Three ships owned by the Britain Steamship Co. Ltd. (Watts, Watts & Co. Ltd., managers) of London were sunk by German Auxiliary Cruisers. I have found a full account of the sinking of the TOTTENHAM by the ATLANTIS in the history of that raider's career written by her captain (B. Rogge), but I am looking for accounts of the sinking of the other two vessels, both of which fell victim to the THOR, the WENDOVER on 16 July 1940 during the raider's first cruise, and the WILLESDEN on 1 April 1942 during the raider's second cruise. Is anybody aware of whether such accounts exist, and if so where I might find them?
Thank you, Richelieu I had seen mention of Duffy's book, but the rather wild title put me off getting a copy! The two excerpts on the WENDOVER and WILLESDEN you provided, however, seem comprehensive and level-headed, and they certainly provide me with as much information as I need, so thank you again. The brave Radio Officer of the WENDOVER was Charles William Augustus O'Donnell, but the Commonwealth War Graves Commission has no other information recorded save his age - 37. Malcolm
Malcolm You only enquired about the 3 Watts and Watts ships, but it seems scandalous that many Merchant Navy seamen AREN'T able to be included by the CWGC, yet the seamen on these 3 ships appear to be eligible. I have no understanding of why some are and some are not, and it seems a great shame that Parliament hasn't changed the rules so that these practically defenceless men risking their lives to bring us the essential and vital materials needed to gain victory, are all included. Do you have any influence to bring to bear? I'm just curious as why these 3 out of the ships sunk by Thor are of interest. As well as O'Donnell, these men also perished GIBSON, ROBERT ROWLAND. Third Engineer Officer. Died 16/07/1940. Aged 40 S.S. Wendover (London) Merchant Navy Son of John Purvis Gibson and Eliza Gibson, of South Shields, Co. Durham. GERHARDT, HENRY. Steward. Died 16/07/1940. Aged 38. S.S. Wendover (London) Merchant Navy Son of Henry and Mary Gerhardt; husband of Elsie Gerhardt, of Gosforth, Newcastle-on-Tyne. SMITH, GEORGE. Able Seaman. Died 16/07/1940. Aged 19 S.S. Wendover (London) Merchant Navy and WHITLEY, JOHN ROBERT. Boatswain. Died 01/04/1942. Aged 55 S.S. Willesden (London) Merchant Navy Son of Philip John and Mary Whitley; husband of Isabel Whitley, of Seaton Carew, West Hartlepool, Co. Durham. MACMILLAN, MURDO. Sailor. Died 01/04/1942. Aged 20. S.S. Willesden (London) Merchant Navy Son of Murdo and Mary Macmillan, of Stornoway, Isle of Lewis. RUNCIE, ALEX, Third Officer. Died 25/07/1945. Aged 24 S.S. Willesden (London). Merchant Navy Son of William John and Isabella Runcie, of Aberdeen. Died in Yokohama where the captured seamen were taken, and where Thor and 3 other ships were destroyed by a fire aboard the German supply ship Uckermark in October 1942. What a shame he died so close to the Japanese surrender. JAMES, JOE. Fireman and Trimmer. Died 30/12/1942. Aged 57 S.S. Willesden (London). Merchant Navy Yokohama DONALDSON, JOHN. Able Seaman. Died 31/12/1942. Aged 31 S.S. Willesden (London). Merchant Navy Yokohama WILLIAMS, ALFRED. Died 08/09/1943. Aged 48 S.S. Willesden (London) Merchant Navy Yokohama MENDI, JOE. Greaser. Died 08/05/1943. Aged 50 S.S. Willesden (London) Merchant Navy Yokohama. The Germans might have been alarmed at the high death rate amongst these captured seamen, almost less cruel to leave them in the sea.
