SS English Trader

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SS English Trader ashore Checkstone Rock 4.30am 23 Jan 1937
History
United Kingdom
NameSS Arctees
OwnerArctees Shipping Company Ltd.
Ordered1933
Builder
Furness Ship Building Company Ltd
Launched25 January 1934
Maiden voyage1934
House flag, Trader Navigation Co. LtdUnited Kingdom
NameSS English Trader
OwnerTrader Navigation Company Ltd
Acquired1936
Out of service24 October 1941
HomeportLondon[1]
Identification
FateRan aground on Hammond Knoll on the North Norfolk Coast
General characteristics
Tonnage3,953 GRT
Length362 ft 5 in (110.46 m)[1]
Beam57 ft 5 in (17.50 m)[1]
Depth23 ft 6 in (7.16 m)[1]
Installed power357 hp (266 kW) nominal
Propulsion
  • Two single-ended boilers with a working pressure of 220lb psi.
  • Triple expansion reciprocating steam engine (North East Marine Engineering Company Limited, Newcastle upon Tyne) 357 hp (266 kW)[1]
  • Single propeller
Speed8–10 knots (15–19 km/h; 9.2–11.5 mph)
Crew38

The SS English Trader was a British merchant ship wrecked off the coast of

Norfolk, England in October 1941.[2] After falling behind a convoy during the Second World War of which she was a part, the ship ran aground on the Hammond's Knoll sandbank and began to break up during a gale. Several rescue attempts by lifeboats failed, but a further attempt the following day by the Cromer Lifeboat
rescued 44 of the crew, three having already been lost.

Construction

The ship was built in 1934

Shipping Company Ltd[2] where she was then called Arctees. She was designed by Sir Joseph Isherwood and had his revolutionary "Arcform"[2]
hull design to improve fuel consumption. Fifty ships were built to that design between 1933 and 1954. In 1936, she was sold to the Trader Navigation Company Ltd as its first tramp vessel and renamed English Trader. All of the company's later vessels had the same "Trader" suffix.

Service

The first three years of the vessel's life were uneventful. On 23 January 1937, the English Trader was in the waters of the Devon coast. While entering Dartmouth Harbour her steering gear failed and she ran aground close to Dartmouth Castle at the entrance to the harbour. The Torbay lifeboat attended and executed a hazardous rescue in darkness, saving 52 people.[2][3]

Attempts were made to re-float the ship by four tugs and a

bow section which was eventually scrapped. The process took nineteen days after which the undamaged after part was pulled stern-first into Dartmouth Harbour. Later she was moved to Southampton. A contract was given to the Middle Docks & Engineering Company of South Shields to repair her. She was rebuilt from the boiler room forward in only 100 days.[2]

Second World War

From the start of the

Second World War the English Trader carried thousands of tons of cargo to and from the British Isles. For two years she crossed the seas avoiding U-boats, mines and aircraft attacks. In October 1941, she was berthed in London Docks where a cargo of sugar from Cuba was being unloaded. By 23 October, she had discharged her cargo and was taking aboard a mixed cargo bound for Mombasa, Kenya. The cargo contained a variety of export goods including farm tractors and other agricultural implements, umbrellas, pocket watches, whisky, Andrews Liver Salts, dresses and kitchenware. Stamped on the cases was "BRITAIN DELIVERS THE GOODS",[2]
in defiance of Germany's aggressive war against Britain.

Convoy EC90

Before her next voyage, a virtually new

harbour
at one of the east coast ports.

Aircraft attack

By nightfall the English Trader was some five miles (8.0 km) from the convoy and at times laboured to achieve four knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph), making her vulnerable to attack by enemy U-boats and aircraft. The situation was made worse when, in the darkness, the convoy ahead came under brief air attack, followed by an attack on the English Trader by a German Dornier Do 17 bomber.[2] The gunner aboard English Trader opened up at the approaching aircraft, which released two bombs, which narrowly missed the ship. Two large pillars of white foam rose as high as her mast on the port side just yards from the ship. The bomber now swooped over the ship and into the darkness to prepare for another attack. HMS Vesper, which had broken off from the main convoy to help,[2] opened fire on the aircraft, possibly damaging it as it broke off its attack and was not seen again.

Aground on Hammond Knoll

Map showing the site of the wreck of the English Trader

By midnight all was quiet, but the ship was still labouring to rejoin the main part of the convoy. Between 1 am and 1.30 am on Sunday 26 October, she was struggling against a strong ebbing

Hammond Knoll.[2]
At around 1.45 am the crew felt a slight jolt followed by a more severe jolt. This flung the ship forward followed by loud grinding, crunching and scraping of metal. Then there was silence. The ship had run aground on Hammond Knoll.

The English Trader was stranded on the knoll with her crew powerless to do anything about her. As the first signs of daylight approached, the weather began to rapidly deteriorate, with the wind reaching

starboard lifeboat and its derrick. The ship's back had broken as it settled on the knoll and the sea started it relentless destruction of the English Trader. The port
lifeboat, though in the lee of the storm, could not be launched because of the turbulent waves crashing around the sandbank.

Lifeboat launched

The chart room
Signalman Edward Allen

At 8.15 am, the

Gorleston Lifeboat had been launched and was on its way. Between 4 and 6 pm, that lifeboat made five attempts to get alongside, with a line, without success. After these attempts and with darkness setting in, Coxswain Charles Johnson and his crew also reluctantly returned to Great Yarmouth after receiving orders from the Royal Navy. By 8 am the next morning, the Cromer Lifeboat was back at the Sands. The sea had calmed considerably and the H F Bailey was able to take the beleaguered crew of 44 from the English Trader with relative ease, taking them to the safety of Great Yarmouth. The English Trader was then left stuck upon the sands of Hammond Knoll. Reports from the following day said that the English Trader had gone completely under the waves. Henry Blogg received a RNLI Silver Medal
for this rescue.

Cromer Lifeboat crew

The bronze bust of Henry Blogg on the cliff top in North Lodge Park in Cromer, Norfolk
Crew of the Cromer Lifeboat
H. F. Bailey
Name Rank
Henry G Blogg Coxswain
John J (Jack) Davies Second Coxswain
Henry W (Swank) Davies Mechanic
James W Davies Assistant Mechanic
Edward W (Boy Primo) Allen Signalman
William T (Captain) Davies Bowman
John J Davies, jnr Crewman
Sidney C (Kelly) Harrison Crewman
Henry T (Shrimp) Davies Crewman
William H (Pimpo) Davies Crewman
Robert C Davies Crewman
James R (Dick) Davies Crewman

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "LLOYD'S REGISTER, NAVIRES A VAPEUR ET A MOTEURS" (PDF). Plimsoll Ship Data. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  2. ^
    ISBN 0-906554-06-3
  3. RNLI
    . Spring 2024. p. 31.

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SS_English_Trader&oldid=1210806032"