The shipmates endured

From The Men of the Gambier Bay by Edwin P. Hoyt. Page 220. Abandoning ship as the Gambier Bay begins to sink.

When AMM3c Potochniak heard the bell ringing on the bridge above him, he assumed it was the abandon ship signal. Already he could see men strung out in the water behind the ship for 300 yards. He went to a life raft and pulled out his bayonet to cut the ropes. But some bright lad had also wired the life rafts - that was why so few of them were put in the water. But he was going to have a life raft, so he began hacking at the wire with his bayonet. He released two life rafts and part of another – the rest of it had been shot away. Then he jumped and began swimming for the rafts. By the time he reached them, they were nearly full of men. Adrift alone nearby was Robert Guelich in shock. Gripping him, Potochniak latched onto a raft and for the better part of two days and two nights the two shipmates endured.