Post by Administrator on Mar 20, 2017 15:59:55 GMT
The 23rd April 2017 will commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the loss of the SS Samtampa off the Welsh coast with terrible loss of life, especially from the North-East:
To remember this disaster, a memorial service will take place at the All Saint’s Church, Porthcawl at 15.00 on the afternoon of Saturday the 22nd of April 2017. Those organizations who wish to parade their colours at the church are welcome please contact us prior to the event to confirm details.
Mrs A Missen
32 Carlton Place
Porthcawl
Samtampa1947@gmail.co.uk
On 23rd April 1947, the 7,219grt former WWII Liberty ship Samtampa, sailed from Middlesbrough with a crew of thirty-nine including twenty-five Merchant Seamen from the North-East including eleven from Middlesbrough, four from Whitby, two each from Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar and Staithes and one each from Skelton, Bishop Auckland, West Hartlepool and Thornaby. The ship was bound for Newport, when she found herself in the face of a 70-mile-an-hour gale and made the decision to hove-to in the Bristol Channel to await better weather. The anchor cables, however, were unable to hold the ship in such adverse conditions, and tragically the vessel broke up into three sections in just 80 minutes on Sker Rocks, near Porthcawl. The Samtampa’s lighter bow and stern sections were thrown up onto a rock plateau 25 feet above the beach, with the mid- section containing the engine room remaining on the beach where it was battered against the rocks. Her crew of thirty-nine were all lost. In addition to this, the Mumbles Lifeboat, "Edward, Prince of Wales," which had been sent to assist the stricken ship, was found the following morning upturned at Sker point near the wrecked Samtampa. Her crew of eight were also drowned, bringing the total death toll to forty-seven men. At the time of sailing two crewmembers were known to be missing by the Master, a young Galley Boy named A. Downing who had been taken ill and a Donkeyman, William John Dinsmore from Middlesbrough. Dinsmore had signed on the ship on the Friday and had later gone for a drink with his wife. She later reported to the Evening Gazette, I had told him it was "Time to turn it in" and he eventually missed the sailing. The company still thinking he had been on board the ship sent his wife a telegram informing her the vessel had been lost along with her husband. A third man by the name of John Cloherty had tried to sign on the ship just before sailing in place of Dinsmore, but the ship Master knocked him back stating he needed a more experienced sailor. The majority of the dead whose bodies washed ashore were unidentifiable and were eventually buried in a communal grave at Porthcawl. A number of those identified were returned home for burial including Joseph Croft from Stockton-on-Tees who was buried in an unmarked paupers grave in Durham Road Cemetery. Shortly after his 16th Birthday Joseph had volunteered to join the Merchant Navy and saw action during WWII in the Atlantic and Mediterranean as well as taking part in the support of the D-Day Landings. The Samtampa was his fifth peace time voyage. In an old Gazette article regarding the loss of the Samtampa his Mother is quoted as saying "I thought he would give it up after the war but it was in his blood" and he died some five weeks after his 19th Birthday. For 63 years Joseph Croft lay in his unmarked grave. In 2007 I discovered the whereabouts of his paupers grave and I decided to raise the £400 funds needed for a headstone, after tracing his surviving twin Brother Ralf Croft, living in Rimswell, after an appeal appeared in the local Evening Gazette, and after getting Ralf’s permission a permanent marker was placed at his Brothers final resting place near the old Chapel i n 2010. Sadly several other bodies identified were returned to Middlesbrough and are also buried in unmarked paupers graves and all attempts to find next of kin have proved unsuccessful to mark their final resting place.
Local casualties listed below:
.
JAMES JOHN BELL, 29, Bosun, of Staithes. Lost two brothers also at sea in the war. Buried communal grave Nottage Cemetery, Porthcawl
ARTHUR CALLAGHAN, 30, Donkeyman, of Tunstall St, North Ormesby. Was in the Merchant Navy from the beginning of the war. Buried unmarked grave Thorntree (Roman Catholic) Cemetery.
FRANCIS CANNON, 30, Donkeyman, of Feversham St, Middlesbrough. Was the son of a sailor. His father, at sea at the time on a voyage, lost another son at sea during the war. Buried communal grave Nottage Cemetery, Porthcawl
RALPH CHESTER, 17, Deck Boy, of Pallister Ave, Brambles Farm, Middlesbrough. Was on his third trip since joining the Merchant Navy Buried unmarked grave Thorntree (Protestant) Cemetery
JOSEPH CROFT, 19, Assistant Steward, of Ashbourne Road, Stockton. Went to sea almost straight from school, his mother thought he would give it up after the war but 'it was in his blood.' Buried marked grave Durham Road Cemetery.
STANLEY DARITIS, 18, Ordinary Seaman, of Station Rd, Middlesbrough. Buried communal grave Nottage Cemetery, Porthcawl
LONSDALE F. DAVIDSON, 24, Able Seaman, of Abbots Rd, Whitby. A single man, he had been in the Merchant Navy since he was 15. Buried communal grave Nottage Cemetery, Porthcawl
WILLIAM JOHN DAVIS, 53, Able Seaman, of Durham St, Middlesbrough. Buried communal grave Nottage Cemetery, Porthcawl
HARRY GARSIDE, 23, of Westbourne Street, Stockton. Youngest son in a family of five, was on his first voyage in the Merchant Navy less than a year after leaving the Royal Navy, he was married but no children. Buried in marked grave Oxbridge Cemetery.
JOSEPH GILRAINE, 22, of Ernest St, Middlesbrough. Had just recovered from yellow jaundice and his widowed mother did not want him to make the trip. Buried communal grave Nottage Cemetery, Porthcawl
JOSEPH GRIFFITHS, 24, Assistant Cook, of Berwick Hills, Middlesbrough. Was on his second trip since his return to the Merchant Navy. He married a South Bank girl only seven weeks ago and had been a prisoner of war in Japan for three and a half years. Buried communal grave Nottage Cemetery, Porthcawl
DONALD HILL, 26, Able Seaman, of Wards Yard, Whitby. During the war he served for six years in the Royal Navy and was in the first flotilla of minesweepers which swept the way for the invasion force on D-day. Burial place unknown.
CHARLES JACKSON, 32, Carpenter, of Upgang Lane, Whitby. Buried communal grave Nottage Cemetery, Porthcawl
HERBERT LEES, 24, Ship’s Engineer, of High Street, Skelton. Came from a seafaring family. He was married with two children. Burial place unknown.
ISAAC LONGSTER, 35, Able Seaman, of Church St, Staithes. Lost two brothers at sea during the war. Burial place unknown.
WILLIAM MENSWORTH, 35, Fireman, of Hardwick St, Blackhall. Served in the war on an amunition ship torpedoed in a Russian convoy. Burial place unknown.
PATRICK McKENNA, 47, Donkeyman, of Marton Rd, Middlesbrough. Went back to sea after an absence of 20 years because he could not get over his wife's death, it was his first voyage. Buried unmarked grave Thorntree (Roman Catholic) Cemetery
ARNOLD NICHOLSON, 19, Galley Boy, of Thrush Rd, Redcar. Had been at sea for nearly four years. He was a well known member of Redcar Literary Institute and this was his fourth trip. Buried marked grave Redcar Cemetery.
KENNETH RICHARDSON, 26, Second Engineer, of Westbrook Grove, West Hartlepool. Burial place unknown.
CHARLES FREDERICK SHINNER, 20, of West Dyke Rd, Redcar. Was on his fifth voyage, previously he had worked at Dorman Long's and taken a prominent part in local athletics. Buried marked grave Redcar Cemetery.
JOHN SOUTER JNR, Ordinary Seaman, of Redcar Road, Thornaby. Buried communal grave Nottage Cemetery, Porthcawl
JOHN STRANGEWAY, 22, Assistant Steward, of Hunter St, Middlesbrough. Had been at sea since he was 15. Buried communal grave Nottage Cemetery, Porthcawl
JOHN THOMPSON, of St. Anne St, Middlesbrough. Buried unmarked grave St.Josephs Cemetery.
ROBERT WEATHERILL, 29, Donkeyman, of Sayers Yard, Whitby. Married with two children, served in Royal Navy during war as a Petty Officer. Buried communal grave Nottage Cemetery, Porthcawl
GEORGE WEBSTER, 21, Fireman, of Lancaster Rd, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough. Made his first sea trip to Normandy on D-day. Buried unmarked grave Acklam Cemetery.
Also lost from Samtampa: Capt. H.N. SHERWELL, Ch./Off. D. LOWE, 2nd/Off. G.L. MURRAY, 3rd/Off. P. MARSHALL, R/O W.E. THOMPSON, Ch./Eng. W.A. ATKINSON, 3rd/Eng. G. RILEY, 4th/Eng. B. McDONALD, Ch/Stwd P. ALLAM, 2nd/Stwd, R.N. LYTHELL, Ch./Cook B. JONES, Apprentices J. ELLIS, P. FERNS, J. WILSON.
Source and thanks to: DeepSea
To remember this disaster, a memorial service will take place at the All Saint’s Church, Porthcawl at 15.00 on the afternoon of Saturday the 22nd of April 2017. Those organizations who wish to parade their colours at the church are welcome please contact us prior to the event to confirm details.
Mrs A Missen
32 Carlton Place
Porthcawl
Samtampa1947@gmail.co.uk
On 23rd April 1947, the 7,219grt former WWII Liberty ship Samtampa, sailed from Middlesbrough with a crew of thirty-nine including twenty-five Merchant Seamen from the North-East including eleven from Middlesbrough, four from Whitby, two each from Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar and Staithes and one each from Skelton, Bishop Auckland, West Hartlepool and Thornaby. The ship was bound for Newport, when she found herself in the face of a 70-mile-an-hour gale and made the decision to hove-to in the Bristol Channel to await better weather. The anchor cables, however, were unable to hold the ship in such adverse conditions, and tragically the vessel broke up into three sections in just 80 minutes on Sker Rocks, near Porthcawl. The Samtampa’s lighter bow and stern sections were thrown up onto a rock plateau 25 feet above the beach, with the mid- section containing the engine room remaining on the beach where it was battered against the rocks. Her crew of thirty-nine were all lost. In addition to this, the Mumbles Lifeboat, "Edward, Prince of Wales," which had been sent to assist the stricken ship, was found the following morning upturned at Sker point near the wrecked Samtampa. Her crew of eight were also drowned, bringing the total death toll to forty-seven men. At the time of sailing two crewmembers were known to be missing by the Master, a young Galley Boy named A. Downing who had been taken ill and a Donkeyman, William John Dinsmore from Middlesbrough. Dinsmore had signed on the ship on the Friday and had later gone for a drink with his wife. She later reported to the Evening Gazette, I had told him it was "Time to turn it in" and he eventually missed the sailing. The company still thinking he had been on board the ship sent his wife a telegram informing her the vessel had been lost along with her husband. A third man by the name of John Cloherty had tried to sign on the ship just before sailing in place of Dinsmore, but the ship Master knocked him back stating he needed a more experienced sailor. The majority of the dead whose bodies washed ashore were unidentifiable and were eventually buried in a communal grave at Porthcawl. A number of those identified were returned home for burial including Joseph Croft from Stockton-on-Tees who was buried in an unmarked paupers grave in Durham Road Cemetery. Shortly after his 16th Birthday Joseph had volunteered to join the Merchant Navy and saw action during WWII in the Atlantic and Mediterranean as well as taking part in the support of the D-Day Landings. The Samtampa was his fifth peace time voyage. In an old Gazette article regarding the loss of the Samtampa his Mother is quoted as saying "I thought he would give it up after the war but it was in his blood" and he died some five weeks after his 19th Birthday. For 63 years Joseph Croft lay in his unmarked grave. In 2007 I discovered the whereabouts of his paupers grave and I decided to raise the £400 funds needed for a headstone, after tracing his surviving twin Brother Ralf Croft, living in Rimswell, after an appeal appeared in the local Evening Gazette, and after getting Ralf’s permission a permanent marker was placed at his Brothers final resting place near the old Chapel i n 2010. Sadly several other bodies identified were returned to Middlesbrough and are also buried in unmarked paupers graves and all attempts to find next of kin have proved unsuccessful to mark their final resting place.
Local casualties listed below:
.
JAMES JOHN BELL, 29, Bosun, of Staithes. Lost two brothers also at sea in the war. Buried communal grave Nottage Cemetery, Porthcawl
ARTHUR CALLAGHAN, 30, Donkeyman, of Tunstall St, North Ormesby. Was in the Merchant Navy from the beginning of the war. Buried unmarked grave Thorntree (Roman Catholic) Cemetery.
FRANCIS CANNON, 30, Donkeyman, of Feversham St, Middlesbrough. Was the son of a sailor. His father, at sea at the time on a voyage, lost another son at sea during the war. Buried communal grave Nottage Cemetery, Porthcawl
RALPH CHESTER, 17, Deck Boy, of Pallister Ave, Brambles Farm, Middlesbrough. Was on his third trip since joining the Merchant Navy Buried unmarked grave Thorntree (Protestant) Cemetery
JOSEPH CROFT, 19, Assistant Steward, of Ashbourne Road, Stockton. Went to sea almost straight from school, his mother thought he would give it up after the war but 'it was in his blood.' Buried marked grave Durham Road Cemetery.
STANLEY DARITIS, 18, Ordinary Seaman, of Station Rd, Middlesbrough. Buried communal grave Nottage Cemetery, Porthcawl
LONSDALE F. DAVIDSON, 24, Able Seaman, of Abbots Rd, Whitby. A single man, he had been in the Merchant Navy since he was 15. Buried communal grave Nottage Cemetery, Porthcawl
WILLIAM JOHN DAVIS, 53, Able Seaman, of Durham St, Middlesbrough. Buried communal grave Nottage Cemetery, Porthcawl
HARRY GARSIDE, 23, of Westbourne Street, Stockton. Youngest son in a family of five, was on his first voyage in the Merchant Navy less than a year after leaving the Royal Navy, he was married but no children. Buried in marked grave Oxbridge Cemetery.
JOSEPH GILRAINE, 22, of Ernest St, Middlesbrough. Had just recovered from yellow jaundice and his widowed mother did not want him to make the trip. Buried communal grave Nottage Cemetery, Porthcawl
JOSEPH GRIFFITHS, 24, Assistant Cook, of Berwick Hills, Middlesbrough. Was on his second trip since his return to the Merchant Navy. He married a South Bank girl only seven weeks ago and had been a prisoner of war in Japan for three and a half years. Buried communal grave Nottage Cemetery, Porthcawl
DONALD HILL, 26, Able Seaman, of Wards Yard, Whitby. During the war he served for six years in the Royal Navy and was in the first flotilla of minesweepers which swept the way for the invasion force on D-day. Burial place unknown.
CHARLES JACKSON, 32, Carpenter, of Upgang Lane, Whitby. Buried communal grave Nottage Cemetery, Porthcawl
HERBERT LEES, 24, Ship’s Engineer, of High Street, Skelton. Came from a seafaring family. He was married with two children. Burial place unknown.
ISAAC LONGSTER, 35, Able Seaman, of Church St, Staithes. Lost two brothers at sea during the war. Burial place unknown.
WILLIAM MENSWORTH, 35, Fireman, of Hardwick St, Blackhall. Served in the war on an amunition ship torpedoed in a Russian convoy. Burial place unknown.
PATRICK McKENNA, 47, Donkeyman, of Marton Rd, Middlesbrough. Went back to sea after an absence of 20 years because he could not get over his wife's death, it was his first voyage. Buried unmarked grave Thorntree (Roman Catholic) Cemetery
ARNOLD NICHOLSON, 19, Galley Boy, of Thrush Rd, Redcar. Had been at sea for nearly four years. He was a well known member of Redcar Literary Institute and this was his fourth trip. Buried marked grave Redcar Cemetery.
KENNETH RICHARDSON, 26, Second Engineer, of Westbrook Grove, West Hartlepool. Burial place unknown.
CHARLES FREDERICK SHINNER, 20, of West Dyke Rd, Redcar. Was on his fifth voyage, previously he had worked at Dorman Long's and taken a prominent part in local athletics. Buried marked grave Redcar Cemetery.
JOHN SOUTER JNR, Ordinary Seaman, of Redcar Road, Thornaby. Buried communal grave Nottage Cemetery, Porthcawl
JOHN STRANGEWAY, 22, Assistant Steward, of Hunter St, Middlesbrough. Had been at sea since he was 15. Buried communal grave Nottage Cemetery, Porthcawl
JOHN THOMPSON, of St. Anne St, Middlesbrough. Buried unmarked grave St.Josephs Cemetery.
ROBERT WEATHERILL, 29, Donkeyman, of Sayers Yard, Whitby. Married with two children, served in Royal Navy during war as a Petty Officer. Buried communal grave Nottage Cemetery, Porthcawl
GEORGE WEBSTER, 21, Fireman, of Lancaster Rd, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough. Made his first sea trip to Normandy on D-day. Buried unmarked grave Acklam Cemetery.
Also lost from Samtampa: Capt. H.N. SHERWELL, Ch./Off. D. LOWE, 2nd/Off. G.L. MURRAY, 3rd/Off. P. MARSHALL, R/O W.E. THOMPSON, Ch./Eng. W.A. ATKINSON, 3rd/Eng. G. RILEY, 4th/Eng. B. McDONALD, Ch/Stwd P. ALLAM, 2nd/Stwd, R.N. LYTHELL, Ch./Cook B. JONES, Apprentices J. ELLIS, P. FERNS, J. WILSON.
Source and thanks to: DeepSea