Post by Administrator on Sept 17, 2019 8:30:50 GMT
On this day we remember the loss of our relative James Greenway, his brother Thomas Greenway and son of Thomas - James Joseph Greenway all men of Kinsale, Merchant Seamen and all lost to the Oceans Deep. We also further remember Nora (Greenway) Davies a daughter to Thomas, Sister of James Joseph, Nora was a Lady of Kinsale and a resident of both Barry, Wales and Moroopna, AUSTRALIA. LEST WE FORGET.
The Tregenna poem.
Picture yourself in a convoy on a wild September day,
Astern of a ship named Tregenna – just three cables away,
She’s steaming along at eight knots, with a cargo of steel in the hold,
Pitching heavy in head seas, into the spray and the cold.
When all of a sudden a U-boat dodging the escort screen,
Fired a salvo of tinfish, tracking through fast… unseen,
This lethal spread of torpedoes became Tregenna`s death knell,
Just as her bow descended, headlong into the swell.
It was a fatal plunge that the ship was in,
Breached below her deck-line, through the plates so thin,
Her freight stowed heavy and low, beneath an empty space,
Quickly led to foundering, when water took its place.
The ocean rushed in so quickly, leaving no time to prepare,
She dived on her nose and kept going, stern shot high in the air,
The watch on the bridge jumped clear, perchance or not to drown,
Only four abandoned her - as the ship went down.
Now you have the story when in the vessel astern,
Two minutes it took to reach there, horrified to learn,
There was no sign of Tregenna - just Atlantic waves,
Thirty three men within her, bound to deep sea graves.
Sinkings were so frequent on a convoy’s run,
But our merchant seamen still defied the Hun,
One reason why our monument stands there to remember,
Is for the likes of these men, who died here that September
J.S.Earl Bristol M.N.A. Nov. `05
On this day - 17th September 1940
On this day we remember the loss of our Captain William Thomas Care of the SS.Tregenna.
We further remember: Ships of The British Merchant Navy Captains, Crew and loved ones. Including the lesser well known, yet not forgotten.
Her name was SS: She was a lady of the waves, named Daybreak, Tregenna, Dudley Rose, City of Beneras, Crown Arun etc, whatever her title she was not designed intentionally to face enemy action. She was generally a Steamship born or rather built to serve her masters, carry safely her crew, passengers and cargo and supply a Nation. Those who sailed upon her, leaving families and loved ones ashore, at home, behind them and often during conflict alone and forever. Many that promised to remember them, are here no more, re-united possibly as time has gone by. The ships, travelers and crews, sail on in a different world now and loved ones hopefully passage eternally with those brave men and voyagers once more.
It was a hard way to earn a crust, especially during Wartime, with so many vessels seeking safe haven. With often her journeys end, not reached and a final resting place, the Ocean bed and no known grave but the sea, for the men, women and boys or children that sailed these graceful steel ladies. “We must remember them all”. The many that survived attacks by those that would do them harm, haunted forever by the sights and sounds of ships and fellow men of the sea becoming extinct in such a horrible way and those that escaped the hunters time and time again, with no thought of giving in will always remember “These men that died to save us all”.
We, as an island race, are steeped in Maritime history and owe so much to so many, the Merchant Navy have until recently seemed to be the forgotten service, the backbone of our country’s Navy, yet a distant relative when the honours are bestowed. These good men worked for a living, for bread and butter and maybe a love of the sea, others just to work, as times were hard. Whatever reason seamen sail, they expect at some time to go home. Faced with the hardships of life at sea, many would be deterred from such a life. To sail knowing that any voyage could be the last, facing war time dangers and a watery grave, did not deter these brave men and our Maritime life line was kept open by these sailors from many homes and ports.
Many sail what can be a “Cruel Sea”, not always in times of conflict, we ask that our God will “Bless this Ship and all who Sail In Her” at a launch and many pray for a safe voyage and early return for vessels leaving harbour. All ships and crew from liners to fishing vessels, rowing boat to super tanker, require safe passage, a flag to fly under and protection from danger. Safe harbour to rest in and when tragedy occurs a lifeboat to help them. We pray for the safety, support those that may rescue and ask our god to guide and protect. But we must also remember, LEST WE FORGET.
In Memory of : James Greenway and fellow crew members.
Those Good Men and the women and children, still not Home From The Sea and those of all lost from this world with “No Known Grave but the Sea”. We shall Remember Them.
KG.
The Tregenna poem.
Picture yourself in a convoy on a wild September day,
Astern of a ship named Tregenna – just three cables away,
She’s steaming along at eight knots, with a cargo of steel in the hold,
Pitching heavy in head seas, into the spray and the cold.
When all of a sudden a U-boat dodging the escort screen,
Fired a salvo of tinfish, tracking through fast… unseen,
This lethal spread of torpedoes became Tregenna`s death knell,
Just as her bow descended, headlong into the swell.
It was a fatal plunge that the ship was in,
Breached below her deck-line, through the plates so thin,
Her freight stowed heavy and low, beneath an empty space,
Quickly led to foundering, when water took its place.
The ocean rushed in so quickly, leaving no time to prepare,
She dived on her nose and kept going, stern shot high in the air,
The watch on the bridge jumped clear, perchance or not to drown,
Only four abandoned her - as the ship went down.
Now you have the story when in the vessel astern,
Two minutes it took to reach there, horrified to learn,
There was no sign of Tregenna - just Atlantic waves,
Thirty three men within her, bound to deep sea graves.
Sinkings were so frequent on a convoy’s run,
But our merchant seamen still defied the Hun,
One reason why our monument stands there to remember,
Is for the likes of these men, who died here that September
J.S.Earl Bristol M.N.A. Nov. `05
On this day - 17th September 1940
On this day we remember the loss of our Captain William Thomas Care of the SS.Tregenna.
We further remember: Ships of The British Merchant Navy Captains, Crew and loved ones. Including the lesser well known, yet not forgotten.
Her name was SS: She was a lady of the waves, named Daybreak, Tregenna, Dudley Rose, City of Beneras, Crown Arun etc, whatever her title she was not designed intentionally to face enemy action. She was generally a Steamship born or rather built to serve her masters, carry safely her crew, passengers and cargo and supply a Nation. Those who sailed upon her, leaving families and loved ones ashore, at home, behind them and often during conflict alone and forever. Many that promised to remember them, are here no more, re-united possibly as time has gone by. The ships, travelers and crews, sail on in a different world now and loved ones hopefully passage eternally with those brave men and voyagers once more.
It was a hard way to earn a crust, especially during Wartime, with so many vessels seeking safe haven. With often her journeys end, not reached and a final resting place, the Ocean bed and no known grave but the sea, for the men, women and boys or children that sailed these graceful steel ladies. “We must remember them all”. The many that survived attacks by those that would do them harm, haunted forever by the sights and sounds of ships and fellow men of the sea becoming extinct in such a horrible way and those that escaped the hunters time and time again, with no thought of giving in will always remember “These men that died to save us all”.
We, as an island race, are steeped in Maritime history and owe so much to so many, the Merchant Navy have until recently seemed to be the forgotten service, the backbone of our country’s Navy, yet a distant relative when the honours are bestowed. These good men worked for a living, for bread and butter and maybe a love of the sea, others just to work, as times were hard. Whatever reason seamen sail, they expect at some time to go home. Faced with the hardships of life at sea, many would be deterred from such a life. To sail knowing that any voyage could be the last, facing war time dangers and a watery grave, did not deter these brave men and our Maritime life line was kept open by these sailors from many homes and ports.
Many sail what can be a “Cruel Sea”, not always in times of conflict, we ask that our God will “Bless this Ship and all who Sail In Her” at a launch and many pray for a safe voyage and early return for vessels leaving harbour. All ships and crew from liners to fishing vessels, rowing boat to super tanker, require safe passage, a flag to fly under and protection from danger. Safe harbour to rest in and when tragedy occurs a lifeboat to help them. We pray for the safety, support those that may rescue and ask our god to guide and protect. But we must also remember, LEST WE FORGET.
In Memory of : James Greenway and fellow crew members.
Those Good Men and the women and children, still not Home From The Sea and those of all lost from this world with “No Known Grave but the Sea”. We shall Remember Them.
KG.