Voting Station

Poon Lim

Please vote to return to collections.

Adventurer

The Resume

    (March 8, 1918-January 4, 1991)
    Born in Hainan, China
    Second steward on the British merchant ship SS Ben Lomond
    Sailing the South Atlantic from Cape Town, South Africa to Dutch Guiana during World War II when sunk by a German U-boat (November 23, 1942)
    Climbed aboard a life raft (replica seen in picture) and awaited help
    Discovered by three fishermen and taken to Brazil after 133 days at sea (April 5, 1943)
    Longest single survivor afloat on a life raft ever recorded (as of 2012)
    Died in Brooklyn at age 72
    Alfred Bester science fiction novel 'The Stars My Destination' inspired by a newspaper report about him

Why he might be annoying:

    There are conflicting reports about whether he was the sole survivor or if 11 crew members were rescued months before him.
    During his ordeal, a freighter passed by closely and a U.S. Navy patrol plane flew overhead, but neither rescued him.
    He contended that the freighter saw him and chose not to pick him up because he was Chinese.
    The Navy plane dropped a marker buoy in the water near his raft, but a storm washed him away from it before he could be picked up.
    Losing 20 pounds at sea, after his rescue he spent four weeks in a Brazilian hospital.
    Once rescued, his employers gave him a gold watch (gee, thanks).

Why he might not be annoying:

    After his ship sank, he spent two hours paddling in the Atlantic before spotting the life raft.
    A German U-boat spotted him adrift, but chose not to blow him out of the water.
    The raft had several tins of biscuits, a forty liter jug of water, some chocolate and a bag of sugar cubes, which lasted him a month.
    After draining his supplies, he had to use ingenuity to survive.
    He caught rain water with the life boat's canvas, and fashioned a crude cutting tool, fishing line, hook, and net, using biscuit tins, hemp rope and a nail from the raft itself.
    Sometimes, he used rotting fish as bait to ensnare seagulls in his net, eating their flesh and drinking their blood.
    He once caught a two foot shark, where the flesh and blood sustained him for days (and gave him shark fins, a Hainan delicacy).
    After arriving back in England, King George personally presented him with the British Empire Medal, the highest civilian award.
    Afterward, the Royal Navy had booklets printed and placed in all life rafts, describing his survival techniques.
    When told of his survival record, he stated, 'I hope no one will ever have to break that record.'
    Wanting to emigrate to the U.S. after the war, he discovered the quota for Chinese immigrants had been reached, but Washington Senator Warren Magnuson heard of his plight and got Congress to allow him special consideration, where he eventually received citizenship.

Credit: Scar Tactics


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 22.22% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 182 Votes: 59.34% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 30 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 89 Votes: 56.18% Annoying