On Sept. 17, 1940, at a little after ten at night, a German submarine torpedoed the passenger liner S.S. City of Benares in the North Atlantic. There were 406 people on board, including 90 children headed for peaceful Canada, their parents having electedto send them away from Great Britain to escape the ravages of World War II. The Benares sank in half an hour, in a gale that sent several of her lifeboats pitching into the frigid sea, more than three hundred miles from the nearest rescue vessel. Not oneof the survivors had any reasonable hope of rescue. The initial 'miracle' involves one British destroyer's race to the scene; the second is the story of Lifeboat 12, missed by the destroyer, 46 people jammed for eight days in a craft built for 30. Based on first hand accounts from the child survivors and other passengers.--From publisher description.Based on eyewitness accounts, a chronicle of survival at sea describes the German submarine attack on the passenger liner S.S. City of Benares, a ship carrying ninety children from war-ravaged Britain to the safety of Canada.

Product Description: An unforgettable story of children in wartime, of heroism at sea, and--above all--of courage and the power of the human spirit.On September 17, 1940, at a little after ten at night, a German submarine torpedoed the passenger liner S...read more