relief.
Honnold arranged a meeting with Hoover, and went on ahead to prepare
the way. Oppenheimer soon joined him there, and the three men held a
conference in the Savoy Hotel to discuss the project. It may be
presumed that Honnold presented the technical and scientific arguments
in its favor, and that Op-penheimer showed a persuasive grasp of the
financial intricacies involved; in any event, Hoover appears to have
been favorably impressed. He told the partners that he was pretty sure
he could find American money for the project: he mentioned J. P.
Morgan as a likely bet. Later things developed as he thought they
might.
His business thus satisfactorily launched, Oppenheimer sailed from Southampton for South Africa in the Galway Castle. Early
in the morning, the third day out, two hundred miles southwest of
Land's End, the ship was torpedoed by a U-boat and all hands took to
the lifeboats. It was a stormy sea. Many boats capsized: one of them
was Oppenheimer's. More than a hundred passengers were lost in that
incident, but Oppenheimer's tough constitution saw him through. He gave
up his place in the lifeboat, swam around in the icy water for an hour,
and was then picked up by a rescuing destroyer. Wrapped in a blanket
and very much the worse for wear, he was carried back to England with
the other survivors. Just before Germany surrendered he managed to get
another passage home, this time making it without incident.
In
1921, in recognition of his services to the Empire during the early
years of the war, Oppenheimer was knighted. Honors were descending
thick and fast on the family. His brother Bernard, for having given
employment to disabled soldiers in his diamond-polishing works, and
aiding and employing Belgian
