The Sinking of SS Arabic: Elder Nebeker’s Experience
On the morning of August 19, 1915, Acel Hulme Nebeker found himself boarding a lifeboat just minutes before the ship he had been on sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Acel had been a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the British Mission since June 1913. Then in 1915, after reporting to his mission president, Acel prepared for the journey home to Logan, Utah, to his loved ones. He boarded the SS Arabic and departed on the evening of August 18, 1915.
The SS Arabic had a capacity of almost 1,400 passengers; it was also used to transfer post, supplies, and passengers across the Atlantic. On August 19 the Arabic was caught by the German submarine U-24, which was hiding amongst the wreckage of the SS Dunsley, which it had just sunk. Being aware of the danger around them, the Arabic used zig-zag movements to avoid the danger, but a torpedo crashed into the starboard side. Thankfully, the ship only had 424 persons on board, otherwise the death toll might have been much higher.
Dressed in his bathrobe and life jacket, Acel ran across the deck. As the Arabic proceeded on its deathly descent into the Atlantic Ocean, he jumped and began swimming away from the developing vortex. With chaos surrounding him, Acel continued swimming for around twenty minutes, moving from one piece of wreckage to another before being picked up by a lifeboat.
Following his rescue, Acel described the anxiety that he and his fellow-passengers felt as they waited for rescue. The passengers of the lifeboat found themselves without anyone to lead them. However, an engineer from the Arabic on a nearby lifeboat left the safety of his own lifeboat and swam over to help. Acel stated, “He jumped into the sea and swam over to us and took charge, and, there is no doubt, he became our saviour.” Soon after, the minesweeper Primrose rescued the survivors and took them to Queenstown, Ireland.
News of the Arabic’s sinking arrived at the European Mission headquarters with the evening papers on the same day. For some while there was limited information; Church officials visited the White Line offices in Liverpool to make inquiries and to leave contact information. That same evening, a telegram was received from Acel announcing his safe arrival in Queenstown. Church officials stated, “The anxiety was turned into joy because of the mercy of our Heavenly Father in holding His hand over His young servant and rescuing him from the yawning deep.”
Despite the trauma of the sinking, Acel appears to have been remarkably composed about the incident. He was widely quoted in the media, both in the United States and Britain: “Acel Hulme Nebeker of Logan, Utah, when he arrived here had on only a bathrobe, said that the crew worked splendidly under Captain Finche’s direction in the short ten minutes which they had to get the passengers into the boats and but for the discipline maintained and the excellent work of the rescuing tug officers at least 200 persons would have been lost. The submarine, according to Mr Nebeker, was seen before it launched the torpedo, but there was not enough time to escape it.” (As reported by The Cranbury Press, Middlesex County, New Jersey, USA on Friday, August 27th, 1915.)
After returning home and with the outbreak of war between the USA and Germany in 1917, Acel enlisted in the army and served in the field artillery until demobilisation in 1918. At some point before his mission, Acel’s original assignment to New Zealand had been changed to the British Mission; he spent most of his time in the Liverpool Conference, travelling across the country as needed. Later, Acel completed his studies and became a successful lawyer in Salt Lake City where he lived, worked, and served until his death on October 29, 1980.
See the article on www.lds.org.uk/church-history for more information.