Michael J. Tougias - Abandon Ship!: The True World War II Story About the Sinking of the Laconia

Copyright 2023 by Michael J. Tougias and Alison OLeary

Interior art credits: Ship deck sandsun/Shutterstock.com; ship water trail LIUSHENGFILM/Shutterstock.com; sunken ship steering wheel A Daily Odyssey/Shutterstock.com; knot vector KsushaArt/Shutterstock.com.

Cover art copyright 2023 by Shane Rebenschied. Cover design by Jenny Kimura.

Cover copyright 2023 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

Interior design by Carla Weise

Hachette Book Group supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the authors intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the authors rights.

Christy Ottaviano Books

Hachette Book Group

1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104

Visit us at LBYR.com

First Edition: February 2023

Christy Ottaviano Books is an imprint of Little, Brown and Company. The Christy Ottaviano Books name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher. Little, Brown and Company books may be purchased in bulk for business, educational, or promotional use. For information, please contact your local bookseller or the Hachette Book Group Special Markets Department at special.markets@hbgusa.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Tougias, Michael J., 1955 author. | OLeary, Alison, author.

Title: Abandon ship! : the true World War II story about the sinking of the Laconia / by New York Timesbestselling author Michael J. Tougias, and Alison OLeary.

Description: First edition. | New York : Christy Ottaviano Books, Little, Brown and Company, 2023. | Series: True survival series | Includes bibliographical references. | Audience: Ages 914 |

Summary: A remarkable true WWII account of the maritime attack on the RMS Laconia off the West African coast.Provided by publisher. Identifiers: LCCN 2022039644 | ISBN 9780316401371 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780316401579 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Laconia (Steamship : 19211942)Juvenile literature. | Steamboat disastersAtlantic OceanHistory20th centuryJuvenile literature. | World War, 19391945Search and rescue operationsJuvenile literature. | World War, 19391945Naval operations, GermanJuvenile literature. | Submarines (Ships)GermanyHistory20th centuryJuvenile literature. | World War, 19391945Naval operationsSubmarineJuvenile literature.

Classification: LCC D772.L23 T68 2023 | DDC 940.54/293dc23/eng/20220824

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022039644

ISBNs: 978-0-316-40137-1 (hardcover), 978-0-316-40157-9 (ebook)

E3-20230118-JV-NF-ORI

The Finest Hours

A Storm Too Soon

Into the Blizzard

Attacked at Sea (cowritten with Alison OLeary)

In Harms Way (Young Readers Adaptation of Doug Stantons In Harms Way)

TO PAUL LORRAINE, ADAM GAMBLE, AND MARK & BOB TOUGIAS

M. T.

TO KATHRYN OLEARY, A TRUE SURVIVOR AND TRUSTED ADVISER

A. O.

SHIPS AND SUBMARINES

Laconiasix-hundred-foot British ship that carried 2,730 people, including the crew, military men, women and children, Italian POWs, and Polish guards

Gloire588-foot French cruiser sent to rescue survivors of the sinking Laconia

U-boat 156German U-boat that sank the Laconia

U-boat 506, U-boat 507, and Cappellinithree submarines that assisted in the rescue

LACONIA PASSENGERS AND CREW

Rudolph Sharpcaptain of the Laconia

Claude Parryoung British crew member of the Laconia

Molly Davidsonnineteen-year-old civilian aboard Laconia

Josephine Framefourteen-year-old civilian aboard Laconia

Doris Hawkinsthirty-one-year-old civilian nurse aboard Laconia

Tony Largenineteen-year-old sailor in the Royal Navy aboard Laconia

Jim McLoughlintwenty-year-old sailor in the Royal Navy who operated a deck gun on the Laconia

Dr. Geoffrey Purslowtwenty-six-year-old surgeon on the Laconia

Harry Vinesgunner on the Laconia, in his twenties

Lady Grizel Wolfe-Murraypassenger aboard the Laconia

Ted Dobsonable seaman in Royal Navy, approximately twenty-five years old

Ted Rileyable seaman in the Royal Navy, in his early twenties

George, Ena, and June StonemanRoyal Air Force sergeant and his family returning home from overseas assignment

A. J. Baldwinlieutenant colonel in British army who was in charge of Italian prisoners

Thomas BuckinghamLaconias senior third officer, who was taken prisoner on U-507

GERMAN U-BOAT ADMIRAL AND COMMANDERS

Werner Hartensteincommander of U-156

Karl Dnitzadmiral in charge of all U-boats

Harro Schachtcommander of U-507

Erich Wrdemanncommander of U-506

ITALIAN SUBMARINE COMMANDER

Marco Revedincommander of Cappellini

US ARMY AIR FORCE PERSONNEL

Captain Robert C. Richardson IIItwenty-four-year-old commander of the First Composite Squadron on Ascension Island

Lieutenant James D. Hardentwenty-four-year-old pilot of the B-24 Liberator that bombed submarine U-156 while it was aiding Laconia survivors

W ORLD W AR II BEGAN WHEN N AZI G ERMANY invaded Poland in 1939 and Great Britain and France tried to halt the Nazi takeover of Europe. The United States did not join the war until December 7, 1941, when Imperial Japan attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Germany, Italy, and Japan (the Axis powers) all declared war on the United States, and the United States responded by declaring war on them.

Germanys submarines, called U-boats (undersea boats or, in German, Unterseeboot), were particularly effective tools of war. In the early months of the war, U-boats entered the channels surrounding Britain and torpedoed ships, some carrying crucial supplies from Canada. Residents of Great Britain nearly starved in the aftermath. From the fall of 1939 to the summer of 1940, as Germany invaded countries in Northern Europe, over five hundred ships were sunk around Britain and in the North Sea. Those numbers would growand fears grew with them.

This was a time for the U-boat captains to improve their torpedo skills. Having cracked the codes for secret British messages to ships moving goods and materials across the North Atlantic, the submarine force terrorized sailors. U-boats found nighttime best for evading detection. They surfaced unexpectedly, unleashing deadly attacks in the midst of a convoy of ships.