Blown Off Ship to Safety
Iowan Owes Life to Explosions Caused by Sub Attack
Alta, Iowa – Special: It’s usually the other way, but Roy W. Dikkers, son of Rev. J. R. Dikkers of Alta, owes his life to explosions caused by a submarine attack on his ship.
Serving in the merchant marine, Dikkers was on a tanker which was torpedoed by a German submarine, December 3, 1943, near Cuba. He was asleep when the first torpedo struck and he was knocked unconscious for a short time. Regaining consciousness, he found that the door to his cabin had been wedged shut. He tried desperately to open it, but without success. He thought the end had come for sure, but to his surprise the door flew open when the second torpedo hit the ship.
Oil Catches Fire
The oil the ship was carrying had caught fire by this time but Dikkers managed to make his way to the deck of the ship. Fire was breaking out everywhere and even around the ship on the water. He made up his mind to jump to escape the flames but feared leaping into the oil covered water.
Then the third torpedo hit with tremendous force and Dikkers went up with the blast. He not only went up but out far enough from the ship to clear the flames landing in the chilly water revived him and helped him to regain his senses. To his surprise he found that he had landed near a life raft. In fact, he skinned the raft when he landed in the water and injured his back. After being on the raft about four hours, he was picked up by a lift boat full of marines who had managed to get off the ship after the first torpedo struck.
The Nazi submarine surfaced only about 400 feet from the raft. They threw searchlights on the burning ship but took no prisonersand did not machinegun the men in rafts or in the water.
Recently featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not, Dikkers says of his experience: "It was only God's hand that spared me through this never to be forgotten experience."
After a month's rest he returned to the merchant marines. He is now shipping with a tanker in the Pacific and is helping with the defeat of the remaining enemy. Mrs. G. W. Grant of Bingham Lake, Minn., grandmother of Dikkers, submitted the facts of the unusual experience to Ripley and was awarded a $100 prize.
Rev. Mr. Dikkers is pastor of Elk Baptist church, north of Alta. The family formerly lived in Stillwater, Minn., where young Dikkers finished his schooling. He entered the merchant marines on January 13, 1942, when he was 18 years old.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, May 27, 1945 (photo included)
***Further Research:
Roy W. Dikkers was born Jan. 21, 1925 to John and Lillian VanGerpen Dikkers. He died Jan. 14, 2020.
Source: ancestry.com
