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Poon Lim

Poon Lim (8 March 1918 – 4 January 1991) was a Chinese seaman from Hainan who served as second steward on the British merchant vessel SS Benlomond, the sole survivor of its torpedoing by the German submarine U-172 on 23 November 1942 in the South Atlantic Ocean, and holder of the Guinness World Record for the longest documented survival adrift at sea alone on a life raft, enduring 133 days before rescue by Brazilian fishermen on 5 April 1943.^[1]^[2]^[3] During his ordeal on an eight-foot wooden raft, Lim sustained himself by collecting rainwater in a canvas shoe, fashioning fishing hooks from piano wire found in the ship's debris, catching fish and seabirds, drinking turtle and bird blood when necessary, and even killing a shark with a bailer jug to access its liver for nourishment.^[3]^[4] For his resilience, King George VI awarded him the British Empire Medal, and the Royal Navy incorporated elements of his survival techniques into its training manuals.^[5]^[6] After the war, Lim emigrated to the United States, where he lived until his death in Brooklyn, New York.^[1]

Early Life and Career

Birth and Childhood in China

Poon Lim was born on March 8, 1918, on Hainan Island, China, in a coastal region where maritime activities shaped daily life.^[7]^[8]^[9] He came from a modest background typical of the area's fishing communities, amid the broader instability of early 20th-century China, including the lingering effects of World War I and internal conflicts.^[7]^[10] During his childhood, Lim grew up in an environment centered on the sea, with Hainan's island setting fostering early familiarity with water-based livelihoods.^[7] Unlike many peers from similar socioeconomic circumstances who entered labor early, he received formal schooling, which provided a basic education uncommon in rural Chinese island communities of the era.^[8]^[11] This period laid the groundwork for his later entry into seafaring, though specific family details or extended childhood events remain sparsely documented in historical accounts.^[10]

Entry into Merchant Shipping

Poon Lim, born in Hainan Province, China, in 1918, left his homeland in his youth to pursue opportunities at sea, enlisting as a cabin boy in the British Merchant Navy.^[7]^[12] This entry into merchant shipping was driven by a desire for economic stability and adventure, as he joined his brother already serving in the fleet, amid the challenges of rural life in China during the interwar period.^[7] Early in his career, Lim worked on various vessels operating routes through Southeast Asia, gaining experience in maritime duties under British registry, which was common for Chinese seafarers seeking employment on international lines.^[10] Over the years, Lim advanced from cabin boy to steward roles, leveraging his skills in provisioning and galley work essential to merchant crews.^[2] By the early 1940s, amid World War II demands for Allied shipping, he had risen to second steward, a position involving oversight of crew meals and stores on cargo vessels.^[2]^[13] His service reflected the broader recruitment of Chinese nationals into the British Merchant Navy, which faced acute manpower shortages due to wartime losses and relied on colonial and Asian labor for essential supply convoys.^[14] This progression positioned him aboard the SS Benlomond in 1942, a defensively armed merchant ship tasked with transporting cargo from Cape Town to South America.^[13]^[15]

The Sinking of SS Benlomond

Voyage and U-Boat Attack

The SS Benlomond, a British cargo steamer of 6,630 gross register tons built in 1922, departed Cape Town, South Africa, on November 10, 1942, bound for Paramaribo, Surinam, sailing in ballast with no cargo aboard.^[16] ^[3] Poon Lim, a 25-year-old Chinese national serving as second mess steward, had boarded the unescorted vessel for this transatlantic crossing through the perilous South Atlantic convoy routes during World War II.^[3] ^[17] On November 23, 1942, at approximately 17:13 hours, the Benlomond came under attack from the German Type IXC submarine U-172, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Carl Emmermann, which fired a spread of torpedoes from a submerged position.^[18] ^[19] One torpedo struck amidships, detonating in the engine room and causing catastrophic damage that led to the ship's rapid sinking within two minutes at position roughly 0°30′N 38°00′W.^[16] ^[3] Of the 53 people aboard—including 44 crew members and 9 gunners—no distress signals were successfully sent, and the attack claimed all lives except that of Poon Lim, who managed to reach a life raft amid the chaos.^[16] ^[17]

