252466 William Clarke Merchant Navy SS Minnetonka from:Grays, Essex My father, William Clarke was sent to sea by his local Catholic priest at Grays, Essex. Due to the absence of his father, who was away at the war, he had become unruly. The priest knew of a Captain Tubbs of the Atlantic Transport Shipping Line who got him a job as deck boy on the SS Minnetonka.
When the ship was torpedoed off the Dardenelles, he managed to dash below and rescue his mandolin (the only thing he possessed of any value to him). He was later rescued from the sea by the torpedo boat destroyer HMS Rifleman, the duty destroyer from Malta which had been sent along with HMS Sheldrake to pick up survivors.
My father was pleased that the cargo of horses they had embarked at Marseilles had been disembarked prior to the sinking by the German submarines, U64 and U67.
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