Poon Lim

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Poon Lim

Poon Lim BEM (also: Lim Poon * 8. March 1918 in Hainan , China ; † 4 January 1991 in New York City , USA ) was a Chinese sailor who, after a shipwreck 133 days on a raft through the South Atlantic operation and Is the record holder for sole survival on the high seas .

The shipwreck

Until after World War II , hiring Chinese seafarers was common practice in the British merchant fleet . So it happened that Poon Lim was on board as a ship steward in 1942 when the British Benlomond cast off from Cape Town . On November 23, 1942, however, the ship was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U 172 . A life jacket then helped Lim survive the first few hours. He drifted with her through the sea until later he discovered a life raft and was able to climb it. The wooden raft was about three feet square and had some canned food with canned bread , water, Bengali and electric lights on board. The scarce supplies allowed Lim to use food sparingly. He only allowed himself a few sips of water and two pieces of bread in the morning and in the evening. He calculated that he could get by for a month.

Lim believed himself saved twice when he passed a cargo ship and later a ship of the United States Navy : But his screams were ignored. Lim also sighted a German submarine, but left it to its fate.

Poon Lim drifted 133 days until he was finally rescued on April 5, 1943. He was the only survivor of the Benlomond's 55-man crew . The British King George VI. awarded him the British Empire Medal in recognition of his achievement .

literature

  • David Wallechinsky, Irving Wallac: Poon Lim - Man on the Raft . In: The People's Almanac . ( Online version at trivia-library.com; accessed October 16, 2008)
  • Ruthanne Lum McCunn: Sole Survivor: A Story of Record Endurance at Sea . Beacon Press, 1991 (written adaptation of the material based on interviews with Poon Lim).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sole Survivor: A Story of Record Endurance at Sea. (No longer available online.) Review at nauticalmind.com , archived from the original on September 7, 2008 ; Retrieved October 16, 2008 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nauticalmind.com
  2. ^ Chinese in Britain. Episode 3: From ship to shore. BBC Radio 4 , accessed October 16, 2008 .
  3. ^ Tells of 132 Days on Raft. New York Times Archives , accessed October 16, 2008 .
  4. ^ Poon Lim Awarded Medal for 133 Days on Life Raft. Archive from chicagotribune.com, retrieved on October 16, 2008 .
personal data
SURNAME Poon, Lim
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lim, Poon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Chinese shipwrecked man who survived 133 days in the South Atlantic
DATE OF BIRTH March 8, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Hainan , China
DATE OF DEATH 4th January 1991
Place of death New York City , USA