Escape to the Life Raft

On November 23, 1942, the SS Benlomond, a British merchant vessel carrying 54 crew members, was struck by two torpedoes from the German U-boat U-172 in the South Atlantic, approximately 750 miles east of Belém, Brazil, causing the ship to sink within two minutes.^[3] Poon Lim, a 24-year-old Chinese mess steward off duty below deck at the time of the attack, heard the explosions and immediately donned a life jacket before jumping overboard into the sea as the vessel rapidly foundered.^[3]^[14] The sinking created strong suction that briefly pulled Lim underwater amid boiling water and debris, but he resurfaced and began swimming through a field of oil slicks and wreckage for nearly two hours in deteriorating conditions.^[3] During this time, the U-172 surfaced, captured five crew members for interrogation, placed them on a separate raft, and then submerged, after which that group vanished and was never recovered; other initial survivors in a lifeboat also disappeared, leaving Lim isolated.^[3] Exhausted, Lim eventually spotted and swam to an eight-by-eight-foot wooden life raft that had broken free from the ship, hauling himself aboard to become its sole occupant and the only survivor from the Benlomond.^[3]^[14] The raft contained limited emergency provisions, including a 40-liter jug of water, tins of biscuits and potted meat, sugar, chocolate, a flashlight, signaling flares, and smoke pots—supplies intended for short-term use rather than prolonged drift.^[3]^[14] Lacking oars, sail, or propulsion, the raft drifted aimlessly with the currents, marking the beginning of Lim's extended ordeal at sea.^[3]

133 Days of Survival

Initial Supplies and Adaptations

Upon reaching the eight-foot-square wooden life raft after approximately two hours in the water following the sinking of SS Benlomond on November 23, 1942, Poon Lim discovered standard emergency provisions including several tins of hard biscuits, about 40 liters of fresh water stored in a large jug, an electric torch, and signal flares.^[8]^[20] These meager stores, typical of merchant vessel life rafts during World War II, were insufficient for prolonged survival without conservation.^[5] Lim immediately implemented strict rationing, consuming only two biscuits and a few sips of water daily to stretch the supplies over weeks.^[8]^[13] Recognizing the finite nature of the provisions, he adapted by extracting nails from the raft's structure to fashion fishing hooks and using strands from onboard hemp rope for line, initially baiting with crumbled biscuit remnants to catch small fish and supplement his diet before the tins emptied.^[5]^[8] He further modified the raft by rigging available canvas—likely from a partial cover or sail remnant—into a rudimentary canopy for shade against equatorial sun exposure and to funnel rainwater or morning dew into the water jug, augmenting his hydration beyond the initial store.^[21] These early resourcefulness measures, undertaken within the first days, prevented immediate depletion and enabled transition to self-sustaining methods amid the South Atlantic's isolation.^[20]

Sustenance Strategies: Food and Water

Upon reaching the life raft following the sinking of the SS Benlomond on November 23, 1942, Poon Lim discovered limited emergency provisions in its locker, including hardtack biscuits, canned food, and fresh water stored in jugs. These rations were strictly portioned, with the solid food sustaining him for roughly 55 days and the water for about 65 days, after which depletion forced immediate improvisation to avoid starvation and dehydration.^[22]^[4] To secure water beyond the initial supply, Lim repurposed the canvas from his life jacket into a rudimentary catchment device, spreading it to funnel rainwater into containers during storms, a method that proved vital amid intermittent precipitation in the South Atlantic. In periods without rain, he supplemented this by licking moisture from the raft's wooden surfaces or collecting dew, though such yields were minimal and required patience. Bird blood, obtained from captured seabirds, occasionally served as an emergency hydrating fluid, albeit unpalatable and nutritionally inferior to fresh water.^[23]^[11]^[22] For food procurement, Lim crafted fishing implements from available materials: hooks bent from nails or wire extracted from a flashlight, lines twisted from hemp rope securing the raft's supplies or unraveled clothing fibers, and initial bait fashioned from biscuit crumbs. This enabled him to hook and haul in fish, which he consumed raw after gutting, using their remains—including entrails and blood—to attract larger prey or seabirds. Seabirds alighting on the raft were seized by hand; Lim would drink their blood for quick sustenance and devour the meat, sometimes baiting lines with avian guts to lure sharks, one of which he successfully killed and butchered for substantial protein. A pivotal windfall occurred when a storm on approximately day 70 damaged his stores, prompting him to swim roughly 100 yards to a floating buoy—likely discarded U-boat provisions—yielding canned meats, vegetables, and additional water that extended his endurance. These strategies, rooted in resourcefulness rather than prior training, yielded an estimated daily intake of fish and birds sufficient to prevent total emaciation, though nutritional deficits contributed to physical decline over the 133 days.^[4]^[11]^[23]^[24]

