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Poon Lim, a 25-year-old Chinese seaman from Hainan, was second steward on the British merchant ship, Ben Lomond, which was carrying a crew of 55. It was torpedoed by a German U-boat on 23 November 1942. Poon Lim leaped over the side. He had tied a life jacket around himself, so he surfaced and swam away from the freighter.

When the ship's boilers exploded, the Ben Lomond sank. Poon Lim paddled in the water, holding his head as high as he could above each wave in hope of spotting a life raft. He gulped air when he could and kept his head above the waves. After struggling for two hours he saw a life raft several hundred feet away. He swam to it and climbed aboard.

Poon Lim's raft was built of timbers and was 8 square ft (0.7 m2). Tied to it were some tins of British biscuits, a large water jug, some flares, and an electric torch. By allowing himself a few swallows of water and two biscuits in the morning and in the evening, he estimated that he should be able to stay alive for at least a month.

On two occasion rescue seemed imminent, once when a freighter passed within close range, and once when a US Navy patrol plane buzzed his raft. Both times his frantic shouting was ignored. He was spotted by a German U-boat, which chose to leave him to his fate. Poon Lim realised that he must keep himself alive until he drifted to land.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~judkins/survival.htm