Year |
Name |
Owner |
|
---|---|---|---|
1878 | Moidart | J. Gardiner & Sons | |
1893 | Moidart | J. Cormack & Co. |
The Hartlepool-built steamship Moidart was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine UC-77 (Johannes Ries), 7 miles off Lyme Regis on June 9th, 1918. She was on a voyage from Barry to an un-named destination with a cargo of coal. Master - J. Bain.
Fifteen crew were lost including one from the Hartlepools:
James Needham.
The other crewmen who lost their lives were:
Bestman, Tom; Bubbins, Albert; Donaldson, Thomas; Drever, William; Dunn, Robert; John, John; Lee, Thomas; Marin, Andre; McGurdy, William; Samson, John; Soderlund, Peter; Stewart, John Wallace; Thomson, William; Yahya Baqir.
In this section you will find information, photographs and stories relating to more than 260 Hartlepool seamen who lost their lives during during the First World War, and of the ships they served on.
To find a particular crewman, simply type his Surname in the Search Box at the top of the page.
This section will, in time, contain the stories of more than 450 merchant ships built or owned in the Hartlepools, and which were lost during the First World War. As an illustration of the truly global nature of shipbuilding, these ships were owned by companies from 22 different countries, including more than 30 sailing under the German flag at the outbreak of war.
The Moidart was defensively armed when she was sunk on June 9th, 1918. The torpedo struck her after hold, starboard side, at 1.00am, and she sank within four minutes. The survivors were picked up around 6.30am that same morning by a patrol vessel.
The remains of the ship were positively identified in June 1975, and her gun was recovered by divers from a branch of the British Sub-Aqua Club in June 1978. They reported that the wreck was broken in two and lying in 33m of water, orientated NW/SE. Her bow was still intact and standing proud of the seabed, although the misdhip and stern areas had collapsed and were well-scattered.
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