BANGOR VESSEL SUNK BY GERMAN SUBMARINE

Disgrifiad

Dyddiad: 5 February 1915

Trawsysgrif:

BANGOR VESSEL SUNK BY GERMAN SUBMARINE.
CREW ORDERED TO LEAVE SHIP IN TEN MINUTES.
INTERVIEW WITH THE CAPTAIN

A startling development arising out of the new German policy of the submarine blockade of British ports occurred on Saturday, when an enemy submarine appeared in the Irish Sea and sank three merchant steamers[.]

They were the "Ben Cruachan," a 3000-ton collier; the "Linda Blanche," a vessel of 550 tons, belonging to the Anglesey Shipping Company, whose headquarters are at Bangor, and the "Kilcoan," 456 tons, belonging to Larne, and laden with coal shipped at Garston. The crews of the first two vessels landed at Fleetwood and the "Kilcoan's" crew at Douglas. They were allowed ten minutes to collect their belongings, and after they left their vessels they were blown up and sank at once. There is some mystery as to the number of German submarines engaged in this destructive work. The sinking of the "Ben Cruachan" and "Kilcoan" is definitely credited to U21, but the crew of "Linda Blanche" are positive that the number of the submarine which they saw was U31 [sic].

The news of the sinking of the "Linda Blanche" reached Bangor late on Saturday night, but no details were received, simply brief message such as "Ship sunk; crew saved." As the captain and two of the crew are Bangor men there was naturally a good deal of excitement in the town, and relief was felt when it became known that all the crew were safe.

INTERVIEW WITH CAPTAIN OF "LINDA BLANCHE."

A North Wales Chronicle reporter had an exclusive interview with Captain Ellis, of the "Linda Blanche," who resides in Orme-rd., Bangor, and has been skipper of the steamer since she was launched in July last. The "Linda Blanche," it is interesting to note, was named after Lord Penrhyn's eldest daughter.

"We left the Mersey at eight o'clock on Saturday morning," said Captain Ellis, "bound for Belfast with a general cargo. At 12 o'clock I happened to be below in bed when my nephew, John Thomas Ellis, who was on deck, came down to me and said, 'There is a submarine coming towards us. 'All right,' I replied. It is a British submarine,' never imagining for a moment that there were any Germans about that spot. I then started to dress, when the boy came down a second time and said, 'She's a German submarine, uncle, and she's close up to us.' I rushed up on deck, and when I got to the bridge I could see that the boy was light. The submarine was then close to us—about a hundred yards away. She was about two or three feet above water. A lieutenant shouted through a megaphone, 'I am going to sink your steamer; prepare to get out of her. I will give you ten minutes to get clear.' We quickly got out two boats and rowed to the submarine, the lieutenant of which asked me for the ship's papers. I told him I had not got them. He then placed five men in one of our boats, and handed a revolver to one of them and told them to row me to the ship to get the papers. Before we left the submarine two bombs were handed to the Germans in our boat. They scrambled on board the "Linda Blanche" before me and one of the men went with a bomb to the fore part and another German went to the upper bridge, but whether this man had a bomb I could not say definitely. In fact, I am not sure where the second bomb was placed. Another German went into the chart room and ransacked the drawers in search of the ship's papers. Whilst he was doing this the fuses of the bombs were lit, and there was a rush for the boat. The man who was ransacking the chart room returned with two charts and the ship's papers, and the man who went aft hauled our ensign down and took it away with him. We were then rowed back to the submarine, which towed us some distance away from the "Linda Blanche." Then I heard an explosion in the fore part of the steamer, which began to settle down by the bow. We got clear of the submarine, and directly afterwards the steamer took a plunge, and evidently her boiler exploded. The submarine went off in a south-easterly direction towards two steamers. She, however, avoided one of them, the nearest to us, and went for the other."

PICKED UP BY A TRAWLER.

Captain Ellis said that before the submarine left them a lieutenant, who spoke English, directed them to row towards a fishing boat, the position of which he indicated, and which he said would pick them up. After rowing for about ten minutes they discerned the smoke of the trawler.

"Meanwhile we kept our eye on the submarine," added the captain, "to see whether she would destroy the lightship, but she was evidently keener on a China boat which was coming along."

The crew were taken a board the steam trawler "Niblick," of Fleetwood, where they landed at seven o'clock on Saturday night. While they were rowing they came across quite a lot of wreckage, showing the submarine must have also been engaged on her deadly work in that part. The captain of the "Niblick" stated that he was trawling to the North when he saw a steamer going down by the stern, and he made for the spot, arriving there in quarter of an hour's time, but all he could find was some wreckage.

Capt. Ellis is convinced there were two German submarines about. The German officers, he said, were young men. They were very courteous, and gave his nephew, who jumped into the boat without his cap, a pair of woollen gloves and a woollen Balaclava helmet.

Our reporter pointed out that there was some confusion as to the number of the submarine. "I did not notice it," replied Captain Ellis, "but the crew are positive it was the U31 [sic], and that is the number we gave to the authorities."

Questioned as to the theory advanced by some experts, that merchant steamers might succeed in ramming a submarine, Captain Ellis pointed out that it would have been quite impossible for the "Linda Blanche" to have done so.

"When she was first sighted she was making straight for us," he said, "but when I had got on deck she had turned to follow us. They also had two guns aimed at us. They were in such a position that it was quite impossible to ram them. One can't manoeuvre a cargo steamer like a submarine can be manoeuvred. They were the masters of the situation. She was far speedier than the 'Linda Blanche,' and if we tried to clear away she could have overtaken us."

Capt. Ellis stated that the steamer "Graphic," which was chased by the submarine on Saturday, must have passed some of the wreckage of the "Linda Blanche."

