The Rohilla
By
Lucy Jane Brittain
Harland and Wolff built the
Rohilla.
As a passenger cruise ship and more.
It sailed to Southampton and places beyond.
For eight years until the war.
In October 1914
She sailed from Leith on the tide.
To pick up the wounded from Dunkirk.
Where so many a soldier had died.
The weather began to get worse.
As the boat rolled along the sea.
She was running into danger.
About to sink was she.
At four in the morning she
hit Whitby rock.
Only 600 yards to the shore.
Hitting the rock at the speed that she did.
The ship was stuck forever more.
The lifeboat was sent to save
many lives.
Fighting the weather many heroic attempts were made.
On one trip alone seventeen shipmates survived.
With cliff lights supplied by the Rocket Brigade.
The sinking affected all that
could be.
Eighty-four people died.
In the treacherous water known as the sea.
One hundred and forty survived.
Copyright © Lucy Brittain 2002
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