SS Trebartha
{{Short description|Cargo carrying steamship built in 1920}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
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|infobox caption= |display title= }} {{Infobox ship image |Ship image= |Ship image size= |Ship caption= |image alt= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|civil}} |Ship name=Trebartha |Ship namesake=Trebartha Hall |Ship owner=Hain Steamship Company |Ship operator=Hain Steamship Company |Ship registry= |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=John Readhead and Sons Ltd |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number=463 |Ship way number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=31 August 1920 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed=December 1920 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service=December 1920 |Ship out of service=12 November 1940 |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship stricken= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship honors= |Ship captured= |Ship fate= |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type=Cargo ship |Ship tonnage={{GRT|4,597}} |Ship displacement= |Ship length=* {{cvt|400|ft}} lbp{{Cite web|url=https://hec.lrfoundation.org.uk/archive-library/documents/lrf-pun-w265-0118-p/search/everywhere:trebartha/page/1|title=Profile & Deck Plans For Trevorian 1919 | Documents|website=Hec.lrfoundation.org.uk|access-date=28 May 2022}}
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SS Trebartha was a {{GRT|4597}} cargo carrying steamship built in 1920 by John Readhead & Sons Ltd of South Shields for the Hain Steamship Company.{{cite book |last1=O'Donoghue |first1=K.J.|last2=Appleyard|first2= H.S.|title=Hain of St Ives|date= 1986 |publisher=World Ship Society|isbn=0-905617-41-X}}{{rp|66}}
She was attacked by German aircraft on 11 November and sank on 12 November 1940.Merchant shipping movement card: Trebartha. BT 389/30/99 National Archives Kew
Building
Named after Trebartha Hall; a photograph of her namesake was hung in the ship’s smokeroom.{{cite book|author=Bryan Latham|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2WUnAQAAMAAJ|title=Trebartha: the House by the Stream|publisher=Hutchinson|year=1971|isbn=978-0-09-105390-1|page=177}}
Sister ships
Trebartha{{'}}s sister ships were {{SS|Trevorian}} and {{SS|Tredinnick}}, J. Readhead & Sons yard numbers 462 and 464 respectively.{{Cite web|url=https://hec.lrfoundation.org.uk/archive-library/documents/lrf-pun-w265-0118-p/search/everywhere:trebartha/page/1|title=Profile & Deck Plans For Trevorian 1919 | Documents | Archive & Library | Heritage & Education Centre|website=hec.lrfoundation.org.uk}} Trevorian sank in the North Sea on 29 November 1943 after a collision with the Icelandic trawler Oli Garda.{{Canmore|num=101752|desc=Trevorian: North Sea}} Tredinnick was torpedoed 25 or 29 March 1942 (sources conflict as to the date){{Cite web|url=http://www.regiamarina.net/detail_text_with_list.asp?nid=84&lid=1&cid=13|title=Boats|website=Regiamarina.net}} by the Italian submarine {{ship|Italian submarine|Pietro Calvi||2}} on passage from New York to Table Bay and lost with all hands.{{rp|68}}
Cargo ship career
After conducting her sea trials off the River Tyne{{cite web|title="NEW STEAMER TREBARTHA." Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954) |date=3 February 1921|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140030003|website=Nla.gov.au}} Trebartha departed Avonmouth on 24 December 1920 for Liverpool and sailed on 1 Jan 1921{{cite web|title="SHIPPING REVIEW." Daily Commercial News and Shipping List (Sydney, NSW: 1891 - 1954)|date=12 January 1921|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article159782448|website=Nla.gov.au}} for Fremantle; Adelaide; Melbourne; Sydney; and Brisbane{{cite web|title="SHIPPING." The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW: 1883 - 1930) |date=1 January 1921|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article239726435|website=Nla.gov.au}} under the command of Captain J.H. Pelham.{{cite web|title="FREMANTLE POLICE COURT." The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954)|date=6 April 1921|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27960718|website=Nla.gov.au}}
A letter published in The Fremantle Times Feb 1921 from the Second Officer S.G. Roach reported a ship’s cricket team had been formed by the officers and cadets and would be pleased to play local amateur teams when the ship reached Australia – providing the local teams could provide the bats.{{cite web|title="To the Editor." The Fremantle Times (WA : 1919 - 1921, 1932)|date=18 February 1921|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article256643975|website=Nla.gov.au}}
