Post by Administrator on Sept 16, 2021 12:39:22 GMT
On this day in 1918, the steamship Serula was torpedoed by a German U-Boat off Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire with the loss of 17 lives.
U-boat is the anglicised version of the German word U-Boot, a shortening of Unterseeboot, meaning undersea boat. At the start of World War I, Germany had twenty-nine U-boats, but by its end, this had increased to 360. They were most effectively used in an economic warfare role, with their primary targets being the merchant ships bringing supplies into Britain and to counteract their effectiveness, Britain introduced escorted convoys.
The History of Wales
The information below was provide by Billy McGee.
The SS Serula was a 1,388grt and a defensively-armed British steamship. On the 16 September 1918, 13½ miles NE ½ N from Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire, Wales she was torpedoed without warning by German submarine UB-64 and sunk when on route from Manchester for Rouen with a general cargo. Seventeen lives were lost that day in the Irish Sea off the coast of North Wales.
In the logbook of the village school it was recorded that following the discovery of the bodies of two Mercantile Marine Servicemen (washed ashore on the beach next to the village) a decision was made to bury the men in the village churchyard. The funeral service was well attended by members of the village and indeed, the village school was closed for the day to allow teachers and pupils to attend. The Headmaster of the school, Mr Evan Parry, had lost his son, Hugh, six months earlier (he died of wounds received on the Somme and was buried in France)
Buried ABERFFRAW (ST. BEUNO) CHURCHYARD - Anglesey
GRAY, Master, WILLIAM, S.S. "Serula.". Mercantile Marine. Drowned as a result of an attack by enemy sub-marine 16th September 1918. Age 50. Son of Thomas and Ann Gray; husband of Jane Gray, of "Eythome," Saughall Massie Rd., Moreton, Wirral, Cheshire. Against West boundary.
TAGUE, Wireless Telegraph Operator, JOHN, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine 16th September 1918. Age 19. Son of John and Margaret Tague (nee Gilmartin), of 98, Stirling St., Airdrie, Lanark. Against West boundary.
Tower Hill
BARBOSA, Cook, JOHN, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 66. Born at Lisbon. Husband of Margaret Barbosa (nee Meara), of 102, Toxteth St., Liverpool.
COLOMIRI, Fireman, LUDOVICO, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 21. Born in Greece.
FISHER, Second Engineer, JOSEPH TAYLOR, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 28. Son of Ann Eva Metcalf Fisher and the late Joe Sidney Fisher; husband of Sarah Elizabeth Fisher (nee Barker), of 6, Sussex St., Birkenhead. Born at Staincross, Yorkshire.
GONIOTAKIS, Fireman, JOHN, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 20. Born in Greece.
HANSEN, Carpenter, LOUIS, S.S. "Serula" (Cork.). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 51. Born in Denmark.
JENKINS, First Officer, THOMAS HILYARD, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 58. Husband of Mrs. Jenkins, of 24 Macfarren St., Old Swan, Liverpool. Born at Saint John, New Brunswick.
KATSOURAS, Fireman, JOHN, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 26. Born in Greece.
KISKINES, Fireman, STATIS, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 30. Born in Greece.
MACKENZIE, Able Seaman, JOHN, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 22. Born at Stornoway.
MURPHY, Chief Engineer, JAMES, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 53. Husband of Martha Louise Murphy, of 15, Bedford Rd., Walton, Liverpool. Born at Liverpool.
PAGE, Able Seaman, HARRY, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 18. Son of John Edward and Annie Page (nee Harman), of 6, Carlton Place, Brighton, Sussex.
REYNIERS, Fireman, CHAS, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 50. Husband of Veuve Charles Reyniers, of Koormarkt 23, Ghent, Belgium. Born in Belgium.
SEEBERG, Able Seaman, NICHOLAS, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 56. Born in Russia.
VICARIO, Donkeyman, ALPHONSE, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 48. Husband of A. Vicario, of 26, Grande rue Pierre pot, Antwerp, Belgium. Born in Belgium.
