5. Poon Lim
Poon Lim was a Chinese immigrant to the British Empire before WWII and served during the war. In the middle of a voyage to New York the ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat.
53 people of the 54 crew were lost when the ship sank, but Lim donned a life jacket and swam from the ship before its boilers exploded. Lim drifted for some time before finding a wooden raft from the wreckage with some biscuits on it and a small amount of water. He survived for quite a while on the meager rations.
Eventually he fashioned a hook and line from the old nailed on the raft. Lim caught everything from pan fish to sharks and drank their blood to stay hydrated.
After 133 days, Lim was rescued by three Brazilian fisherman and taken back to Britain and received the British Empire Medal.
via joe
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