The sinking of the Dutch liner, Simon Bolivar, by a German mine: survivors floating in a sea of fuel oil. A flagrant violation of international law by a mine-laying U-boat, involving the loss of 83 lives. The dramatic scene as the ship went down by the stern, her wireless silent, her bridge destroyed, her captain dead and the survivors struggling in a sea of oil from the damaged fuel bunkers, while vessels of the Royal Navy raced to their aid.