A MERSEYSIDE grandfather relived the moment his WWII ship was torpedoed as part of a TV documentary.

Ted Johnson, 87, was a teenage butcher serving aboard the Cunard liner, RMS Laconia, when it took part in one of the most bizarre and touching naval incidents of the war.

The Liverpool-bound troopship, carrying 2,725 people, including women and children and 1,793 Italian prisoners of war, was sunk by a German U-Boat off the coast of West Africa in 1942.

What made the Laconia incident memorable is that the German U-Boat commander, Werner Hartenstein, realised he had condemned civilians and his own allies to a watery grave and risked life and limb, as well as going against his own high command, trying to rescue them.

The story inspired Liverpool writer Alan Bleasdale to create a two-part drama, The Sinking of the Laconia, the second half of which will air tonight, and Talkback Thames have filmed a documentary to go with it.

Ted, of Ruskin Ave, Wallasey, was part of the documentary.

Now going blind, the widower and father-of-seven told about his experiences during the war.

He said: “There will be a lot of people from Liverpool whose family died on the Laconia.

“People are always interested in Hartenstein, but their story is not always told.

“Back then, serving on board a Cunard ship was like being in Scotty Road. All the seamen and stokers were from Liverpool. It was in the blood.

“I can’t remember their names now, but that’s life.”