Part of the
Acorn Archive
Hearts of Oak
Loss of the
ATHELDUKE
Survivor’s
Report
ATHEL
LINE LTD.,
BROOK
HOUSE,
PARK
LANE,
LONDON,
W.1.
Friday,
20th April, 1945.
M.V.
ATHELDUKE
Torpedoed
and sunk in the North Sea, Monday April 16th 1945.
I
interviewed Captain Joseph Errott, the Master of this vessel, on Thursday, 19th
April, and the following are the details of the casualty as supplied by him.
The
M.V "ATHELDUKE" was proceeding in convoy from Methil southwards,
bound for Hull with a cargo of Molasses, and was in a position with the
Longstone Light bearing 273 degrees, 3½
miles, in about 26 fathoms of water when,
at 1732 G.M.T. on Monday, April
16th she was struck by two torpedoes within an interval of about three seconds.
The first torpedo struck the vessel on the port side of the cross bunker tank
and the second one on the port side of Nr. 10 cargo tank. The bunkers took fire
and clouds of smoke rose in the air. The vessel immediately commenced to settle
by the stern, at a very fast rate, and by the time the members of the crew were
making their way amidships, the poop
was awash, the water quenching the bunker fire.
Captain
Errett, realising the immediate danger, gave the order to abandon ship in the two midship boats. The ship's complement (with the
exception of Mr. W. McKenzie, Senior 4th Engineer, who was on watch
at the time and was, apparently, killed) embarked in these two boats.
Subsequent to the vessel being hit, Mr. McKenzie was not seen by anybody, not
even by the Senior 2nd Engineer, who was also in the Engineroom at the time, but
on the middle platform, and who escaped, although being scalded and burned
before getting out of the Engineroom.
There
were 47 hands on board, including the Master, of whom 46 survived, and it might
be added that the prompt decision of the Master to abandon ship immediately,
undoubtedly avoided any further casualties. The vessel sank stern first in
three minutes and, owing to the reserve buoyancy contained in the forward
ballast tanks, forehold forward cofferdam and fore peak, remained for some time
with her stern on the sea bed and her forecastle above water. We are advised
that the forecastle eventually disappeared shortly after daylight the following
morning, so the vessel remained more or less in that position for about 12
hours.
The
Master spoke highly of the behaviour of his crew in general. He said there was
no panic and everybody abandoned ship in an orderly manner. The Chief Officer,
Mr. G.W. Williams, was unfortunately left on board but floated off on a raft
and was later hauled into one of the boats.
With
regard to special mention, the Master highly commends Mr. H. Speed, the senior
3rd Engineer, who conducted himself admirably throughout the crisis. It appears
that the mess room boy, Thomas Wilson, had been trapped in his room below decks
aft by the inrushing water and had attempted to escape via the porthole.
Unfortunately, he became jammed in tha porthole and Mr. Speed, who was
proceeding to his boat station at the time, heard the boy's cries. He instantly
leant over the side whilst sitting in the waterway on the poop deck and,
getting his feet on the boy’s chest,
took hold of his arms and hauled him out of the porthole and back on deck,
undoubtedly saving his life, as in another few seconds the water would have
reached the porthole and he would have been drowned.
The
Master's story, in my opinion, appears complete and there is no evidence that
any action on the part of the personnel could have saved the vessel from her
fate. The bulkheads in the after cargo tanks and in the cross bunker undoubtedly
collapsed with the two explosions, and the position was hopeless. The crew was
picked up by the SS "KING NEPTUNE", owned by Messrs. Dodd, Thompson
& Company Ltd., of Cardiff, and Captain Errett speaks in glowing terms of
the cordial hospitality and excellent
treatment he and his men received on board that vessel. The ship's
company were eventually landed at Grimsby at about 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 17th. The Officers and crew have all proceeded to
their homes and the Master is temporarily in London in order to complete his
voyage accounts.
(Signed) F.H. FORMBY
Marine
Superintendent.
Thanks to
Roger Hollywood
for providing a copy of the original for me to
transcribe.
Raymond
Forward