The Voyage

Outbound voyage time period
In the below document from Sjömanshuset in Göteborg it is evident that Mary was in Helsingborg on 4 February 1915. Thus the voyage to Seaham started no earlier than on 4 Feb. The voyage was expected to take three days. Thus, Mary arrrived in Seaham no earlier than 7 Feb.

One piece of information says that Mary was sailing empty on the outbound voyage. Timber, planks and props were common cargo on westward voyages, but this time it was only ballast.

Why only ballast? I have no proof, but it could be a matter of insurance in war times. The Swedish governmental Krigsskadekommisionen took on the insurance for cargo inbound to Sweden, but did not cover cargo outbound from Sweden. Could it be that nobody wanted to take the risk of sending cargo out from Sweden? Just a theory.

Thus, there was only ballast to be offloaded in Seaham and loading of 1900 tons of coal could be started quickly. Allowing two days for loading (pure guesswork) she cannot have arrived later than Feb 14 if she was ready to sail on 16 Feb. Thus, it can be assumed that Mary arrived in Seaham in the period 7-14 Feb 1915.

Outbound voyage crew change
The threat from Germany about an intensified war on the North Sea created anxiety. Some shipping companies ceased their operations on the North Sea in first weeks of February. Others elected to continue, but the crews refused to travel. And still others continued with business as usual.

Mary departed from Malmö but made a stop in Helsingborg where there was a partial change of crew. Seven crew members left the ship and seven new signed on. We don´t know the reason, but the safety situation on the North Sea could very well be the cause. The new crew members, who joined the ship for her last voyage were: Vinblad, Carlsson, Bengtsson, Linder, Antonsson, Nilsson and Henriksson.

The Telegram
One of the persons I´ve come into contact with told me about a telegram which I have not heard about in my family. In her family the oral tradition has it, that the Shipping Company in Malmö sent a telegram to the Captain in Seaham Harbour on the 16th urging him to stay in Seaham until further, as they regarded it too risky to cross the North Sea due to the development in the Sea War. However, when the telegram reached Seaham Harbour the Mary had already departed. And there was no radio on board.

It is a good story and I have no reason to denounce it. But, on the other hand, there is no proof that this telegram was actually sent .

Inexperienced crew?
Seven out of the eighteen in the crew signed on in Helsingborg on the outbound voyage . Thus, when they set out from Seaham Harbour they had only three days of experience of sailing the Mary and working together.
Furthermore, in the document shown above there is a note for Gustaf Winblad. It says that he is assigned the duty of Assistant Engineer (Andre maskinist) only "until a formally qualified person can be hired for this position". However he is given the same privileges as "an examinated engineer".

Could lack of experience be a factor when they met the severe storm on the second day of the homebound voyage?

The track
What was the intended track when they set out from Seaham Harbour? We only know they had Malmö as destination. Does that imply a straight line from Seaham to Skagen? Or did they plan another course due to the approaching storm? By the way, how much did they know about that coming storm?

And what about mine fields? Were they aware of the position of dangerous mined areas of the North Sea? Did that force them onto another track than the most obvious one?

That question obviously has bearing on the question where in the North Sea the wreck of Mary is resting today.

Weather
On Tuesday the 16th, when Mary left Seaham Harbour, it was a gray misty winterday with light westerly winds and temperatures a few degrees above freezing. However, it soon developed to the worse and the next day there was a storm. Read more about the weather.