Trebartha arrived in Fremantle at 1240 p.m 17 February 1921{{cite web|title="SHIPPING." The West Australian (Perth, WA: 1879 – 1954)|date= 18 February 1921|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27956747|website=Nla.gov.au}} before then calling at Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney on the 2, 7, and 14 March.{{cite web|title="SHIPPING NEWS." The Express and Telegraph (Adelaide, SA: 1867 – 1922) |date=2 March 1921|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article210643607|website=Nla.gov.au}}{{cite web|title="MAILS AND SHIPPING" The Herald (Melbourne, Vic.: 1861 - 1954)|date=7 March 1921|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article242250364|website=Nla.gov.au}}{{cite web|title="SHIPPING" The Sun (Sydney, NSW: 1910 – 1954) |date=14 March 1921|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article221435933|website=Nla.gov.au}} Whilst in Sydney the apprentice Samuel Hills, aged 16, was overcome by fumigating gas when removing hatch covers and fell 40 ft into No. 2 Hold.{{cite web|title="Overcome by Fumes" Evening News (Sydney, NSW: 1869 - 1931) |date=19 March 1921 |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118907998|website=Nla.gov.au}}
Trebartha sailed from Sydney 24 March with a cargo of 97,608 bags of wheat for the State Wheat Board.{{cite web|title="EXPORT MANIFESTS." Daily Commercial News and Shipping List (Sydney, NSW: 1891 - 1954)|date=2 April 1921|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article159786092|website=Nla.gov.au}} After bunkering at Fremantle{{cite web|title="S.S. TREBARTHA." The Daily News (Perth, WA: 1882 - 1950)|date=5 April 1921|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article84749376|website=Nla.gov.au}} and passing through the Suez Canal{{cite web|title="BRITISH & FOREIGN SHIPPING." Daily Commercial News and Shipping List (Sydney, NSW: 1891 - 1954) |date=10 May 1921|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article159783920|website=Nla.gov.au}} she finished her maiden voyage by arriving in London on 24 May 1921.{{cite web|title="BRITISH & FOREIGN SHIPPING." Daily Commercial News and Shipping List (Sydney, NSW : 1891 - 1954) |date=1 June 1921|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article159777291|website=Nla.gov.au}}
On Saturday 29 April 1922 a cricket match was played between the officers of the Trebartha and the Port Pirie YMCA,{{cite web|title="CRICKET" Recorder (Port Pirie, SA: 1919 - 1954)|date=29 April 1922|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article95403479|website=Nla.gov.au}} and in November 1923 another match was played in Port Pirie against High School for a score of 123 runs to 134.{{cite web|title="HIGH SCHOOL v. s.s. TREBARTHA." Recorder (Port Pirie, SA: 1919 - 1954) |date=24 November 1923|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article96047145|website=Nla.gov.au}}
She is recorded as having departed from an unknown port of New Guinea 6 September 1924 with a cargo of 1,911 tons of copra valued at £37,503.{{cite web|title=Australia. Governor-General and League of Nations. Report to the League of Nations on the administration of the Territory of New Guinea Melbourne: Govt. Printer|date=1922|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2783562917|website=Nla.gov.au}}
On 5 May 1925, on return from Australia with a cargo of 3058 tons of Port Pirie loaded loose lead concentrates for Antwerp{{cite web|title="Commonwealth Export Manifests." Daily Commercial News and Shipping List (Sydney, NSW : 1891 - 1954)|date=22 April 1925|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article159953925|website=Nla.gov.au}} via Rabaul, Kaeweing, Madang, Marseilles and Hull{{cite web|title="VESSELS INWARD AND OUTWARD BOUND TO AND FROM AUSTRALASIAN PORTS." Daily Commercial News and Shipping List (Sydney, NSW : 1891 - 1954) |date=7 May 1925|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article159955957|website=Nla.gov.au}} Trebartha stranded on a reef near Nasalomon Island{{cite web|title="STRANDED." The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) |date=7 May 1925|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16222254|website=Nla.gov.au}} and was refloated in the early hours of 8 May after unloading 500 tons of copra cargo.{{cite web|title="TREBARTHA REFLOATED" The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947)|date=9 May 1925|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article181899332|website=Nla.gov.au}} After proceeding to Rabaul for examination she was declared sea-worthy and continued her voyage.{{cite web|title="TREBARTHA AT RABAUL" The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930) |date=15 May 1925|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article245238914|website=Nla.gov.au}} She was under the command of Captain J. Symonds.
She was laid up in the River Fal 16 March 1930 to 27 November 1931.{{rp|126}}
During the winter of 1934-1935 she was trapped in ice in the harbour of Vladivostok for nearly a month, Captain T. H. Stanbury telling The Sydney Morning Herald on 22 February that the Chief Officer E.A. Jenkins was almost lost falling through thin ice as he inspected the propeller.{{cite web|title="TRAMP SHIP" The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) |date=22 February 1935|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28015470|website=Nla.gov.au}}
In December 1938 poor weather in the Pacific Ocean on her way from Townsville to St. John’s diminished her usual stores, Captain Barrett then deciding to make a diversion to Pearl Harbor where she was bunkered with 200 tons of coal from US Naval stores.{{cite web|title=Coal from seabed (Pearl Harbour) after weather diversion "Tramp Coaled From Sea Bed" The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW: 1931 - 1954) |date=25 April 1939|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article247548101|website=Nla.gov.au}}{{cite web|title="WHERE COAL IS PRECIOUS" The Newcastle Sun (NSW: 1918 - 1954) |date=26 April 1939|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article167366752|website=Nla.gov.au}}
On 28 April 1939 the top 20 ft of her after-mast snapped whilst unloading cargo at Woolloomooloo, with the entire mast being replaced in Melbourne.{{cite web|title="SHIP'S MAST CRASHES" The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.: 1848 - 1957) |date=3 May 1939|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12123950|website=nla.gov.au}}
On 19 January 1940 the Trebartha was involved in a collision with S.S. Cymbeline in Suez Bay which considerably damaged her stem and port bow. Repairs were carried out in Newcastle in March. Trebartha was later found by the British Admiralty Court to be three quarters to blame for the collision.{{cite web|title="LAW CASE." Daily Commercial News and Shipping List (Sydney, NSW: 1891 - 1954) |date=29 November 1941 |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162743604|website=Nla.gov.au}}
Wartime convoys
The Trebartha was an active ship: the following are her movements for 1940 and her known convoys.{{Cite web|url=http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/|title=ConvoyWeb|website=Convoyweb.org.uk}}
- Sd. Columbo 31/12 for Suez arr. 15/1/1940. In Suez Rds 17/1. Collision on 19/01. Sd. Port Said for Gibraltar arr. 07/02.
- Convoy HG 18 Gibraltar 9/2/40 for London arr. 19/2.
- Sd. for Tyne 28/02 Anch. Southend 29/02
- Convoy FN 9 Southend 2/03/40 for Tyne arr. 4/03/40
- Repairs at Newcastle upon Tyne 07/03/1940
- Convoy FS 44 Tyne 12/04 arr. Southend 14/4
- Convoy OA 13OG Sd. Southend 16/4 passed Dover 16/4 to form Convoy OG 26 Arr. Gibraltar 25/4
- Sd. Gibraltar 28/4 for Algiers arr. 30/4 Sd. Algiers 4/5 for Bône Arr. 4/5. Sd. Bône 7/5 for Gibraltar Arr. 11/5
- Convoy HGF 30 Sd. 12/5 Arr. Greenock 22/5 Sd. 23/5 damaged 23/5. Repairs at Clyde 30/5. Sd Greenock 4/6. Arr. Newport 6/6 Sd. Milford Haven 28/6. Listed as member of Convoys OB 174 and OB 175
- Arr. Buenos Aires 30/7 Dep. 6/8 for Rosario arr. 10/8. Sd Rosario for B. Aires Arr. 17/8 Sd. 22/8 for Freetown arr. 10/9.
