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One Common Enemy: The " Laconia " Incident - A Survivor's Memoir
It is September 1942 and you are a 21-year-old man seaman returning home to Britain on leave in HMS Laconia, after fighting the Germans in the Norwegian and Mediterranean campaigns. Suddenly the ship is torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat, forcing you and all on board to take to the lifeboats.
Then the same U-boat that torpedoed your ship rescues you by taking the lifeboats in tow, only to be bombed in turn by American aircraft. This forces the German commander to cast you adrift: once more and you are back facing your common enemy – the sea – as you try to get home.
One Common Enemy, a new book published by the National Maritime Museum, reads like an adventure novel – but it was reality for Jim McLoughlin, who was one of the few survivors of the sinking of the Laconia in 1942. The price of making it back to the UK was high, however, as Jim McLoughlin comments; ‘those who actually survive the terrors of war remain prisoners of cruel memories for the rest of their days.’
Prepare for an inspiring and terrifying story of endurance and survival as you follow Jim McLoughlin and his co-passengers in this heart-rending and gripping tale.
Then the same U-boat that torpedoed your ship rescues you by taking the lifeboats in tow, only to be bombed in turn by American aircraft. This forces the German commander to cast you adrift: once more and you are back facing your common enemy – the sea – as you try to get home.
One Common Enemy, a new book published by the National Maritime Museum, reads like an adventure novel – but it was reality for Jim McLoughlin, who was one of the few survivors of the sinking of the Laconia in 1942. The price of making it back to the UK was high, however, as Jim McLoughlin comments; ‘those who actually survive the terrors of war remain prisoners of cruel memories for the rest of their days.’
Prepare for an inspiring and terrifying story of endurance and survival as you follow Jim McLoughlin and his co-passengers in this heart-rending and gripping tale.
- GenresNonfictionHistory
200 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 30, 2026
I would have to concede that true stories are amongst the best reading. If only fiction writers would take notice and use the simple but effective story lines that work. I digress here but then it is allowed in moderation. Little did I realise that on starting to read this story that eventually there would be a tiny link to my hometown and to me personally in a round-about way.
War is such a waste, and it brings out the worst and best of humanity. Jims struggle to survive on a lifeboat in the middle of the Atlantic after the sinking of the Laconia is traumatic, then, and for the rest of his life.
It wasn’t until the end of the book when Jim was talking about his contacts, people who assisted him in his research and help fill in the gaps and answer some questions that I received a surprise. It is here he mentions Doctor Tony Large in Tasmania. He was a local doctor in my hometown of Ulverstone in Tasmania and was well known and respected. He worked in the clinic that I frequented, and he was my mother’s GP.
Tony was also on a ship that was sunk in the Atlantic at the same time, and he was in a lifeboat that also made it to the African coast. He would have suffered under the same harsh conditions that Jim and his crew members and passengers had to endure.
I never knew him personally, but I did meet him when he wrote a book on the history of our hometown. I purchased a copy and had him sign it. I spoke to him for a while because I was descendant of another tragedy that he had written about in the book.
This a great life story and I have no problems in recommending it.
War is such a waste, and it brings out the worst and best of humanity. Jims struggle to survive on a lifeboat in the middle of the Atlantic after the sinking of the Laconia is traumatic, then, and for the rest of his life.
It wasn’t until the end of the book when Jim was talking about his contacts, people who assisted him in his research and help fill in the gaps and answer some questions that I received a surprise. It is here he mentions Doctor Tony Large in Tasmania. He was a local doctor in my hometown of Ulverstone in Tasmania and was well known and respected. He worked in the clinic that I frequented, and he was my mother’s GP.
Tony was also on a ship that was sunk in the Atlantic at the same time, and he was in a lifeboat that also made it to the African coast. He would have suffered under the same harsh conditions that Jim and his crew members and passengers had to endure.
I never knew him personally, but I did meet him when he wrote a book on the history of our hometown. I purchased a copy and had him sign it. I spoke to him for a while because I was descendant of another tragedy that he had written about in the book.
This a great life story and I have no problems in recommending it.
May 8, 2020
An excellent narrative
What an excellent book. Mr. McLoughlin should be commended for his bravery and for his willingness to share his story. Our generation should be proud of this man as well as so many others who died to make our world a safer place to live. God bless!
What an excellent book. Mr. McLoughlin should be commended for his bravery and for his willingness to share his story. Our generation should be proud of this man as well as so many others who died to make our world a safer place to live. God bless!
March 10, 2023
My mother was a nurse on this ship. Fortunately she got picked up by the French
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews