This family fought for survival after the ship they were on was torpedoed in the Gulf of Mexico

Team Mighty
Apr 2, 2018 9:41 AM PDT
1 minute read
This family fought for survival after the ship they were on was torpedoed in the Gulf of Mexico

SUMMARY

In May of 1942, U-boat 506 sank the freighter “Heredia” approximately 40 miles off New Orleans. Most of the crew onboard were merchant seamen, but there were also a handful of civilians including the Downs family, consisting of the parents, Ra…

In May of 1942, U-boat 506 sank the freighter "Heredia" approximately 40 miles off New Orleans. Most of the crew onboard were merchant seamen, but there were also a handful of civilians including the Downs family, consisting of the parents, Ray and Ina, along with their two children, eight-year-old Sonny, and eleven-year-old Lucille.  When the ship exploded, chaos ensued and Ina and Lucille were separated from Ray and Sonny who found refuge in a four-foot balsa wood life raft. Father and son were joined by the Heredia's captain, Captain Edwin Colburn, and civilian George Conyea.  The following narrative, excerpted from Michael Tougias' new book "So Close to Home," chronicles their final hours in the life raft when all hope seemed lost.


The Downs family after their rescue.

The baking rays of the sun pounded down on the four souls clinging to the square life raft, that was now partially submerged. If we don't drown, thought Ray Downs, we're going to die of dehydration.  They had been drifting in the Gulf of Mexico for over fourteen hours, and Ray worried his boy Sonny wouldn't last another hour.

Sonny was lost in his own exhausted stupor. Then he felt something against his leg. He glanced down and could not believe what he saw: a banana, perhaps the same one he had lost earlier, was bobbing in the water.

"Dad, look!" he gasped, reaching out and snatching the green banana.

"I knew you'd find it. I think that banana is really going to help us. Why don't you unpeel it and take a big bite and then pass it around for all of us to share?"

Sonny did as he was told. It was a struggle to swallow his piece of the banana with his mouth and throat so dry. Twenty seconds later, he felt nauseous and vomited the banana bite back into the sea.

"Well, that didn't work so well," Ray said. "The banana wasn't ripe anyway."

Sonny only nodded. He was slumped forward with his head hanging so low that it almost reached his knees.

A few minutes later, Sonny said, "Dad, can we go in now?" He said it as if they were on a fishing trip and it was up to his father when to call it quits.

Rather than try to explain the situation, his father answered, "Soon, son, soon."

Sonny looked up at his father and just nodded.

It wasn't long after this exchange that Ray noticed fellow survivor George Conyea staring at something directly behind where Ray was sitting. Ray turned his head and saw not one but four grey shark fins lazily cutting through the sea just five feet away from the raft. When he looked over at Conyea and the captain, he saw another couple of fins. By now, all four of the survivors could see the sharks. No one said a word.

One shark turned toward the raft and then glided directly under it. The group could see the outline of its body as it passed directly beneath them. It looked to be about five to six feet long.

Sonny quickly pulled his feet out of the water.

"Take it easy, Sonny, don't thrash around," said his dad. "They'll move on."

But they didn't move on.

The four survivors now counted seven different sharks making slow half-loops around the raft before making a pass directly underneath it. This was by far the most terrifying experience of the ordeal for both Sonny and the three adults. The raft was too small for the men to try and get their legs on top of the balsa wood. Ray was right: their best defense was not to make a commotion.

The men did not know what kind of sharks they were, only that they were as big as themselves. The life raft probably acted like a magnet for sharks, attracting their interest simply because it was a floating object, and the sharks, with their keen sense of smell, could also have been drawn in by the scent of the blood from the wound on Ray's leg. And any movement the group made, such as switching position, would have caused a vibration in the water, and that too would attract sharks. It's also possible that smaller fish were holding position under the shade of the raft, and the sharks came in to investigate this potential prey, and then became inquisitive about the humans.

Whatever kind of sharks were circling the Heredia survivors, they were curious and gradually moved in closer to the life raft, making their lazy half-loops just a couple of feet off the side of the raft before they submerged and swam directly under it. One shark, when passing under the raft, rolled on its back, and an anxious Sonny could see its half-opened mouth. The boy almost let out a scream, but his dad, who had seen the same thing, reached over and put his hand on Sonny's shoulder.

"Don't worry, they are just checking us out. We are something new to them."