- Convoy SL48 Sd. 19/9 Arr. Methil Roads 11/10. Convoy FS 311 Sd. 16/10 to pass Southend 18/10. Repairs London 24/10. Sd. Gravesent 7/11. Anchored Southend 7/11. Sd. Southend 8/11 with Convoy FN 329
- Arr. Methil Roads 10/11
- EN23 Sd. 11/11 Attacked 4 miles SE Aberdeen 11/11 abandoned sunk 12/11
- Intended journey London 06/11 to Philadelphia 20/11 for cargo of scrap and steel.
Loss
On 11 November 1940, the Trebartha was a member of the northbound Methil to Oban Convoy EN 23, on her way in ballast from London to Philadelphia for a cargo of scrap and steel.
Coming up the east coast of Scotland, the convoy was attacked by a Heinkel He 111 at 1358, the escorting Avro Anson N.5372 successfully diverting it away; although they were unable to intercept.AIR27/2112/36 Sqd. 612 Dyce Operational Records Four miles SE of Aberdeen the convoy was harried again by a German Heinkel He 115 of 706 Küstenfliegergruppe{{Cite web|url=https://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/40-11.htm|title=Seekrieg 1940, November|website=Wlb-stuttgart.de|access-date=28 May 2022}} which attacked and sank both the Trebartha and the {{SS|Creemuir}}, with loss of four of the Trebartha{{'}}s crew;{{cite book |last=Hewitt |first=Nick |title=Coastal Convoys 1939-1945: The Indestructible Highway|date= 2008 |page=127|isbn=9781844158614|publisher=Pen & Sword Maritime}} and twenty-seven{{Cite web|url=https://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4011-24NOV01.htm|title=FAA Attack on Taranto, November 1940|website=Naval-history.net}} or twenty-nine {{cite book |last=MacDonald |first=Rod |title=Deeper into Darkness|date= 2018|isbn=9781849953603|publisher=Whittles Publishing}} of the Creemuir's.
Trebartha was struck by an HE bomb, penetrating the bridge and saloon and setting the bridge space bunkers alight.
As the men abandoned ship the enemy aircraft machine-gunned the survivor’s boats in the light of the burning ship.{{rp|126–127}} They were picked up by the Dutch cargo steamer SS Oberon which, escorted by the lifeboat {{ship|RNLB|Emma Constance|ON 693|6}}, put into Aberdeen where the surviving crew of Trebartha and Creemuir were taken to the Seaman's Mission.{{Cite web|url=https://lifeboatmagazinearchive.rnli.org/volume/war-years/1940/the-ss-trebartha-and-the-ss-oberan|title=The S.S. Trebartha and the S.S. Oberan|website=Lifeboatmagazinearchive.rnli.org|access-date=28 May 2022}}
The abandoned Trebartha drifted in the south southeast wind onto the rocks north of Cove Harbour, where she sank the next day. She was reported in December 1940 to have broken in two, "the parts lying on their sides 50 feet apart in about 7 fathoms of water."{{Cite web|url=https://hec.lrfoundation.org.uk/archive-library/documents/lrf-pun-w90-0001-w/search/everywhere:trebartha|title=Report Of Total Loss Casualty &c For Trebartha Undated | Documents|website=Hec.lrfoundation.org.uk|access-date=28 May 2022}}
Status
File:Rudder-and-Steeting-Quadrant-2.webp
The wreck was commercially salvaged around 1950, the explosives used caused the collapse of the tip of the nearby "Poor Man" sea stack.{{cite book |last1=Gray |first1=Douglas W.|title=Cove Bay - A History|date= 2008 |publisher= Koo Press|isbn=9780955834028}}{{rp|31}} The ship's bell was trawled up around 1999 and auctioned on eBay in 2010.{{cite web|url=https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?61930|title=SS Trebartha [+1940]|website=Wrecksite.eu|access-date=28 May 2022}}
According to the (BSAC) British Sub-Aqua Club 0906, Deeside Sub Aqua Club, which regularly dive the wreck and post wreck condition reports that the steering quadrant is still visible and upright.{{Cite web|url=http://deesidedivers.com/|title=Deeside Sub Aqua Club 0906|website=Deesidedivers.com|access-date=28 May 2022}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{November 1940 shipwrecks}}
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Category:Cargo ships of the United Kingdom
Category:Ships built on the River Tyne
Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom
Category:Ships sunk by German aircraft
Category:Shipwrecks in the North Sea