U-boat is the anglicised version of the German word U-Boot, a shortening of Unterseeboot, meaning undersea boat. At the start of World War I, Germany had twenty-nine U-boats, but by its end, this had increased to 360. They were most effectively used in an economic warfare role, with their primary targets being the merchant ships bringing supplies into Britain and to counteract their effectiveness, Britain introduced escorted convoys.
The History of Wales
The information below was provide by Billy McGee.
The SS Serula was a 1,388grt and a defensively-armed British steamship. On the 16 September 1918, 13½ miles NE ½ N from Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire, Wales she was torpedoed without warning by German submarine UB-64 and sunk when on route from Manchester for Rouen with a general cargo. Seventeen lives were lost that day in the Irish Sea off the coast of North Wales.
In the logbook of the village school it was recorded that following the discovery of the bodies of two Mercantile Marine Servicemen (washed ashore on the beach next to the village) a decision was made to bury the men in the village churchyard. The funeral service was well attended by members of the village and indeed, the village school was closed for the day to allow teachers and pupils to attend. The Headmaster of the school, Mr Evan Parry, had lost his son, Hugh, six months earlier (he died of wounds received on the Somme and was buried in France)
Buried ABERFFRAW (ST. BEUNO) CHURCHYARD - Anglesey
GRAY, Master, WILLIAM, S.S. "Serula.". Mercantile Marine. Drowned as a result of an attack by enemy sub-marine 16th September 1918. Age 50. Son of Thomas and Ann Gray; husband of Jane Gray, of "Eythome," Saughall Massie Rd., Moreton, Wirral, Cheshire. Against West boundary.
TAGUE, Wireless Telegraph Operator, JOHN, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine 16th September 1918. Age 19. Son of John and Margaret Tague (nee Gilmartin), of 98, Stirling St., Airdrie, Lanark. Against West boundary.
Tower Hill
BARBOSA, Cook, JOHN, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 66. Born at Lisbon. Husband of Margaret Barbosa (nee Meara), of 102, Toxteth St., Liverpool.
COLOMIRI, Fireman, LUDOVICO, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 21. Born in Greece.
FISHER, Second Engineer, JOSEPH TAYLOR, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 28. Son of Ann Eva Metcalf Fisher and the late Joe Sidney Fisher; husband of Sarah Elizabeth Fisher (nee Barker), of 6, Sussex St., Birkenhead. Born at Staincross, Yorkshire.
GONIOTAKIS, Fireman, JOHN, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 20. Born in Greece.
HANSEN, Carpenter, LOUIS, S.S. "Serula" (Cork.). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 51. Born in Denmark.
JENKINS, First Officer, THOMAS HILYARD, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 58. Husband of Mrs. Jenkins, of 24 Macfarren St., Old Swan, Liverpool. Born at Saint John, New Brunswick.
KATSOURAS, Fireman, JOHN, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 26. Born in Greece.
KISKINES, Fireman, STATIS, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 30. Born in Greece.
MACKENZIE, Able Seaman, JOHN, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 22. Born at Stornoway.
MURPHY, Chief Engineer, JAMES, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 53. Husband of Martha Louise Murphy, of 15, Bedford Rd., Walton, Liverpool. Born at Liverpool.
PAGE, Able Seaman, HARRY, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 18. Son of John Edward and Annie Page (nee Harman), of 6, Carlton Place, Brighton, Sussex.
REYNIERS, Fireman, CHAS, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 50. Husband of Veuve Charles Reyniers, of Koormarkt 23, Ghent, Belgium. Born in Belgium.
SEEBERG, Able Seaman, NICHOLAS, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 56. Born in Russia.
VICARIO, Donkeyman, ALPHONSE, S.S. "Serula" (Cork). Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 16th September 1918. Age 48. Husband of A. Vicario, of 26, Grande rue Pierre pot, Antwerp, Belgium. Born in Belgium.