The 15-year-old who survived 3 shipwrecks in the same day managed to cheat death in ways that seem supernatural. His name was Wenman Wykeham-Musgrave, and his story resembles the script of a blockbuster film.
It is one of those unbelievable stories that happen perhaps… Once in a hundred (or more…) years. It’s what we say: “If fate wants you…”
Wenman Wykeham-Musgrave was just fifteen years old when he endured one of the most incredible ordeals in naval history.
On September 22, 1914, in a single morning in the North Sea, he survived the torpedoing of three British cruisers, the Aboukir, the Hogue, and the Cressy!
All the ships were sunk by the German submarine U-9. When the ship the 15-year-old was aboard sank, he was rescued and boarded another ship, which in turn was struck by the submarine’s torpedo and sank, leaving him shipwrecked in the water once again!
After all three ships sank around him, he was pulled from the sea by a Dutch trawler, alive. Unbelievable but true.
His good luck, of course, had not yet run out. Later, during World War I, he was assigned to HMS Vanguard but fell seriously ill and was sent ashore.
A few days later, the Vanguard exploded in Scapa Flow, costing over 800 lives. His sudden illness saved him from a fourth disaster.
Somehow, this teenager cheated death four times before reaching adulthood, managing to outwit the Grim Reaper in a story few could believe.
Born in 1899, Wenman Wykeham-Musgrave passed away in 1989 at the age of 90. It seems luck accompanied him throughout the rest of his life.
