A Long Night for the Canteen Boat

As WW2progressed and convoys of merchant ships were lost to the enemy the Royal Navy provided armed escorts. The very last escort vessel then became known as 'THE CANTEEN BOAT'. The vessel would be commanded by the lowest ranking of the Royal Navy escort Vessels. H.M.S. CASSANDRA a brand new Destroyer was in her last stages of "Working up ". The story here is remarkable how an inexperienced war ship and ships company battled the odds with little help and survived without suffering more casualties. The conditions were terrible, but the morale was good. I have not been able to find any record of a situation recorded similar to that contained in this book. If the above had not been successfully accomplished the only alternative most likely would have been the following. Remove everybody that it was possible to remove, before the convoy steamed too far ahead. The ship would have then been sunk by our own forces to prevent it falling into the hands of the enemy.