An emotional reunion has been held for four survivors of a naval disaster and the American sailor who saved their lives by spotting their life rafts drifting at sea.

On November 24, 1941, the cruiser HMS Dunedin was sunk in mid-Atlantic by two torpedoes fired from a German U-boat.

Bill Gill, from Saltdean, Brighton, and his comrades Les Barter, Jim Davis, and Andrew "Boy" McCall were among 72 survivors who managed to get on seven life rafts and were afloat for four days without food or water.

Another 419 men failed to find rafts and died in the sinking. Late in the day on November 27, crewman Roy Murray, from Houston, Texas, aboard the passing American freighter, SS Nishmaha, spotted Mr Gill's raft and raised the alert.

A rescue operation was launched and the survivors were picked up in the next six hours, although five of these were to subsequently die.

Yesterday Mr Murray was reunited for the first time with four remaining survivors of the Dunedin at the Royal Sailors' Home Club in Portsmouth.

Mr Gill, 84, had tears in his eyes as he described his joy at meeting Mr Murray, whose arm he grabbed out of gratitude.

He said: "I am very excited, very emotional. I feel great, this man saved our lives."

Mr Murray, 86, who flew from Texas for the event, said: "It feels great to meet these fine gentlemen. I just wish there were more of them."

Mr McCall, from Rainford, near St Helen's, Lancashire, who was only 16 at the time of the sinking but is now 80, was a late addition to the reunion.

Prior to last week, he was unknown to the Dunedin Society and got in contact after being informed by a friend living in Vancouver.

He said of the rescue 64 years ago: "It was an absolute miracle we were spotted because the engines on the Nishmaha had broken down and they had drifted for several days."

Mr Barter, 81, from Cheltenham, added: "I didn't expect to be saved. I don't remember much of it, I think I had drunk too much salt water."

Mr Davis, 86, of Norwich, said that the four days adrift had been a hellish experience as they watched their comrades die from wounds, exposure, exhaustion and also fish and shark bites.

But he said: "It gave me a lot more confidence because I thought if I can survive that, I can do anything."

The group will today visit the Royal Naval Memorial in Southsea for a service in memory of those who did not survive the disaster.