Ecuperating - Chapter 12
July 10, 1939.
Upon returning to port in England, we unloaded equipment and ammunition and I reported to what they called MI-5, a branch of the English government dealing with foreign relations. I reported exactly what had happened concerning the German U-boat and my reasons for leaving the crew with their own people.
Hans and I had agreed on pleading hardship with my own crew should we have them aboard for the entire trip back to England. We would have had to watch over them for a week in what might be considered a hostile environment. YeahRight. The last I saw of them they were hugging like long lost relatives.
They had sung traditional ballads most of the night. Especially after they heard they were probably going home rather than being prisoners of war. Of course, the fact that I had opened my stores of liquor and beer to them did help somewhat.
We quickly returned to the states. Our turnaround time in England was cut short as it was necessary for us to return for another shipment of arms. The war in Europe was heating up fast.
Left to our own devices, we could make a turnaround trip every 8 days or so, weather permitting of course. Usually on the return trip we were allowed to go it alone, without going in a convoy. A convoy generally was a hindrance to the Sea Princess since she could outrun and outmaneuver a submarine.
With our speed hovering around the 12+ knots, we could run away from them. Most of the supply vessels were something less than 400 feet and could barely make 10 knots. With a load, that was cut down some. The Sea Princess was 420 feet long and 60 feet wide.
It was necessary for us to travel in convoy going east across the Atlantic however, for the protection of the other vessels. We always brought up the rear, and I always showed the 20 point white over two red lights. We were never attacked. In two weeks we were back in England unloading another cargo of equipment and ammunition.
The first group of passengers came aboard at dawn on the day we were scheduled to leave. I have no knowledge as to how they got to England in order to catch us just before the crossing. Hans had set everything up and did such a fine job I never had to worry about the passenger load. They would come aboard with their money in their hands.
I never had to ask them for the payment. They had previous knowledge of the cost of the fare and I never questioned the amount they handed over.
Jayne read on, skipping pages of data relating to names and numbers of passengers carried by the Sea Princess. She concentrated more on what Eric thought about the situation than the physical number and religious leanings of the passengers.
Eric had documented day to day happenings aboard the Sea Princess in detail, from the marriages he performed at sea to the funerals he also conducted. Fortunately, there seemed to be more marriages than funerals. At least at first. Later on some of the passengers just seemed to die of no apparent reason other than just giving up on living.
Dec 15, 1942. Log of Captain Eric Tanner
The passengers we carried for the first two years were almost exclusively Jewish people fleeing from Germany or Poland. They were mostly very well to do people and smart enough to get out before they were either driven out or killed outright. Hitler started killing off the Jews early on in the conflict. Our first load was relatively small. Only 43 souls.
I raked in $430,000 on that first crossing. I gave half of it to the crew upon reaching the states, telling them to squirrel it away for a rainy day. Knowing we may have a large passenger load on the return trip, I had provisioned the vessel with extra food and medical supplies. This was to be our practice for the remainder of our tenure of taking passengers across the Atlantic.
In the first two years many complete families were to use our service. For the most part they were happy to be leaving for America and safety. Later, having seen the war becoming worse and worse, they wore haunting looks that told of having seen too much death and destruction. Many looked devastated and lost, gazing day after day into the vast expanse of the Atlantic.
Some just disappeared overboard, taking their own lives rather than face the future without loved ones.
Hitler declared war on the United States right after Pearl Harbor in December of 1941. From then on our return trips often carried the walking wounded back to the States. At times our ship would return with 200 or more passengers. Many were still Jewish, but more and more often it was refugees from other countries.
Included in this group were Germans fleeing the Third Reich. All were to pay their fees gladly. By this time the class called the Liberty Ships was rapidly increasing the size of the convoys leaving the States. At times we were only one of 70 vessels or more making the crossing.
I have been told that a liberty ship could be built by the American shipyards in something less than two weeks.
Our time in port was always much too short for our men. A few days, and we were back at it again. To the credit of Hans and the German subs, we on the Sea Princess were never attacked. They were good to their promises.
We were averaging 17 round trips per year. And over $600,000 per trip came into our coffer. My take was $300,000. Right around five million a year. I distributed the money in 30 banks in and around Newark, New Jersey, with some of it being wire transferred to a bank in Newberry, Michigan.