More information : Primary Sources:
10-SEP-1917: JANE WILLIAMSON, British sailing vessel of 197 tons, sunk by submarine en route from Liverpool for Cherbourg with coal. (3)
'TWO IRISH SCHOONERS SUNK AND CREWS FIRED UPON.
'The Press Association has received the following from a reliable source:-
'The schooner JANE WILLIAMSON of Arklow met with a small German submarine off the coast of Cornwall at four o'clock in the afternoon of September 10th. The submarine opened fire, shelling the schooner until she sank.
'Meanwhile her crew had taken to their boats, but the submarine, after sinking the schooner, turned her gun upon the open boat.
'The shipwrecked crew were picked up by a British trawler at eight o'clock next morning. The master, the mate, and one seaman had been badly wounded, and the remaining three members of the crew lay dead at the bottom of the boat.' (5)
'GERMANS LAUGH AT SCHOONER'S SURVIVORS.
'German contempt of life and of he chivalry of the sea were once more proved at the Penzance inquest on Saturday on three men who belonged to the small schooner JANE WILLIAMSON. There were two survivors of the crew of six, and they said that the submarine opened fire on the schooner from 150 yards range, the first shot smashing the boat and the second killing one of the crew.
'The five survivors got into their second boat, which, when it was in the water, was struck by a shell, one man being killed outright and the skipper and another man mortally injured.
'The Germans beckoned to the survivors to approach them. They never offered the slightest assistance to the dying men. The skipper died in hospital.
' Wilful and diabolical murder" was the verdict of the jury.
'The Mayor and Corporation of Penzance were represented at the funeral at Penzance of two of the men. On each coffin, covered with a Union Jack, was placed a wreath with this inscription: "In tenderest memory of a stranger from Capt. and Mrs Henry Row, who are sorrowing over their own two murdered boys." '(6)
Secondary Sources:
Described as a brigantine, registered in Belfast.
10-SEP-1917: This brigantine was fired on by a German submarine, the attack commencing at 4pm. After the crew had left the vessel in their own boat the enemy then directed their fire at the survivors, killing the master and three seamen and wounding the mate; the boy was the only member of the crew unhurt. The survivors were picked up by a trawler and landed at Penzance. The ship's confidential papers and logs were destroyed by the master before the vessel sank. (1)(4)
10-SEP-1917: The JANE WILLIAMSON, a wooden brigantine, was sunk by gunfire 20 miles NNE of St. Ives, a position quoted as 50 32N 005 20W, en route from Liverpool for Cherbourg with coal, by UC-51, Hans Galster. The crew were shelled in their boats at 4pm, with the loss of 4 lives, including the master. (7)
Built: 1870 (1)(4)(7)
Builder: H and J Williamson (1)(4)(7)
Where Built: Whitehaven (1)(4)(7)
Crew: 6 (1)(4)(5)(6)
Crew Lost: 3 (5); 4 (1)(4)(6)(7)
Owner: R Kearon (1)(4); R Kearon, Belfast (7)
Date of Loss Qualifier: Actual date of loss
Additional sources cited in Shipwreck Index of the British Isles:
NII.1917(ADM.137); LR.1917-18 No.67(J)(sv) |