Customer Reviews

Goodnight, sorry for sinking you: The story of the S.S. City of Cairo

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The British steamship SS City of Cairo was on a voyage from Table Bay to Pernambuco when she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U 68 on 6 November 1942. Of the almost 300 people on board the ship at that time, 82 members of her crew and 22 passengers were lost. After the first torpedo had stopped the ship, lifeboats were being launched when a second device was fired. This act killed a good many people as it struck the lifeboats in the water.

U Boat commander Karl-Freidrich Merten then surfaced and berated the Cairo's master for being disorganised. He then told the luckless captain where he was (2,000 miles from Brazil and over 1,000 miles from Africa) and then uttered the incredible words which gave rise to the title of this book before disappearing. What then followed is one of the most amazing tales of human endurance and survival at sea it has ever been my privilege to read.

Author Ralph Barker has, seemingly, addressed every question in this meticulously researched and well presented account which took many years of hard work to produce.

If you are interested in tales of the sea, shipwreck, war and human endurance, this book is a combination of all those factors rolled into a fascinating account of men and women pitched against the elements. Put simply, this is an excellent read.

NM