxon.

A Gripping Read
What a fantastic tale of courage!

Seven sailors stranded in a rowing boat in the Atlantic.

The ones who survived had their own ordeals as well