TNA MT 40 66

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COPY.
48a
S.S. FLORISTAN"
I
anchored
PLYMOUTH.
turn,
as
round
20th June, 1940.
Messrs. Frank C. Strick & Co. Ltd.,
LONDON.
them told of the
Gentlemen,
I regret to report that the vessel has sustained
damage during the voyage.
The ballast injection has been stove in, and I
suspect further damage along the port bilge and plates may
have been set in. On the port side in NO.4 hatch, the
tween deck stringer plate is buckled and several frames
and beam knees bent.
the
the
There is also a dent on the starboard bow.
This damage was sustained in evacuating troops
from a French port.
un arrival, I was asked by the S.N.O. to put the
vessel in the locks without tugs, pilot, or boatmen, in a
strong tide, as embarkation in the stream was proceeding
slowly, one destroyer being damaged and out of action, and
the French people would not assist. 1 realised that some
damage would result but felt justified in taking action in
the circumstances.
In entering the locks, our stern was set down by
the tide, and came heavily against the lock knuckle, and I
had to force our bow against the opposite side in order to
ease off our stern.
I embarked 3,000 troops and a few refugee women and
children, and intended to lay in the lock until slack water,
but I was informed that a formation of fifty enemy bombers
were approaching and so considered it advisable to get clear
of the lock, which I expected would be attacked.
1 secured the assistance of a small motor tug, but
it was not sufficiently powerful, and, when we came astern
out of the lock, the tide caught the quarter, and set us down
on the bank outside, which was of hard sand and shingle. 1
was unable to come out at full speed, owing to a bank off the
entrance and it being near-low water; I had no pilot.
apt R.