The Loss of the Cargo Steamer the London Trader 5th February 1915

Heidrun was not the only steamer to founder in the Mounts Bay in 1915.

The London Trader was a small cargo steamer, 684 tons, built in 1913 at Middlesborough and registered at West Hartlepool. She cost £75,000 to build and belonged to the London Welsh Steamship Company of London and Cardiff. The owners were Messrs J. Hartley and Co. of London and she was chartered by the British and Irish Steam Packet Co.

Her skipper was Captain Paddey, and the Chief Mate was Michael Wall.

The trip between Dublin and London was a regular one, calling first at Falmouth, Plymouth and Southampton.(1)

Her last journey was from Dublin to London and her last cargo, was a General cargo consisting mainly of consignments by Messrs. Guinness and Co and Messrs Jacob, loaded in Dublin Docks.

In the loading process the crew noticed that she had a List to Port but this seemed to correct itself as she left the loading dock and wasnt considered to be a serious problem.

The weather was poor with a strong southerly gale and heavy rain making headway difficult. (2)

As she sailed south towards Lands End the Coastguard noticed that she seemed to be in distress in the vicinity of Tol-Pedn-Penwith and the Mousehole Lifeboat was notified. (3)

As they rounded Lands End to Cross the Mounts Bay the crew of the London Trader found that the List to port was getting worse and making steering difficult. It seemed that the cargo had shifted putting the crew in danger. Some of the crew put on Lifebelts.

Between Lands End and Penzance the steamer Toward saw the London Trader and went to assist, finding her Listing heavily and blowing her whistle as a sign of distress. Contact was made and she asked if the Toward could take off the crew. This was made more imperative when a large wave hit the Trader, damaging her port Lifeboat as she tried to get it into the sea.

The List worsened and she was fast taking in water. Most of the crew made their way aft except the Captain who was holding on to the main rigging.

As she turned right over with her stern in the air a number of the crew were seen holding on to the keel.

The Chief Officer then jumped overboard. Slocomb, Lester and Cullen jumped into the sea and clung on to floating wreckage. They were later picked up by the Toward.

About 5.20pm she foundered and sank. The Toward sailed into the wreckage, began a search and picked up the Chief Officer and a number of the crew.

One unfortunate man suffered fatal injuries as he was being rescued.

Toward was joined by another steamer, the Poland and they picked up a survivor who was later dropped off in Rouen.

By 6.30pm it was dark and there were no more cries of help from survivors so the search was stopped. Toward continued east and signalled the Lloyds Station at the Lizard "Steamer London Trader foundered off Penzance during a southerly gale. We have three of crew. Steamer Poland has part of crew." (4)

The Poland sent a message at 8.30pm saying "Saved one man of steamer London Trader which foundered of Penzance". (4)

It was later established that a number of the crew were missing, including the Captain.

On Monday 8th February 1915 four bodies were washed ashore at Gunwalloe just north of Mullion, about 8-10 miles away.

Able Champion, a Gunwalloe farmer was at the Gunwalloe Fishing Cove about 4am and found a body in the surf which he recovered to the beach. Police were notified and attended.

About 10.15am Local Farmer James Treloar was at Dollar Cove from where he recovered a second body.

While they were present two further male bodies were washed ashore and handed over to the Police.

Later, the Chief Mate Michael Wall and seaman James Lester identified the four as being from the London Trader.

They were, 1. Francis B. Godfrey, Second Mate. 2.Henry M Johns, Second Engineer. 3. William J. MacIntosh, Fireman. 4. Robert J. Trenchard, Chief Engineer. (5)

On Tuesday 9th February 1915 the Chief Mate Michael Wall visited Newlyn where a further body had been washed ashore. He identified the body as being that of James Ellis 58, of London, (Steward) able bodied seaman of the London Trader. (6) (N.B. Details of disposal unknown)

On Wednesday 10th February 1915 Edward Boase, Assistant Coroner held an Inquest at Gunwalloe. Dr R.J. Brookes of Helston, said that he had examined the four bodies and found that death was due to drowning. Chief Mate Michael Wall provided evidence of identification which was corroborated by seaman Lester. The Jury returned a verdict that they were "Found Drowned". (5)

On Friday 12th February 1915 the interment of three of the bodies Trenchard, Godfrey and Johns took place at " St. Winwaloe Church of the Storms" Gunwalloe. They were from Cardiff. Among those who attended the funeral were Mrs Trenchard (Widow), Mrs Johns (Widow) and other relatives from Cardiff. Representatives of the ships owners and Lloyds Agents were also present.(7)

The fourth person, that of W.J. MacIntosh was from Shadwell, London.

