DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF THE CREW OF THE STEAMSHIP

SS SAMWATER

WHICH BURNED AND SANK 31 JANUARY 1947

~

There are no roses on a sailors grave

no lilies on an ocean wave

the only tribute a seagulls sweeps

and the teardrops that a sweetheart weeps.

~

Liberty Ships

The vessels came in different sizes and weights, the largest 450ft long and 10,500 tons, able to reach a speed of 11 knots with triple expansion steam engines and two oil fired boilers, made to carry freig1940 and after nine months of war Great Britain had lost one million tons of shipping to the bottom of the sea, sunk by German U-Boats. In September, a representative of J L Thompson and Son of Sunderland went to the USA on a merchant ship building mission taking with them the Thompson design plans for the ship Dorrington Court. The USA was to build emergency cargo ships to a modified British design and faster than the Germans could sink them.

These ships were mass produced and prefabricated merchant vessels built using production line techniques, their single hulls, originally meant to be riveted, were 'all welded' due to time constraints and expense. Production/delivery time was originally 230 days per ship but they managed to reduce this to 42 days. One ship was famously made in 4 days but this was not the rule. Three liberty ships were completed daily at the height of production, altogether 2,710 were built between 1941 and 1945 troops and fuel supplies and fitted with 3 or 4 inch guns, 20 or 37mm cannon and machine guns.

The high rate of production by sometimes inexperienced workers resulted in some defective ships and 1,500 suffered significant brittle fractures, later proved to be from using weak grade steel, causing a few ships to break apart and sink without warning although most survived for longer than their original design life of 5 years.

The first ship launched was named after the American founding father and politician Patrick Henry who once said in a speech 'Give me Liberty or give me death' The launch day was then named Liberty Fleet Day which gave the ships their name. 200 Liberty ships were lease let to Britain, known as Samboats, their prefix SAM denoting their type of construction, Superstructure After Midships. The Samboats later had a steel belt riveted midships for extra strength.

The Story

Steamship SS Samwater Official Number 169923 of the port of London, a flush deck, steel, single screw cargo ship with steam machinery situated amid ships, one triple expansion reciprocating steam engine and 2 oil fired engines. Built in 1943 by Bethlehem Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland, USA as part of the Liberty fleet. Owned by The Minister of Transport and managed by Herbert Gladstone McDavid of Glen Line Ltd Glasgow. She was classed American Bureau +A1(E) meaning the ship was passed perfectly fit and equipped for the perils of the sea when she sailed in January 1947 on a voyage from Freemantle, Australia to Belgium carrying a cargo of wool, concentrates, 38 crew and 5 passengers calling at Capetown on 7th January to take on 750 tons of oil fuel.

It was a normal voyage until the morning watch of 29th January at about 40 miles south and west of Cape Finisterre, Spain. The watch changed at 4.00 am and the Second Engineer Robert Cumming, Greaser William Griffiths and Fireman Colin Coombs took over. The Greaser oiled around the engines and left the engine room in order to make tea. The Fireman changed the four burners on the starboard boiler, his next duty was to clean the hot oil filter on this engine which was used in the previous watch, firstly closing the drain and changing over to the second filter before cleaning the first, but the oil filter lever on the oil supply line was faulty which allowed leakage of oil under pressure. A fire began, probably due to escaping oil igniting.

The Master then gave the order to abandon ship, it was 4.20 am. He then attempted to signal a nearby ship passing about four miles starboard on a southerly course by Aldis Lamp, the wireless apparatus was inoperable as the ships main power supply failed early on in the fire and the emergency battery supply would not work. He was unsuccessful. No attempt was made to fire distress rockets.

All crew and passengers were mustered at the lifeboat stations on the boat deck. There was no panic. Attempts were made to lower the starboard boats but the vessel was still making substantial headway and there was great difficulty in launching because the releasing gear, not standard issue, was not suitable for use when the ship was moving.

The forward boat starboard side was first to be lowered into the water and at first was unmanageable due to the speed of the ship, it drifted astern under the after boat which was then being lowered, some of the men in the first boat managed to scramble into the after boat and cut the forward falls/ropes with an axe, then the boat drifted astern. The after boat was lowered into the water and the after fall unhooked and the boat was towed alongside, the forward davit broke and the boat overturned. Those that were thrown into the water managed to re-float it and most of them managed to get back on board.

The next boat to be lowered was the after boat port side, a motor boat. The forward fall became unhooked, probably due to the swell and remained hanging by the after fall. The forward boat here was successfully launched as the ship had now slowed. Chief Officer John K Edmunds, the Master and 12 others went into the last lifeboat. They had seen men from one lifeboat thrown into the water and they searched for survivors, Mr Edwards made everyone sing loudly, pausing between verses to hear any answering shout. 18 crew and two passengers were lost as a result of the lifeboat difficulties and possibly some Victory life jackets (supplied with the ship) failing.

The survivors were picked up by a passing vessel, the Swedish PL Pahlsson which had been signalled by the Master of the Samwater earlier. Twenty three crew including the Master and three passengers with no serious injuries were landed at Lisbon.

Portuguese trawlers took the ship in tow but had to abandon her. Spanish trawlers later towed her to the entrance of Vigo Bay were she sunk close to the shore in deep water north of Cies Islands between Punta Cabello and Punta Escodelo, patches of oil and loose wool marked her spot.

The inquiry, held at Liverpool 22nd-24th May and London 19th July 1947, held no individual in authority to blame and concluded that the fire spread so rapidly that nothing could be done. Hoses and pumps were burned out and steering gear was out of control. The disastrous consequences may have been avoided if more personnel had been available in the machine room at the change of the oil filters and said that recommended improvements should be implemented in oil burning ships such as efficient screening off around hot filters, instruction in use of filters to be available, more drastic measure to prevent smoking in stokeholds, extension spindles to be carried to a higher level in ships and keys for working them to be kept handy.

OFFICIAL WRECK REPORT PDF