If you need information about individuals - I may be able to help in some instances. Charles William Augustus O'Donnell was born in Co Mayo in 1902. He joined the Merchant Navy in 1926, his first ship being ATHENIA which was the first casualty of the war sunk only hours after war was declared in 1939. He appears to have served as follows:- 146330 – ATHENIA – 3.4.1926 122847 - DUNS LAW – 19.2.1927 147242 – CITY OF LANCASTER – 11.1927 140861 - JERSEY CITY – 9.9.1928 135542 – NOVIAN – 18.12.1928 131377 - CITY OF LINCOLN – 26.1.1929 132295 – GOURKO – 17.1.1931 121244 – PARKTOWN – 27.3.1931 148318 – PORTREGIS – 30.9.1931 160552 – WATFORD – 19.4.1932 132860 – FINCHLEY – 10.4.1933 160605 – WENDOVER – 14.2.1934 160605 – WENDOVER – 1.3.1935 165405 - NEWTON MOORE – 17.2.1937 165405 – NEWTON MOORE – 29.11.1937 160605 – WENDOVER – 3.4.1940 Regards Hugh
Kevin Thank you for the information on the WILLESDEN survivors who died in Japanese captivity. I had only searched the CWGC database by date, and so only had details of the men who died at the time of the sinking. Hugh Thank you for the details of Radio Officer O'Donnell's sea career. It is interesting to see that he had worked for Watts, Watts & Co. in the early 1930's. His career with them got off to a dramatic start, as he was probably on board when the WATFORD was wrecked near Glace Bay, Cape Breton on 10 September 1932 - something of personal interest to me as I lived in Glace Bay for five years when I was a wee boy. Malcolm
Thanks for the additional information on the "Watford" I was a little shocked at first reading that a little collier traded between SYDNEY and Montreal, before realising it wasn't the Australian one! More seriously, the Cape Breton magazine has the details of the stranding of the Watford, starting on p 13 and you can click on to the next pages until on p 17 and the loss of 2 of the crew http://capebretonsmagazine.com/modules/publisher/item.php?itemid=530
Kevin Thank you for pointing me to the very interesting article on the wreck of the WATFORD in the Cape Breton magazine. There is a lot of detail in it that I wasn't aware, and the writer, although obviously not an expert on matters maritime, has done a very good job in explaining what happened. The reference to "little colliers" is a bit misleading, as WATFORD and her sisters were typical deep-sea tramps of their era, and were probably deployed on the grain trade between the River Plate and Europe during the winter months in the northern hemisphere, when the St. Lawrence was frozen over. At the time of her loss, the WATFORD was on time charter to the Dominion Steel & Coal Co. carrying coal from the mines of Cape Breton to Montreal. This was a long-term commitment, and her two sisters, the WENDOVER and WANSTEAD were still on exactly the same service when war broke out in September 1939. Malcolm
Glad to help Like you, I was surprised that she seemed to be restricted to trading between a Sydney in Canada and Montreal I also was surprised to read she was travelling empty, as her high freeboard caused her to be blown ashore. Not many tramps did that, ensuring the carried cargo both ways. And, if she was trading just in Canadian coastal waters, how come she had Gaelic Scots aboard - how had they become crew if not from UK ports? But hope it all adds to your knowledge of these ships and their crews.
Kevin All of the ships involved in the St. Lawrence coal trade would have made their return passage to Sydney in ballast. Such passages were, in fact, quite common, particularly on coastal voyages - during the Great Depression in particular, tramp owners would often send their ships on long outward passages in ballast if there was a reasonable chance of a profitable homeward cargo. I have even come across instances in the early 1930s of ships sailing in ballast all the way from Britain to Western Australia to load grain. The Gaelic-speaking Boatswain would probably have signed on when the WATFORD sailed from Britain, but he could equally well have signed on in a St. Lawrence port, the latter having large international crew turnovers. There is every chance that somebody ashore would have understood him, as Cape Breton had (and still has) a significant Gaelic-speaking community! Malcolm
To return to the original subject of the thread, it is possible to build up a reasonably full picture of the WENDOVER's war service using the BT 389 Voyage Record Cards at TNA and a bit of detective work. Having come off the Dominion Steel & Coal Corp. charter, she loaded 8,000 tons of grain at Montreal and sailed from Halifax on 4 December 1939 in convoy HX 11. She was then requisitioned to carry steel from Canadian or U.S east coast ports, and after repairs at Newcastle, and loading a cargo of coal, she joined convoy OA 79 in the Downs on 26 January and after the convoy dispersed (as was normal for westbound convoys until 1941) sailed to Sydney, Cape Breton to load steel. Joining convoy HX 24 as it left Halifax on 2 March, she arrived at Newport, Mon. on 16 March. After another spell of repairs, she loaded another outward cargo of coal and sailed from Newport on 10 April to join OB 127, bound on this occasion for Baltimore, again to load steel. She sailed from Baltimore on Baltimore on 1 May, and after a stop at Boston, sailed from Halifax on 16 May in convoy HX 43, arriving at Manchester on 31 May. She then loaded her third outward cargo of coal on the Mersey and sailed from Liverpool with convoy OB 172 on 22 June. Originally destined for Freetown, Sierra Leone, she was diverted after sailing to take her cargo to Buenos Aires and then to load grain at ports on the Rivers Plate or Parana. Thus when her convoy dispersed on 26 June in position 46.55N 20.33W, she would have taken a course which would ultimately take her into the arms of the German raider.
You can use the Movement Cards from BT 389 - they are a bit messy to read and interpret if not used to them. Also cross refer with Convoyweb site: Arnold Hague Ports database. You can log in and download the Movement Card for free here: BT 389/31/248 Regards Hugh
Spot on Hugh - I've done both! You can also use the table of convoy sailing dates in Hague's The Allied Convoy System book and the convoy database feature on the Convoyweb site to identify the convoys in which ships sailed. In the case of the WENDOVER, the Movement Cards listed the eastbound HX convoys, but not the westbound OA/OB convoys in which she sailed. Malcolm