Ray had no idea if what he was saying was true or not, but the last thing he needed was for his son to go into a panic. He also hoped his words calmed the captain and George Conyea, because they were as wide-eyed as Sonny, watching every move their new visitors made.

Ray felt despair like he had never known. Sundown was just three and a half hours away, and the thought of the sharks gliding beneath them at night was too terrible to contemplate. He felt absolutely helpless.

Minutes crawled by and the four survivors kept still, eyes glued on the fins lazily cutting through the water on all sides of the raft. The behavior of the sharks stayed the same; they came within a foot or two of the castaways but there was no direct contact with either the raft or the group's legs or feet.

"How long will they stay?" asked Sonny, looking at his father.

"Don't know, Sonny; but like I said, they are just curious." Ray paused and continued his calming words: "If we don't bother them, they won't bother us."

An hour went by and the group tried to ignore the sharks, but with little success. There was nothing else to look at, nothing else to take their mind off the seven fins circling them.

About two hours after the sharks first arrived, more fins appeared in the water not far from the raft. Sonny was terrified, thinking, not more sharks. . . .

Captain Colburn spoke up. "Hey, those are dolphins."

Like the U-boat that had caused their ordeal, the sharks submerged and were not seen again.

Sonny experienced an incredible sense of relief and joy with the dolphins' arrival and the sharks' departure. He felt as if he had been holding his breath for the past two hours, afraid to move a muscle. There was no doubt in his mind that the dolphins had driven the sharks off to help him.

The dolphins' presence not only relieved Sonny's concern over the sharks, they also gave him something new to watch. Unlike the sharks, the dolphins swam quickly around the raft, their entire backs almost coming out of the water, and then briefly submerge and repeat the process. Up and down came their fins. But after just three or four minutes, they moved on and were gone from sight.

The group didn't speak. Without the fear of sharks, their minds went back to the predicament of time running out for a rescue. It would be dark within the hour. Their thirst was unbearable and all felt extremely weak. Sonny was in the worst shape because of his small body. Now that the sun was low in the sky, he was shivering again. His father noticed and had him move back on his lap where he wrapped his big arms around the boy, trying to stop his shaking.

Sonny looked up at his father. "Shouldn't a boat be here by now?" he asked.

Ray needed to keep his son's mind occupied. So instead of discussing the lack of a rescue boat, he said "Let's play a game. See those seagulls way up there? You choose one and I'll choose one and we'll count how long they go without flapping their wings. Whoever's bird flies the longest without using its wings wins."

Sonny perked up a bit. He didn't really want to play the game because he was so chilled and his mouth so parched that he'd rather not talk. But he thought maybe this game was what his father needed to do.

"Okay, I'm picking the one over there," Sonny said as he lethargically pointed at a shape off to the west.

"And I've got the one straight up," answered Ray.

With heads tilted back, father and son watched the birds they had chosen. It was easy to look up because the sun was almost touching the ocean.

"Mine just flapped," said Ray. "You win."

Sonny gave a half-hearted nod.

"Well, let's play another round," said Ray.

Again they chose birds. Sonny chose one high in the sky and way off on the eastern horizon. This time the captain and George Conyea also looked up to see which birds the father and son chose. Anything to take their minds off their body's demands for water.

Again Ray's bird flapped its wings quickly. "You win again," he said.

Sonny kept his eyes on his own bird. "Wow, Dad, mine is still going along without flapping."

Ray looked closer at the bird in the distance.

"Captain, let me use your binoculars," Ray said.

The captain removed the strap from around his neck and handed them to Ray, who hurriedly put the binoculars to his eyes. He adjusted the focus and stared intently at the bird far in the distance.

"That's no seagull, it's a plane!" he shouted.

"Yes, yes!" shouted the captain.

The survivors still could not hear its engines or tell what kind of plane it was, but there was no doubt it was a plane and that it was heading toward the raft.

"Quick, Sonny, take off the captain's coat! I've got to get it on the board."

Within seconds, Ray was waving the board with the white coat on it, and the others were waving their arms.

Ray couldn't tell if the pilot had spotted the white coat, and the tension was unbearable. Please, please, he said to himself. His son's very life was at stake. The boy could not make it through another cold night. He waved the white coat wildly.

As the plane drew closer, its metal skin briefly glittered when the sun's rays hit it. Now they could hear the dull drone of the engine, and Sonny shouted "Help!"

