We were having abandon ship exercises and one young stoker jumped over the side with his gas mask on and an old cork lifebelt. Up came all sorts of bits of cork but no stoker. Eventually, he appeared spluttering and gasping and had to be pulled aboard. He thought he would have been able to breathe under the water with a gas mask on.
Able Seaman Kenneth
Webley (oral history DLB 0010 p.43)