Encounters with Wildlife and Storms

During his 133 days adrift, Poon Lim regularly confronted sharks that patrolled the vicinity of his 8-by-8-foot life raft, drawn by blood from his fishing activities and occasional wounds. He countered this danger by tethering himself with wire when swimming to exercise and bathe, while fashioning fishing hooks from nails, wire, and bones to catch fish and smaller sharks using bait derived from seabirds or prior catches.^[13]^[8] In a notable confrontation, a shark ventured onto the raft's edge, prompting Lim to strike its head repeatedly with a half-full metal water jug until it died; he then extracted and consumed its nutrient-rich liver, marking one of his few direct combats with the predators. Seabirds, including gulls, frequently landed on the raft seeking rest or food scraps, allowing Lim to club them for meat—which he rationed by drying in the sun—and blood, which served as a vital hydration source when rainwater collections proved insufficient.^[23]^[8] Tropical storms assaulted the raft multiple times, generating waves up to 10 feet high that threatened to swamp or overturn it, often forcing Lim to bail frantically with available containers and secure his meager supplies with ropes to prevent loss. These tempests exacerbated dehydration and exposure, as heavy rains mingled with seawater, requiring careful collection into jury-rigged canvas funnels, yet Lim's proactive adaptations—such as reinforcing the raft's structure with wooden slats—prevented total catastrophe amid the South Atlantic's volatile weather.^[7]^[20]

Health Deterioration and Mental Resilience

Poon Lim endured physical strain from prolonged exposure to sun, saltwater, and variable weather, resulting in sunburn, skin sores, and gradual weight loss of about 10 kilograms (22 pounds) over 133 days, though he preserved muscle through daily swimming routines in shark-infested waters once conditions allowed.^[25]^[8]^[4] By around day 60, he began circling the raft twice daily using an ocean swimmer's stroke to maintain strength, countering the weakening effects of caloric deficit despite supplementing diet with fish, birds, and rainwater.^[8] Upon rescue on April 5, 1943, he appeared dehydrated and exhausted but medically stable without severe complications, demonstrating exceptional recuperative capacity as noted by examining physicians.^[5] Mentally, isolation amplified hardships, with Lim later describing resource shortages as peak moments of psychological strain where surrender tempted him; yet he overcame these by imposing structure through repetitive survival tasks like crafting hooks from wire and nails or signaling distant ships with flares.^[26]^[27] This deliberate focus on agency—adapting wreckage into tools and monitoring equatorial currents—fostered resilience, preventing despair from eroding his determination amid weeks without sightings or aid.^[21]^[28] His approach exemplified causal persistence: viewing inaction as fatal, he prioritized empirical problem-solving over passive endurance, sustaining morale until Brazilian fishermen spotted him roughly 1,200 miles from his sinking site.^[7]

Rescue and Immediate Aftermath

Sighting by Brazilian Fishermen

On April 5, 1943, three Brazilian fishermen spotted an unusual object on the horizon approximately 9 miles (14 km) off the coast of Pará, Brazil, while operating in the Atlantic waters east of the Salinas region.^[8]^[29] Approaching cautiously, they discovered Poon Lim adrift on his makeshift wooden raft, emaciated and weakened after 133 days at sea, having lost around 40 pounds (18 kg) from his original 140-pound (64 kg) frame.^[3]^[8] Despite his dire condition—naked, dehydrated, and barely able to stand—Lim reacted with evident joy upon seeing the fishermen, reportedly singing and laughing as their boat neared, a testament to his preserved mental fortitude.^[14] The fishermen, initially astonished by the sight of a lone survivor so far from land, hauled Lim and his raft aboard, providing immediate aid with fresh water and food before transporting him to shore.^[7]^[8] This encounter marked the end of Lim's unprecedented ordeal, during which he had drifted over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) westward from the site of the SS Benlomond's sinking.^[3]^[15]

