On the one hand, I think this is a very well researched and mostly well written book. There are times when it feels like a jumble of dates and facts and loses the narrative thread. On the other hand, it's the same subject, same story as Lifeboat 12. On the whole, I think the narrative of Lifeboat 12 is stronger, but this one looks at more of the passengers' lives.

advanced readers' copy provided by edelweiss. ( )

On the USS Benares, among the 400 people aboard there were 100 children and their escorts as part of the CORB program, a program to relocate British children to North America in order to be safe fro the German bombing of England during World War II. While at sea, the boat was torpedoed by a U-Boat, causing a disaster and fight for survival. The book has heavy foreshadowing early on and follows the children aboard on the ship during their journey and in their subsequent fates after the ship has sunk.
A compelling survival story.
It follows a LOT of people.
Heavily researched. I missed a lot of the photographs since I listened to the book. ( )

Books don't usually move me, but this one did. It is the story of a paasenger ship that was used to take children from England to safety from nightly bombers and possible invasion, to security in Canada and other Commonwealth countries. The City of Benares, a former passenger ship, was a revelation to some of the children who had never been outside of London before, and the first time many of them had eaten at a dinner table with silver service, linen napkins and second helpings of ice cream But the ship was selected by a German submarine and torpedoed, killing many children outright, and causing many more casualties in the sinking of the ship and later rescues. Some of the stories are cute others interesting, and a few amazingly heroic. 90 children were evacuated by the CORB or the Children's Overseas Reception Board, who were sending children overseas. Of those 90 children, only 13 survived, of the ten adult escorts or chaperones, six died.
The majority of the book recounts the stories of the survivors and what could be gathered from eyewitness accounts. Of the adult escorts, Mary Cornish was a hero. She had gone to her assigned lifeboat, which was one of the few that were lowered safely, with a number of children. For 12 days they were at sea, and Mary Cornish entertained the children and kept them alive with little food, water or warm clothes.
In many accounts of sinking ships, only the adults are recounted. Here there were kid's stories of a warm coat, a lost toy, and guilt when an older child could not save their younger sibling.
Lifeboats were always a problem in shipping, since many of them capsize when lowered from a listing ship. Also, in a convoy, if one ship is torpedoed, the other ships continue on, trying to get away from the region with U-boats underwater. After this event, one ship is designated as a rescue ship in each convoy, elected to stop and save as many people as possible.
A true regret is that many of the native workers from India on the ship were never interviewed at the time, nor can they or their families be located today. Their stories would have been riveting, but are now all lost.
A good book, but a sad one. ( )

With suspense and quick pacing, details the tragedy of the sinking of the ship City of Benares by a German torpedo, with almost 100 children aboard, many of them being sent abroad by their English parents to keep them safe from the bombings at home. As gripping as a thriller while making it relevant for the child reader. Recommend to kids who've blown through the "I Survived" paperback series. ( )

This is the account of the little-known World War II maritime disaster of the sinking of the passenger ship City of Benares, which was evacuating children from England to Canada.

In 1940, with German air raids reducing many of England’s major cities to smoldering ruins and a threatened invasion looming, thousands of British parents chose to send their children to safety in Canada through a program called the Children’s Overseas Reception Board. The CORB children they were referred as.

On Sept. 13, 1940, the passenger liner set sail from Liverpool bound for Canadian ports. Onboard were 90 CORB children, their chaperones, crew, and paying passengers.

Their Royal Navy escort left it on Sept. 17, and that night, unaware of the refugee children aboard, the commander of German submarine U-48 ordered three torpedoes launched at the Benares, the third hitting its target with devastating effect.

While this is an extremely sad story, it is a beautifully designed book, with reproductions of archival photographs and documents complemented by original pencil art by Lee that captures the action aboard the Benares and afterward.

This is well-researched and an impressively crafted tale of desperation, tragedy, and survival. (Nonfiction. 10-14)