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Poon Lim
Poon Lim BEM (Chinese: 潘濂; pinyin: Pān Lián; 8 March 1918 – 4 January 1991) was a Chinese seafarer. He was born on the island of Hainan, China. In 1942–43, he survived a record 133 days alone on a life raft in the South Atlantic.
Lim was Second Mess Steward on SS Benlomond, a British cargo ship that the German submarine U-172 sank on 23 November 1942. He survived on an eight-foot (2.4 m) wooden raft with supplies. When the supplies ran low, Lim resorted to fishing, catching seabirds, and rainwater collection.
On 5 April 1943, three Brazilian fishermen rescued Lim as he neared the coast of Brazil. After Lim returned to the United Kingdom, King George VI awarded him the British Empire Medal. After the Second World War, Lim emigrated to the United States.
In 1942 Lim was Second Mess Steward on the Ben Line cargo ship Benlomond, which was en route from Suez to New York via Cape Town and Paramaribo. Her officers were British, but most of her crew was Chinese. Benlomond was capable of about 12 knots (22 km/h). She was defensively armed, but her voyage was unescorted.
On 23 November, U-172 intercepted and hit Benlomond with two torpedoes at position 0°18′N 38°27′W / 00.30°N 38.45°W, about 250 miles (400 km) north of the coast of Brazil. Lim, who was in his cabin, took his life jacket and went to his boat station, where two officers and a seaman were trying to launch one of the lifeboats. They had raised the boat off its chocks, and were about to lower it, when Lim was washed overboard. The ship sank within about two minutes of being hit, and Lim was dragged underwater. When he resurfaced, he found only a few planks floating, one of which he used for extra buoyancy.
Lim was spotted by the crew of U-172 but instead of rescuing him, they laughed at him and waved him away. After about two hours in the water, Lim found and boarded a wooden life raft. In the distance he saw another raft, carrying four or five men, who waved to him to join them. Lim thought they were some of the ship's DEMS gunners. But Lim had no means to propel his raft, and the two rafts drifted apart.
The raft was stocked with a can of fresh water containing 10 imperial gallons (45 litres), six boxes of hardtack, 2 pounds (0.9 kg) of chocolate, ten cans of pemmican, five cans of evaporated milk, one bottle of lime juice, and one can of massage oil. It also had flares, two smoke pots, and a flashlight, with which to signal for help.
Lim at first kept himself alive by drinking the water and eating the food on the raft, but later resorted to fishing, catching seabirds, and collecting rainwater in a canvas life jacket covering. He could not swim well, and often tied a rope from the boat to his wrist in case he fell into the sea. He took a spring from the flashlight and made it into a fish hook, unravelled hemp rope to make a fishing line, and crushed pieces of hardtack to make bait. He dug a nail from the boards on the wooden raft to make a stronger fish hook. When he caught a small fish, he used it as bait to catch bigger fish. He improvised a knife from part of a pemmican can. The water tank had an iron key, which Lim also used as a tool. When gulls settled on his raft, he caught and killed them. He soaked their meat in seawater to salt it, then dried it on deck to make jerky.
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Poon Lim AI simulator
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Poon Lim
Poon Lim BEM (Chinese: 潘濂; pinyin: Pān Lián; 8 March 1918 – 4 January 1991) was a Chinese seafarer. He was born on the island of Hainan, China. In 1942–43, he survived a record 133 days alone on a life raft in the South Atlantic.
Lim was Second Mess Steward on SS Benlomond, a British cargo ship that the German submarine U-172 sank on 23 November 1942. He survived on an eight-foot (2.4 m) wooden raft with supplies. When the supplies ran low, Lim resorted to fishing, catching seabirds, and rainwater collection.
On 5 April 1943, three Brazilian fishermen rescued Lim as he neared the coast of Brazil. After Lim returned to the United Kingdom, King George VI awarded him the British Empire Medal. After the Second World War, Lim emigrated to the United States.
In 1942 Lim was Second Mess Steward on the Ben Line cargo ship Benlomond, which was en route from Suez to New York via Cape Town and Paramaribo. Her officers were British, but most of her crew was Chinese. Benlomond was capable of about 12 knots (22 km/h). She was defensively armed, but her voyage was unescorted.
On 23 November, U-172 intercepted and hit Benlomond with two torpedoes at position 0°18′N 38°27′W / 00.30°N 38.45°W, about 250 miles (400 km) north of the coast of Brazil. Lim, who was in his cabin, took his life jacket and went to his boat station, where two officers and a seaman were trying to launch one of the lifeboats. They had raised the boat off its chocks, and were about to lower it, when Lim was washed overboard. The ship sank within about two minutes of being hit, and Lim was dragged underwater. When he resurfaced, he found only a few planks floating, one of which he used for extra buoyancy.
Lim was spotted by the crew of U-172 but instead of rescuing him, they laughed at him and waved him away. After about two hours in the water, Lim found and boarded a wooden life raft. In the distance he saw another raft, carrying four or five men, who waved to him to join them. Lim thought they were some of the ship's DEMS gunners. But Lim had no means to propel his raft, and the two rafts drifted apart.
The raft was stocked with a can of fresh water containing 10 imperial gallons (45 litres), six boxes of hardtack, 2 pounds (0.9 kg) of chocolate, ten cans of pemmican, five cans of evaporated milk, one bottle of lime juice, and one can of massage oil. It also had flares, two smoke pots, and a flashlight, with which to signal for help.
Lim at first kept himself alive by drinking the water and eating the food on the raft, but later resorted to fishing, catching seabirds, and collecting rainwater in a canvas life jacket covering. He could not swim well, and often tied a rope from the boat to his wrist in case he fell into the sea. He took a spring from the flashlight and made it into a fish hook, unravelled hemp rope to make a fishing line, and crushed pieces of hardtack to make bait. He dug a nail from the boards on the wooden raft to make a stronger fish hook. When he caught a small fish, he used it as bait to catch bigger fish. He improvised a knife from part of a pemmican can. The water tank had an iron key, which Lim also used as a tool. When gulls settled on his raft, he caught and killed them. He soaked their meat in seawater to salt it, then dried it on deck to make jerky.