From the Jan. 27, 2013, UK Telegraph "Divers Find First World War "Mystery Ship" Which Ambushed Submarine" by Jasper Copping.
Acting as "bait" for German U-boats, the HMS Stock Force was one of the Royal Navy's top secret "Q Ships" or "Mystery Ships." They were especially adapted decoy vessels carrying concealed guns to lure German submarines to the surface and then engage them.
The Stock Force was sunk in an engagement. It's captain, Lt. Harold Auten received a Victoria Cross and served as the inspiration for an action film.
Its wreck was lost until now because its site was incorrectly listed.
Steven Mortimer lead a group which spent four years looking for it. They found it eight miles from its charted site and is in 200 feet of water 14 miles off Plymouth, England.
--Cooter
Showing posts with label Victoria Cross. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Victoria Cross. Show all posts
Friday, December 4, 2015
Monday, September 8, 2014
SS Germanic
Back on June 18, 2012, I wrote about the remains of the British submarine E-14 being found off the Turkish coast back then. It had two commanders who received the distinguished Victoria Cross during its operations in World War I.
This is a follow up[ on it.
The first captain won his VC when he slipped his ship through heavily guarded straits during the Gallipoli Campaign and over three weeks sank 2 Turkish (Ottoman) warships and a White Star cruise liner carrying 6,000 Turkish troops.
That White Star liner (same company as the Titanic) had been the SS Germanic and built by Harland & Wolff (same ones who built the Titanic) in 1875. In 1893, it was sold to an American company and in 1910, bought by Turkey and given the name Gul Djemal.
During World War I it became an Ottoman troopship before being sunk by the E-14. It was raised and continued carrying Turkish troops to the end of the war.
After the war, it was in the Ottoman-American Line and carried immigrants to America for a new life. It stopped that in 1931 and became the Gulcemal, survived World War II and eventually became a floating hotel before being scrapped in 1950.
During its career, the ship survived three major mishaps, two world wars and is the second-longest serving ocean liner in history.
--Cooter
This is a follow up[ on it.
The first captain won his VC when he slipped his ship through heavily guarded straits during the Gallipoli Campaign and over three weeks sank 2 Turkish (Ottoman) warships and a White Star cruise liner carrying 6,000 Turkish troops.
That White Star liner (same company as the Titanic) had been the SS Germanic and built by Harland & Wolff (same ones who built the Titanic) in 1875. In 1893, it was sold to an American company and in 1910, bought by Turkey and given the name Gul Djemal.
During World War I it became an Ottoman troopship before being sunk by the E-14. It was raised and continued carrying Turkish troops to the end of the war.
After the war, it was in the Ottoman-American Line and carried immigrants to America for a new life. It stopped that in 1931 and became the Gulcemal, survived World War II and eventually became a floating hotel before being scrapped in 1950.
During its career, the ship survived three major mishaps, two world wars and is the second-longest serving ocean liner in history.
--Cooter
Monday, June 18, 2012
British World War I Sub Found
From the Telegraph "Firsrt World War British submarine found 94 years after being abandoned."
The HMS E14 executed a daring raid, slipping past the Dardanelles during the Gallipoli campaign and sinking Turkish warships and a transport. It was found intact on the ocean bed of the Dardanelles by a Turkish documentary group.
In 1915, Lt. Cmdr. Edward Courtney Boyle received the Victoria Cross after steering the E14 throughthe heavily fortified Dardanelle Straits, under monefields and later avoiding Turkish searchlights and guns at the Narrows and then reaching open waters of the Sea of Marmura April 27, 1915.
During the next three weeks it sank two Turkish warships and a former White Star cruise liner carrying 6,000 Turkish troops heading for Gallipoli before escaping back through the strait.
Along with the commander's Victoria Cross, the entire crew of thirty received Distinguished Service medals. Boyle was 27 at the time and much later died in 1967 when he was run over by a lorry.
Later, Lt.-Cmdr. Geoffrey Saxon White also won a VictoriaCross posthumously in the E14 in an operation in which the submarine was abandoned and sank in January 1918.
The E14 was discovered earlier this month, the first British "E" Class submarine discovered intact. The vessel is 20 meters deep near Kum Kayle.
A Little-Known Story. --Cooter
The HMS E14 executed a daring raid, slipping past the Dardanelles during the Gallipoli campaign and sinking Turkish warships and a transport. It was found intact on the ocean bed of the Dardanelles by a Turkish documentary group.
In 1915, Lt. Cmdr. Edward Courtney Boyle received the Victoria Cross after steering the E14 throughthe heavily fortified Dardanelle Straits, under monefields and later avoiding Turkish searchlights and guns at the Narrows and then reaching open waters of the Sea of Marmura April 27, 1915.
During the next three weeks it sank two Turkish warships and a former White Star cruise liner carrying 6,000 Turkish troops heading for Gallipoli before escaping back through the strait.
Along with the commander's Victoria Cross, the entire crew of thirty received Distinguished Service medals. Boyle was 27 at the time and much later died in 1967 when he was run over by a lorry.
Later, Lt.-Cmdr. Geoffrey Saxon White also won a VictoriaCross posthumously in the E14 in an operation in which the submarine was abandoned and sank in January 1918.
The E14 was discovered earlier this month, the first British "E" Class submarine discovered intact. The vessel is 20 meters deep near Kum Kayle.
A Little-Known Story. --Cooter
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