Thank you Michael, Much appreciated. Best regards, Martin
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Hi there, The British cargo vessel ST. OLAF (ON 140360) went missing on or about 15/12/1917 on a voyage from Cardiff to Honfleur. Is there any evidence the vessel was sunk by a U-boat? Thank you and kind regards, Martin
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Thank you Joe for your very prompt and comprehensive response. Much appreciated, Martin
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I understand the SS MANCHESTER COMMERCE (5363 grt) was sunk after hitting a mine off Tory Island, 105 years ago today (26/10/1914). Would appreciate if anyone would know which Uboat laid the minefield? Thank you, Martin
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Hi Urs, Just as a follow up to your post, are you aware of the specific charge the Italians had cited against Hartwig regarding the sinking of the PONTO DI RODI? Also are there any indications that the Italians tried to pursue Hartwig following the end of the war? Thank you again, Kind regards, Martin
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Hi Urs, Thank you very much for this information. It is unlikely that Hartwig was deliberately trying to kill the KILDALE crew in their lifeboats but continuing to fire on the vessel when the boats were closeby certainly borders on the reckless. My interest in the KILDALE is because my father was a crew member. Thank you again, Kind regards, Martin
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Thank you Michael for your confirmation. Kind regards, Martin
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Hi, I understand that on 21st April 1916 the Irish Republican, Roger Casement, was landed at Banna Strand on Tralee Bay, County Kerry, by U 19 commanded by Raimund Weisbach. Does anyone know if this event is confirmed on the submarine's KTB? According to the Uboat website the U 19 also sank the British steamer "Feliciana" on the same day 67 miles off Fastnet. Finally woul
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Hi Oliver and Simon, Thank you so much for confirming the KTB positions, much appreciated. It was certainly a busy Sunday for Berger, sinking in excess of 28k gross tons, but with surprisingly few fatalities given it was February in the Atlantic. As the Laconia was hit at around 10.30 pm one assumes it was the last of the three vessels to be attacked. The master of the Aries was taken priso
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Hi Phil, Thank you very much for your response. The reason I've asked the question is that wrecksite.eu state the LACONIA was sunk 6 miles NW x W from Fastnet, as if this was the position logged by U 50. They further state the true position of 160 miles was only known with the discovery of the wreck in 2009. I can't believe U 50 could have got the position wrong by over 150 miles
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Hi there, On 25th February 1917, U 50 sank three steamers; ARIES, HUNTSMAN and LACONIA. I would greatly appreciate if anyone could supply a copy of the KTB for that day which would verify the position of each sinking. Thank you, Best regards, Martin
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Hi Michael, Thank you very much indeed for the link which is, as you say, an excellent discussion on the sinking. It also provides a crew list which clarifies my father was not a crew member on the VILLE DE VERDUN at the time of its loss. The crew list of the small coaster ARLETTE (originally the Danish registered sailing vessel VONIN) lists my father's previous ship as VILLE DE VERDUN. I
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Hi All, I have been on the forum before and gained some very valuable information concerning ships my father served on in WW1 which were subjected to submarine atack. I had a very interesting discussion with Oliver and Simon on the sinking of SS KILDALE, which incidentally was exactly 100 years ago yesterday! I believe my father, Thomas Quigley, born Londonderry 1892, was also on the SS VIL
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Michael, thank you for the clarification. It is my understanding that she was rebuilt, relaunched and registered in Londonderry in 1918 as the steamer ARLETTE (Official Number 136100). In 1920 she ran aground in the Irish Sea and was wrecked. Kind regards, Martin
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Hi There, I am interested in the Danish sailing vessel VONIN which was stopped and set on fire by U 50 on 26th June 1917. The "Ships hit during WW1" page states "Ship towed to Londonderry but a CTL". Could someone please clarify what the abbreviation CTL stands for? Thank you Martin
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Thank you all very much for your input and insight. My father was a seaman on the "Kildale" so I'm relieved to learn that the casualties were most likely unintentional. He was also a crew member on the Cunard liner "Laconia" sunk six weeks earlier by U50 and had been on the "City of Liverpool" when she came under a U38 gun attack in August 1915. Pleased to
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Hi Oliver, I think your opinion is well founded, thank you. The U-boat must have approached at least one of the life-boats at close quarters in order to obtain the vessel information to record in its log. So if Hartwig's intention had been to eliminate the crew he could have easily killed all the survivors in that particular boat then and there. Also the Times article alleges the U
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Hi Joe, Much appreciate this information. Thank you, Martin
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Thank you Oliver for the information, it is much appreciated. Kind regards, Martin
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Hi Simon, Thanks for your post. I think your friendly fire theory is very plausible, particularly as the Times account states the patrol vessels opened fire on the U-boat at EXTREME range. I wouldn't have expected the U-boat to record if it had in fact opened fire on the life-boats. I also assume that the accurate log information on vessel name, tonnage and cargo detail could only have c
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Hi there, I am interested in the sinking of the KILDALE (ON 118858) on 12th April 1917 by U32. I had read in "The Times History of the War" (Vol XIII, P59) that the U32 fired two torpedoes at the vessel while submerged and then surfaced and commenced firing on the crew in their life-boats using cannon and rifles. The U boat was forced to dive by approaching British patrol vessels thu
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Hi there, I understand that the cargo vessel "City of Liverpool" (Official Number 69262) suffered a U boat "gun attack" on 18th August 1915 in St. George's Channel. Can anyone confirm this to be correct and if so which U Boat was involved? Thank you, Martin Quigley
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