Recovery and Repatriation

Upon rescue on April 5, 1943, approximately 50 miles off Salinópolis, Brazil, Poon Lim demonstrated remarkable resilience by walking unassisted from his raft onto the Brazilian fishing vessel commanded by the rescuers' family head. He received initial care aboard the vessel for three days amid language barriers, as he spoke no Portuguese. Subsequently, he was admitted to a hospital in a Brazilian port for 35 days to recover from severe dehydration, malnutrition, and exposure sustained over 133 days adrift.^[28] Physicians observed Lim's exceptional recuperative capacity during this period, noting his overall health improved rapidly despite an estimated 20-pound (9 kg) weight loss and the physical toll of his ordeal. By the end of his hospital stay, he was fit for travel, with no long-term impairments reported from the survival episode.^[5]^[28] As a crew member of the British-registered SS Benlomond, Lim was repatriated to the United Kingdom via official merchant navy channels, arriving by plane in July 1943. This facilitated his presentation of the British Empire Medal by King George VI at Buckingham Palace, honoring his endurance and resourcefulness at sea.^[28]^[5]

Honors and Public Recognition

Award of the British Empire Medal

Poon Lim received the British Empire Medal (BEM), a civilian award for meritorious service or gallantry, in recognition of his extraordinary endurance and resourcefulness during 133 days adrift on a life raft in the South Atlantic following the torpedoing of the British steamer Ben Lomond on November 23, 1942.^[5] The medal highlighted his improvised methods for sustenance, including fashioning fishing hooks from nails to catch fish and seabirds, which sustained him against starvation and dehydration.^[5] Described as the highest British civilian decoration for valor at the time, the BEM underscored Lim's demonstration of resilience under wartime conditions, serving as a testament to individual ingenuity in the face of isolation and peril.^[5] The award was announced publicly on July 17, 1943, during a ceremony at the Seaman's Church Institute in New York, where British officials informed Lim of King George VI's invitation to receive the honor in England.^[5] Lim was subsequently flown to the United Kingdom in July 1943 and presented with the medal by King George VI at Buckingham Palace on November 8, 1943, marking a formal acknowledgment of his survival feats by the British monarchy amid World War II.^[28]^[30] This presentation, captured in contemporary newsreels, emphasized Lim's status as a Chinese merchant seaman serving on a British vessel, rendering him eligible for imperial honors despite his nationality.^[30] The event not only celebrated his personal triumph but also informed subsequent British naval training on survival techniques derived from his ordeal.^[28]

Verification of the Survival Record

Poon Lim's survival of 133 days adrift was corroborated through contemporaneous investigations by British maritime authorities following his rescue on April 5, 1943, by Brazilian fishermen approximately 400 miles from the Brazilian coast. Upon repatriation, Lim underwent medical examinations in Brazil and subsequent debriefings in the United States and United Kingdom, where his physical condition—marked by emaciation, healed wounds from shark encounters, and evidence of improvised sustenance methods—aligned with his detailed account of rationing initial supplies, fishing with handmade lines, and collecting rainwater.^[5] These evaluations, combined with navigational estimates placing his drift from the SS Benlomond's sinking site on November 23, 1942, confirmed the timeline without discrepancies.^[28] The British Admiralty's review of Lim's testimony, supported by the fishermen's observations of his raft's construction from salvaged wood and his possession of a British seaman's documents, led to official endorsement of his ordeal. This culminated in King George VI awarding him the British Empire Medal in July 1943 at Buckingham Palace, an honor reserved for verified acts of exceptional resourcefulness under duress, as announced in government gazettes and contemporary news reports.^[30] The Royal Navy further validated the narrative by incorporating Lim's techniques—such as baiting hooks with shark liver and using bird blood for hydration—into survival training manuals distributed to merchant seamen, reflecting empirical acceptance of his methods' efficacy.^[28] Guinness World Records formally recognizes Lim's 133 days as the longest verified solo survival on a life raft, based on archival shipping logs, rescue manifests, and Lim's authenticated logbook entries preserved in British records. No subsequent claims have surpassed this duration under comparable conditions, with Guinness adjudicators cross-referencing primary sources like Admiralty dispatches to exclude unverified or assisted drifts.^[31] Independent historical analyses, drawing from declassified WWII merchant shipping reports, affirm the absence of fabrication, attributing credibility to the consistency across Lim's interviews and physical artifacts like his repaired raft remnants examined post-rescue.^[32]

