Members of the Wedgwood family have also long looked after – and continue to look after – the Society’s ex-WW11 Collecting Mine sited at Robin Hood’s Bay.

The exhibition generated funds to the value of more than £3,400 for the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society and we are so grateful for this tremendous level of support which will be put to very good use supporting those from the fishing and maritime community who are suffering hardship and distress.

Our sincere thanks to the Wedgwood family for their continued support of this Charity’s work.

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Sidney Worrall was badly injured in the attack on the Athenia in 1939, which killed 117 people, and passed his watch to a Canadian man, Gerry Hutchinson.

When Gerry died, his son donated the watch to Glasgow’s Riverside Museum.

Mr Hutchinson believed Mr Worrall had died but the museum later learned he survived his injuries.

Curators wants to unite the watch with Mr Worrall’s family and hope they will give their blessing for it to go on show at the museum.

The SS Athenia was a transatlantic passenger liner built in Glasgow in 1923 which sailed between the UK and Canada.

The ship was sunk by a torpedo from a German submarine on 3 September 1939, about 200 nautical miles off the northwest coast of Ireland.

Rob Hutchinson said: “My father Gerry was a passenger on board, and as the order to abandon ship came he helped to load, and then man the lifeboats.

“He ended up in lifeboat six, which also carried the two badly injured cooks. My father did what he could for them over the next few hours, making them as comfortable as possible.

“One of them, named Sid, was really ill when he pressed his wristwatch into my dad’s hand, saying ‘please look after my watch for me’.”

Mr Hutchinson said that his father told him how a rescue ship took survivors from the Athenia to Galway, where he had presumed that Sid had died.

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The SS Empire Javelin was a British war landing ship built by Consolidated Steel Corp. in Orange, Texas. She was owned by the British Royal Navy and was captained on her last voyage by Captain Mclean.

Initially given the name Cape Lobos and later renamed Empire Javelin, on 28^th December 1944 she was lost after detonating a mine. Interestingly, it is widely believed that the Empire Javelin sank after being torpedoed by a German U-boat, however this has proven to be incorrect as the U-boat in question sank before December 1944.

Sadly, eight people were lost at sea.

The Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society provided the survivors with £87/18s worth of financial support – the equivalent of £3,613 today.

Photo credit: www.wrecksite.eu

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The SS Star of Suez was an Egyptian cargo ship built in 1926 by D & W Henderson Co. Ltd. She was owned by Alexandria Steam Navigation Co. between 1938 and her sinking in 1942.

On 15^th December 1942, Star of Suez was on a voyage from New York, USA to Table Bay, South Africa via Trinidad and Tobago. Unfortunately, she was hit by a German torpedo and sank off the coast of Brazil. Two people lost their lives in the tragedy.

The German U-boat responsible for the loss sank off the coast of Haiti just seven months later.

The Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society provided the survivors with £60/2s worth of financial support – the equivalent of £2,732 today.

Photo credit: www.wrecksite.eu

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The MV Empire Spenser was a British war tanker built in 1942 by Harland & Wolff Ltd., and owned by the Ministry of War Transport. She was to meet her end on 8^th December 1942.

Whilst en route from Curaçao to Stanlow, UK via New York, USA, the MV Empire Spenser was torpedoed by a German U-boat (captained by Freiherr Walter Von Steinaecher) and sank in the Atlantic Ocean.

Out of the 58-strong crew complement, one person was lost at sea.

The Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society provided the survivors with £90/5s worth of financial support – the equivalent of £4,105 today.

Photo credit: www.wrecksite.eu

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The SS Sambridge was a British cargo ship built in 1943 by Permanente Metals Corp. and owned by the Ministry of War and Transport. The Sambridge would unfortunately complete only four months in service before it was sunk.

On 18^th November 1943, the Sambridge was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Gulf of Aden. The ship was on her maiden voyage from Madras, India to Aden, Yemen with 365 tonnes of cargo when the tragedy occurred.

The ship’s second officer, H. Scurr was taken aboard the Japanese submarine and was landed at Penang. Fortunately, the remaining 37 sailors and 11 gunners were rescued by British transport Tarantia.

The Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society provided the survivors with £51/19s worth of financial support – the equivalent of £2,205 today.

Photo credit: www.wrecksite.eu

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The 11,900 merchant seamen and fishermen from 1,286 fishing vessels and merchant ships who lost their lives in WW1 and have no known grave but the sea are commemorated on a  memorial on Tower Hill, but it’s a well-kept secret – never featured on Remembrance Sunday by the BBC.

Earlier this year, we have released a short video recognising the forgotten contribution and losses faced by merchant seafarers and fishermen during the 1914-18 conflict. The video was filmed at the National Museum of the Royal Navy’s 36 Hours Jutland 1916 Exhibition and features the charity’s Chief Executive, Commodore Malcolm Williams.

From 1914-1918, the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society assisted 51,000 sailors; Merchant Navy, Fishermen and Royal Navy, by providing clothing, food, accommodation and rail warrants allowing them to return home to their loved ones. It also provided assistance to 2,656 widows, 4,724 orphans and 1,122 aged parents for whom the loss of the family breadwinner was devastating.

Chief Executive, Commodore Malcolm Williams, comments: “We remember and honour the men of the Merchant Navy and fishing fleets who served and suffered in time of war. We are indebted to them and to all who sacrificed their lives for their country”.

“I hope that this year and in years to come the BBC, our national broadcaster, will include the Remembrance Sunday service at Tower Hill in its schedule to honour seafarers and their vital contribution in two World Wars and the Falklands so their sacrifice and bravery will never be forgotten.”

Now in its 177^th year, the Society continues to provide financial support to fishermen and mariners and their dependants. Last year grants were provided in over 2,000 cases of need at a cost of £1.4 million.

Please watch the Society’s commemorative video on the contribution of fishermen and merchant navy during the Great War.

Photo creadit: www.timeanddate.com

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The SS Empire Path was a British cargo ship built in 1943 by John Readhead & Sons Ltd., in South Shields. She was owned by the Ministry of War and Transport until her loss in 1944, less than a year before the end of WW2.

The Empire Path set sail from London on 11^th November 1944 bound for Antwerp, Belgium. Upon arrival in Belgium, she unloaded her cargo and began the return journey back to London through the Scheldt Estuary. Unfortunately, the SS Empire Path was blown in half by a ratchet mine on 24^th December 1944 resulting in the loss of three lives.

Survivors were taken to the coastal city of Ostende and were temporarily housed in an Army transit camp before they returned to London on 30^th December.

The Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society provided the survivors with £101/7s worth of financial support – the equivalent of £4,166 today.

Photo credit: www.wrecksite.eu

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The SS Teano was a British cargo ship built in 1925 by Earle’s Shipbuilding & Engineering Co., Ltd. At the time of her sinking, she was owned by Ellerman Wilson Line Ltd.

On 8^th November 1943 the SS Teano was at anchor in the River Humber waiting for a favourable tide to begin her voyage to London from Hull when another vessel collided with her, causing her to sink. She was carrying a general cargo at the time of the tragedy.

The SS Teano’s earlier namesake was also involved in an incident and was sunk by a Germany U-boat whilst on a voyage from Hull to Naples in 1916.

The Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society provided the survivors with £111/14s worth of financial support – the equivalent of £4,742 today.

Photo credit: www.wrecksite.eu

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The SS Empire Sunrise was a British cargo ship built in 1941 by Joseph L. Thompson & Sons in Sunderland, UK. In the year between her launch and her sinking, she was owned by Nitrate Producers Steamship Co.

On 2^nd November 1942 whilst en route from Three Rivers, Quebec to Belfast, Northern Ireland via Sydney, Nova Scotia, the Empire Sunrise was badly damaged by a German torpedo around 500 miles east of Belle Isle.

The damage to the vessel was severe, however she only sank after she was hit by another torpedo from a German U-Boat. The ship had been carrying 10,000 tonnes of steel and timber on her voyage.

The 45 strong crew and five gunners were rescued from the doomed ship by the British rescue ship Stockport and were transported to Reykjavik, Iceland, where they arrived six days later.

The Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society provided the survivors with £85/17s worth of financial support – the equivalent of £3,905 today.

Photo credit: www.wrecksite.eu

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