GRIMSBY TRAWLERS

BROMELIA

BROMELIA  GY 113

Built 1906  Cochrane, Selby

242 grt; 121 nrt; 63 hp

Armament 1 x 12 pounder

Admiralty Nr 3203

Reg GY 113

North Eastern SFC, Grimsby

Requisitioned 1915; Converted into Minesweeper

Fitted with listening hydrophones

1919 Returned to owners.

1942

Lloyds War Losses gives –

BROMELIA posted missing on 29th Jul.1942.

Left Grimsby on 9th June for the Icelandic fishing grounds and was last

seen on 22nd June in position 63°50N 14°40W homeward bound.

Owners at time of Loss : United Steam Fishing Co, Grimsby .

Steve Farrow’s painting of Bromelia

British Vessels Lost at Sea 1939-1945, HMSO

"cause unknown". This is one of those unsolved mystery losses, never claimed by the Luftwaffe or a U boat commander. BROMELIA was returning from the Icelandic fishing grounds when she disappeared. Her Skipper was W.E. Webb who perished along with her 13 man crew.

Her Registration was closed on 19th October the entry as follows.

"Ship missing since 22/6/1942"

No wreckage or evidence of her loss has ever been found.

However,

I have received the following from Ken Bagnall.

I was researching information about the Trawler BROMELIA and came across

your email exchange of last year. I may be able to fill in a few details as I am the grandson of the Skipper William Edward Webb.

The loss was initially put down by the government as accidental (i.e not attributable to an act of war) with no known cause.

However, the skippers of other trawlers who had been in the fishing in the same area on 22nd June told a different story when, some time later in the war they heard of the registration being closed with the trawler simply listed as missing. They eventually got together and swore-out an affidavit that the Skipper of BROMELIA had seen and reported a U-Boat surfacing very near to it.  Skipper Webb came over the radio warning all other trawlers to scatter stating 'U-boat in area' and this they did without further losses.

The other trawler skippers were of the opinion that the U-boat (unidentified) opened fire on the BROMELIA because she used her radio to warn the others and blew her up (in contravention of the Geneva convention and possibly why the act was never recorded as such) with the loss of all hands.

At the end of the war (1946) the Government considered the affidavit and then attributed the loss of BROMELIA to enemy action and paid a full skippers pension (backdated) to my Grandmother. (Eleven children).

~~~~~~o~~~~o~~~~~~

Of note; Skipper Webb also lost two sons in the Second World War - both

trawlermen, one son, Harry Webb who was mate on HMS COMFORT a drifter of 60 tons which was sunk by a British warship HMS LLYDD who mistook her for an E-boat at Dunkirk, rammed and sank her with the loss of a all but two crew and a lot of soldiers recovered from the beaches, and another son (Ken Webb) on HMS WALLASEA sunk by E-Boats off Mounts Bay, Cornwall in January 1944.  A third son (Roly Webb) was then sent back from his RN ship to Grimsby where the family lived as they were judged to have lost enough (much to his annoyance).  Skipper Webb and his crew are commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial London, to Merchant Seamen lost in WWII

Thanks to Steve Farrow for sending me and

giving me permission to use his fine painting of the BROMELIA

He has a website at

www.trawlerart.com

and he has posted his paintings on

www.shipsnostalgia.com

Thanks to Ken Bagnall

Thanks to John D Stevenson and Ted Finch

Raymond Forward