Later Life in the United States

Immigration and Employment

Following World War II, Poon Lim applied for immigration to the United States but faced barriers from national-origin quotas limiting Chinese entrants under prevailing laws.^[7] His global fame as the record holder for longest solo survival at sea facilitated intervention by U.S. officials, who granted him special entry permission despite the restrictions.^[7] Lim settled in Brooklyn, New York, and returned to merchant shipping, joining the United States Lines as a steward on American-flagged vessels operating primarily in the Pacific.^[7] ^[28] He progressed to Chief Steward, a senior role overseeing galley operations and crew meals, and held the position aboard ships such as the S.S. American Lancer, with routes including stops at Honolulu, Guam, and Hong Kong.^[28] Lim remained employed with the company for several decades, retiring in 1983 after a career spanning post-war recovery through the container shipping era.^[7] ^[33]

Family Life and Death

Following his immigration to the United States and attainment of citizenship in 1952 through assistance from Senator Warren Magnuson, Poon Lim resided in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and children. He married in 1952 the daughter of a former shipmate from the merchant vessel SS Tanda, with whom he had three daughters—Lillian, Linda, and Janet—and one son, George.^[7]^[28] By 1978, his daughters were university students in New York: Lillian, aged 22, was studying marketing at New York University with an IBM scholarship; Linda, 21, was pursuing law at NYU; and Janet, 18, was transferring from Brooklyn College to NYU. His son George was then a 16-year-old high school senior.^[28] In 1985, Lim continued living contentedly in Brooklyn near his four children.^[34] Poon Lim died on January 4, 1991, in Brooklyn at the age of 72.^[7]

Enduring Legacy in Survival Narratives

Poon Lim's ordeal established him as a benchmark for human endurance at sea, with his 133-day survival on a life raft recognized by Guinness World Records as the longest verified instance of such isolation. This record, unchallenged since 1943, underscores the practical ingenuity he employed—fashioning fish hooks from flashlight springs, distilling water via solar evaporation, and rationing captured seabirds and sharks—which has been documented in maritime survival literature as a model of resourcefulness under duress.^[35] His techniques, derived from immediate necessity rather than prior doctrine, informed subsequent naval advisories on adrift survival, emphasizing mental fortitude alongside physical adaptations like hand-signaling exercises to combat atrophy.^[21] Narratives of Lim's experience permeate survival anthologies and instructional texts, often cited alongside accounts like those of Steven Callahan to illustrate adaptive strategies in open-ocean isolation.^[35] Books such as Sole Survivor detail his progression from initial provisions to improvised sustenance, portraying his refusal to succumb to despair as a causal factor in outlasting equatorial hardships, including dehydration and predation threats.^[36] The Royal Navy incorporated elements of his methods into training protocols post-World War II, highlighting rainwater collection and predatory deterrence as replicable amid U-boat warfare's chaos.^[37] This integration reflects a shift toward empirical, individual-level tactics over institutional oversight, validated by Lim's outcomes rather than theoretical models. Lim's legacy endures in popular media as an archetype of solitary resilience, featured in documentaries and articles that contrast his self-reliant feats against modern survival paradigms reliant on technology.^[38] He reportedly expressed hope that his record remain unbroken, a sentiment echoed in retellings that prioritize cautionary realism over glorification, attributing his success to disciplined routines rather than luck.^[13] Such accounts, drawn from declassified wartime reports and Lim's own interviews, reinforce causal narratives of preparation and willpower in extremis, influencing fields from maritime safety to psychological studies on prolonged isolation.^[28]

References

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Poon Lim (1918-1991) - Find a Grave Memorial
Birth: 8 Mar 1918. Hainan, China ; Death: 4 Jan 1991 (aged 72). Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, USA ; Burial. Cremated.
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Dec 14, 2013 · Poon Lim went back to sea after this aboard the American flag ships. He retired as Chief Steward from the United States Lines in the 1980s.
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