THE CREW'S STORY.

Interviewed by a North Wales Chronicle reporter at Bangor on Sunday morning, one of the crew, who lives at Hirael, said he was below when the submarine was first sighted, about 18 miles from the Liverpool bar lightship.

"At first we thought she was an English submarine, and we were glad to see her," he said. "Imagine our surprise when an officer speaking through a megaphone ordered us to stop. He then asked us the nature of our cargo, and the captain told him it was general. Speaking excellent English, the German officer said he would give us ten minutes to clear out. We got two boats alongside and went up to the submarine, which was the U31 [sic], and the crew had the word "Unterseeboote" on their caps.

"Two or three officers then went aboard the 'Linda Blanche' with what appeared to be bombs, and put one in the forecastle and the other aft. We were watching them from our boats. Shortly afterwards the 'Linda Blanche' disappeared, bow first, and the last we saw of her were her propellers.

"The officer in charge of the submarine told us there was a steam-trawler right down to lee-ward, and advised us to make for her, 'as it was going to blow,' he added. We made for the trawler, which proved to be the steam-trawler 'Niblick,' of Fleetwood, which took us aboard. The German officers were very humane towards us, and gave us a box of cigars. They also asked whether we had plenty of water and bread in the boats. One of the crew of the submarine who received a few cigarettes in return for the cigars from a sailor on the 'Hilda [sic] Blanche' was ordered by an officer to return them. When we first sighted the submarine she had no flag, but when she came abreast of us she hoisted the German flag.

SUBMARINE SIGHTED BY A BOY.
THE CAPTAIN'S NEPHEW.

John Thomas Ellis, of Bangor, thus describes the day's adventure:—
"We left Manchester on Friday morning," he said, "with a general cargo. We anchored outside Liverpool during the night, and set off for Belfast on Saturday morning. We had got to about eighteen miles north-west of the Liverpool Bar Lightship, and all the crew but me and a seaman had gone below for dinner, when there suddenly appeared a submarine, which hoisted the German flag. We called the crew up at once, and the submarine came and moored to the lee side of the steamer, where she could not be seen.

"The men of the submarine gave our men cigars and cigarettes, and then told us that we must clear off the steamer. We got as much of our clothes together as possible and launched two boats. The German officer in charge said we could go to some Fleetwood trawlers that were about two miles away. We were leaving the ship when we saw that the captain's dog had been left behind."

This dog, a terrier, which the boy was affectionately nursing, jumped into the sea and was pulled into the boat.

"We rowed away and saw the Germans place shells on the bridge and in the forecastle, and shortly afterwards a loud explosion occurred and the ship went to the bottom. The last we saw of the submarine was when she was steaming away in the direction of an approaching steamer. We were brought to Fleetwood by the trawler "Niblick."

The captain of the "Niblick" said that while on the way home he saw a large boat blown up. He waited about for a long time in the hope of picking up a portion of the crew, but none was seen. He, however, picked up a quantity of wreckage, but none of this gave a clue to the identity of the ship. Part of the wreckage he picked up consisted of a large case of forty lifebelts, from which he assumed that the vessel was a large one.

The crew of the "Linda Blanche" arrived at Bangor early on Sunday morning. The chief engineer hails from Amlwch, the mate from Portmadoc[,] the second-engineer from Liverpool, and the rest of the crew from Moelfre and Portdinorwic.

Seen by a reporter on Sunday morning, they gave an interesting account of their adventure. From their stories it appeared that the "Linda Blanche" was steaming about ten knots on Saturday about half an hour after mid-day, when the boy called out, "Here's a submarine!" All hands rushed joyously to the side, thinking to see a British submarine, but were astounded to perceive about a ship's length off a submarine showing the German flag and with a wicked-looking gun on deck aft mounted on a swivel.

Through a megaphone came the command in excellent English to stop, an order at once obeyed. Then Captain Ellis was told ten minutes would be allowed him and the crew to clear out of the ship. Two of the "Linda Blanche's" three boats were launched and ordered to come alongside the submarine. They did so, the smaller of the two boats being hitched by its painter to the forepart of the submarine, and there, while sending the boat off the side of the submarine, they could read in huge letters the inscription, "Underseeboote U31." [sic]

GERMANS' GIFT OF CIGARS.

Three of the men in the small boat were ordered on the deck of the submarine, while some of the crew of the latter took the boat and rowed to the "Linda Blanche" and gathered together the ship's charts, which were quite new, as the ship was only six months old, and the ship's papers and the ship's flag.

The Germans then placed bombs forward and aft below, and returned to the submarine. Here they supplied the crew, who bad come off with nothing but what they stood up in, with food, clothing, and cigars. "Have some cigars," they said. "They are better than yours," they added, laughingly.

The Germans were fine young fellows, not big, but smart. "As smart as our chaps, every bit," said one of the crew. Several of the Germans spoke excellent English, and they waved the British flag triumphantly in the faces of their captives, but all in good humour.

Then, after seeing that the boats were well supplied with bread and water the Germans gave the crew a course for a steam trawler some distance off, which they had been observing. As they rowed away the bombs placed on board the "Linda Blanche" exploded, and the steamer dived down into the depths, assuming an absolutely perpendicular position, with her propellers in the air, before she disappeared.

BOATS IN ROUGH SEA.

After an hour and a half's pulling in a roughish sea the two boats, after passing through an immense amount of wreckage, reached the steamer indicated by the Germans, which proved to be the steam-trawler "Niblick," No. "B.H. 81." They were at once taken aboard and taken to Fleetwood, where they arrived about seven o'clock in the evening.

Ffynhonnell:
"Bangor Vessel Sunk by German Submarine." The North Wales Chronicle and Advertiser for the Principality. 5 February 1915. 7.