"Keep waving the flag!" shouted the captain, his excitement growing. "It's got to see us. It's our last chance. I think it's coming our way."

Ray could make out the outline of the plane and, because of its unique construction, realized it was a Navy PBY. The single wing was elevated on a pylon above the fuselage rather than coming straight out from the sides. This allowed unobstructed visibility for its aviators to scan the ocean during either patrols for U-boats or search-and-rescue missions. Two engines with propellers were mounted on the wing, one on each side of the aircraft.

The plane came ever closer but it did not descend. Ray thought maybe it was going too fast to see them.

But Sonny's heart soared. He was certain the plane was coming for them. And he was right. In one swift motion, the PBY started descending and adjusting its course slightly so it was just fifteen feet off the ocean and heading right toward the raft, banking hard so that Sonny could actually see the pilot, who was giving a thumbs-up. The boy let out a croak of joy along with the cheers of his father, the captain, and George Conyea.

The four raft passengers watched with awe as the plane circled back toward them. Its 104-foot wingspan and 63-foot length made it appear enormous so close to the water. Just as the plane was barreling over their location, they saw the pilot drop a package out the window, landing just ten feet from the raft. Using the board and their hands, all four survivors paddled furiously toward what they hoped was their salvation floating in the water.

The captain grabbed the package and ripped it open. Inside were two flares, a large container of water, and a note. The captain read the note out loud: "We will send shrimp boats to come and get you. If anyone is seriously hurt, wave me in and I'll pick them up."

Ray thought for a minute. He knew the plane was going to search for other survivors in the few minutes of daylight left and he didn't want to slow it down. Someone, maybe Lucille or Ina, might be hurt and the plane could rescue them. He thought Sonny could make it the half hour or hour that he expected the shrimp boat to take to arrive.

The plane made a broad circle above the raft and then moved off.

"We made it, son," said Ray; "we'll be on the boat in no time."

Then the captain passed the water container to Ray, saying, "Let's all take a drink. We may want to let our bodies adjust to the water before we take a second drink."

When Sonny took his gulp of water, he thought he had never tasted anything so good, so sweet. It was as if the water had magical powers, because he felt better immediately. He couldn't wait for the container to come around again for his second drink of the life-giving fluid. But the captain said again that they shouldn't drink too much all at once, and the other adults agreed.

A few minutes later the plane reappeared, then moved off. The survivors had no way of knowing that the pilot had dropped a note to shrimp boats a few miles off that said: "Watch my direction. Follow me. Pick up survivors in water."

A half hour went by and the survivors bobbed on their little raft in the darkening shadows. They all had another drink of water, and the captain said that he thought a shrimp boat could reach them within the next half hour.

Sonny shivered in his father's arms. The hydrating water had eased his thirst but did nothing for his growing hypothermia.

"That plane can land on water, right, Dad?"

"Yes."

"Then why didn't they just do that and pick us up?"

"They needed more time in the air to find others. But the boat will be here soon."

"What if the boat can't find us?"

"They will. And remember, we've got flares to use if we see a boat."

Sonny had forgotten about the flares. But he also wondered how his dad would see a boat in the distance in the pitch black of night.

More time went by. The sun had set, but the survivors could still differentiate between the horizon and the ocean in the twilight. Sonny had forgotten all about the sharks, but Ray hadn't. Ray still scanned the dark ocean around the raft for any sign of a fin. He wondered what to do if a shark appeared and thought that should one come, he could use the strong light from a flare to scare it off. But with only two flares. . . .

The prospect of another night in the water scared Ray to the core—not for himself but his concern over Sonny, who he could feel shivering in his arms. He second-guessed himself about not waving in the plane. Now there was nothing he could do to change that decision.

Editor's note: Michael Tougias is a New York Times bestselling author and co-author of 25 books including "The Finest Hours,"  "A Storm Too Soon," "Rescue of the Bounty," "Overboard," "Fatal Forecast," "Ten Hours Until Dawn," and "There's a Porcupine in my Outhouse."

His latest work is an inspiring historical narrative titled "So Close to Home" that tells the story of all four members of the Downs family as they struggle for survival.  Their story is contrasted against that of the daring U-boat commander, Erich Wurdemann, who pushed his crew to the limit of endurance as he laid waste to ships throughout the Gulf.  

To see more visit Michael Tougias' website.

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