In June 1915 a Board of Trade enquiry took place at Caxton Hall, Westminster.

Evidence was heard that the London Trader had behaved well on previous voyages, and that the Captain had a good record previously.

Evidence of the cargo and its loading was given by John Brennan, Foreman stevedore to John MacMillan, the wharfinger, who was in charge of the loading. He said that the cargo was loaded between 2am and 3am on February 4th. He stored 17 tons of cargo on the Well Deck . It was properly secured by the crew.

It consisted of barrels of beer, casks of grease, cases of biscuits and skins. Before this the Mate had looked at the loading marks on the Port side and remarked that there were eleven inches to go. The Beer and Grease were stored on the starboard side.(8)

No mention was made of trimming the vessel by the stern.

(Trim is the difference between the draft forward and the draft aft. If the aft draft is greater than the forward draft, the ship is described as being trimmed by the stern. Bad trim could affect the stability of the vessel).

The Chief Mate, Michael Wall, had gone on Leave on January 31st, when the ship arrived in dock prior to loading and on his return on the afternoon of the the 3rd February it had been loaded. He thought badly because there was too much dead weight forward. The list was discussed with the Mate saying that if they didn`t trim the ship he would not sail in her. The Captain decided that it was too late to do anything about it. The Captain ordered the Mate not to refuse to sail but wait until some of the crew complain. There was a heated discussion between some of the loaders and crew. The Captain ordered some of the cargo to be moved from Port to Starboard to counteract the list, but when she left port the list was still heavy to Port. Mr Walter Wilson , Master Stevedore, London, said that if the cargo was stowed properly , and water washing over the well deck would not list 10-12 degrees after loading. He should say that the ship was not properly seaworthy. He suggested that the ship might have started to pop a rivet when moving alongside the quay at Dublin, as he thought that there must be water in the ship somewhere. Henry Thomas, Watchman, employed by the British and Irish Steam Packet Company said that when the vessel was at the quay she had a slight list of about 3 degrees. The list increased to 6 or 7 degrees and Captain Richard Paddey said to him, " I wont take the ship out of the berth until the Main Deck is clear of water." The ship remained in that state for three quarters of an hour and then became more upright. The water went off the deck. The witness thought it was the ships tanks which caused the list. The "Hailer" Thomas Casey was the last person to see the ship as she left Dublin Harbour about 5.30am on Thursday 4th February 1915 and reported nothing untoward about her.(8)(9)(10)

Further evidence was given that later the list had increased to 30 degrees and it is believed that this had been why she foundered and sank.

The Judgement at the Enquiry found that the Captain and nine crew were lost. When she left Dublin for London she was in good condition. The cargo was not properly stowed so as to keep the ship upright and her list to Port, instead of being corrected during loading was increased by 10 degrees. Her loss was not caused by any wrongful act by the Chief Officer but was due to the imperfect securing of the Holds and the continued influx of water in heavy weather. No blame was attached to the wharfinger or the company responsible for the cargo, the responsibility rested with the Master. The responsibility for loading was not that of the crew, but that of the Captain who unfortunately drowned. The Court declared the cause of the disaster was due to the use of temporary weather boards instead of permanent water tight doors to close the well deck bulkhead. (11)(12)

The last known position of the London Trader was 8 miles south of Penzance and 15 miles west of the Lizard. Nine of the crew including the Master died. Eight of these men were drowned.

Richard W. Paddey, Master, Francis B. Godfrey , Second Engineer, Robert J. Trenchard Chief Engineer, Henry W. Johns, Second Engineer, William Upson, Steward, James Ellis A.B., John A. Anderson, Donkeyman, William J. McIntosh, Fireman, Charles J. reece, Fireman and a man named Jones, Fireman.

In February 1915 these ships were already at War and in danger of attack from German mines and submarines, but in this instance it was yet another gale and bad weather which caught up with them first.

A few days before she sank, a local reporter from the Dublin Daily Express spoke to the Chief Mate of the London Trader. He wrote that at the time nobody seemed to have a more happy sense of security.

The mate seemed to regard the submarine scare, which was then causing a dislocation of shipping , with calm if not with indifference. He did not know how soon his ship was going to meet with disaster (1)

Things were very soon going to change.

bob felce (mullion)

Posted 19.1.2020