Captain William Sinclair SHEWAN

  In memory of  TR Thompson Master William Sinclair SHEWAN.  The image shows the WW1 Memorial Plaque with the Mercantile Marine War Medal (L) and the British War Medal (R). 

This image of the framed Memorial was provided by the Great Grandson of William S SHEWAN.

Captain William Shewan

He seems to have been born to Alexander Shewan and Ann Young, born Brakes of Scatness, Dunrossness, Shetland, 10 Jan 1876.
It looks like he married an Elizabeth Reed in Sunderland, and had the following children:-
- William Alexander b. 1906, 

- Annie Elizabeth b. 1909, 

- Margery Catherine b. 1911, 

- Douglas b. 1913, and 

- Gladys b. 1916

.
Captain Shewan  was one of the victims of the German raider the Seeadler, and is noted in the book "The Sea Devil: The Adventures of Count Felix von Luckner, the Last Raider",  by Sam Jefferson, but misidentified as a Gael.

Shetland Times 20 April 1918 page 4

SHETLAND OFFICER LOST
CAPTAIN SHEWAN, DUNROSSNESS.

Widespread regret was felt in the South Dunrossness district when news was received of the death of Captain William S. Shewan, through his vessel being mined in the English Channel whilst returning from a foreign voyage. The vessel was lost on the morning of Good Friday. Only two apprentices were saved.

Captain Shewan was 42 years of age, and was born at Scatness, where his mother and several of his brothers and sisters still reside. He left Scatness when 17 years of age, and has followed the sea ever since. 

He early got his master’s certificate, and for many years has been in the employment of the Westoll Line, Sunderland. Earlier in the war, a vessel of which Captain Shewan was in charge, was sunk by a German raider, and the Captain and his crew after being confined on the German vessel for 72 days and undergoing many adventures, was landed at Rio de Janeiro.

Last year, Captain Shewan visited Shetland for three weeks in June. He was an extremely popular officer, and his loss is much regretted by his employers and a wide circle of friends. He leaves a widow and five children.

(Courtesy of  :- Angus Johnson of shetland-archives.org.uk )

Mr Alexander A New TRT Mystery ?

I have been contacted by Robin who has been conducting some family tree research . As a part of his research into a man called Elijah Alexander, born 29th March 1882 in Lambourn, Berkshire, he checked a substantial number of death records which led him to discover a record for an Alexander (with no forename), whose death certificate shows that this Mr Alexander was a Fireman on the HMS T.G.Thompson, and died on the 29th March 1918 when the ship was sunk off Beachy Head following it being struck by a torpedo.

The certificate (copy shown above) is quite difficult to read. It has been interpretated as follows:-

No. 464.
When & Where died: Twenty ninth March 1918 English Channel off Beachy Head.
Name and Surname: -------------- Alexander.
Sex: Male.
Age: 34 Years.
Occupation: Fireman on HMS "T.G.Thompson" of Sunderland.
Cause of Death: From immersion in the sea his vessel being sunk by a torpedo.
Informant: Certificate received from Sydenham Payn, Coroner for Dover and its Liberates. Inquest held : Thirtieth March 1918.
When Registered: Second April 1918.
Registrar: Walter E Wright.

The circumstances, the date, the location all seem to point to this death being linked to the sinking of the SS T R Thompson, however, neither the crew list for the journey from South Wales to Beni Saf in Algeria (the trip before it's fateful last journey back the UK) , nor the casualty list from the Commonwealth war Graves Commission show any member of the crew with the surname of Alexander and the only person with that name as a forename was much younger.

It would seem a new mystery has been uncovered, who was this Mr Alexander and why does his name not appear on any of the crew or casualty lists we have found so far. We will need to do some more research.

(Click on Image above to enlarge)

Leslie Francis Jack ~ Memorial

In Loving Memory Andrew Jack , Master Mariner , drowned in the wreck of S.S. George Royle on Sheringham Shoal. Jan 18 1915 , Aged 45 Years. Faithful to Duty.

Leslie Francis son of the above drowned off Beachy Head through ????????????? Aged 16 Years.

[From Mr Norman Jack]

The Ship's Master ~ William Shewan

A hand written record states the Master was William Shewan late of the "Gladas Royal" which was also sunk. The "Gladas Royal" was a similar / identical ship to the TR Thompson.

Photograph of a painting of the "Gladas Royal"
[Info from Alf Rodenby]

BBC Film TRT Relative on Trip out to the wrecksite

Here is the Link to a very special dive on the T.R.Thompson we were joined by Mr Norman Jack who is a relative to Lesley Francis Jack who died when the ship was sunk in 1918, Lesley was 16.

Once again we were joined by a film crew and reporter John Young from BBC South East to follow up their earlier report back in April when we did the 90th anniversary dive.

Watch the BBC Coverage of the Dive here!

TRT Survivors

We still have work to do on crew lists and data from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (and elsehwere!) that said re-examining the documents we have, the following names from appear to be likely candidates for TRT survivors:-

1. J Daley (or Dailey) a Gunner from Newry
2. Alex Hardy Finnie an Apprentice born 1900 in Aberdeen
3. H Price an Able-Bodied Seaman
4. A Mahamed (or Mohammed)

Of course, records indicate that there were only THREE Survivors.

Kew Records

More info from Ray Buck:-

The Official Number for the "T R Thompson" is 106417, the last crew agreement ( If it has survived ) will be in the TNA Kew

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATID=3177362&CATLN=6&Highlight=%2C106417&accessmethod=0

Follow the request this link giving ships ON and details of what you require.

Ted Finch has drawn our attention to the following guide to using Kew, thank you Ted, :-

http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/ResResearchingKew.html

Canadian Records ~ Official Number 106417

I am gratfeul to Ray Buck who sent the following information:-

There is a reference to a crew agreement and ships log held in Canada for the same year (Not sure if this is the same log) usually if it is still in Kew then it will not have been sent to Canada) it may be worth enquiring at both.

http://www.mun.ca/mha/holdings/viewcombinedcrews.php?Official_No=106417

This information may link with the series of Crew Agreements traced to Canada by Andy N

Thomas Lewis Hargest ~ Third Engineer

Hi,

One of the Crew mentioned who died aboard the SS T R Thompson was the Third engineer Thomas Lewis Hargest.

I will be writing up a memorial soon on my Hargest/Hergest One Name Study to all Hargest's killed during World War I.

As I have been for the last few years been researching the Genealogical History of the Hargest & Hergest families since the 1400's.

Best regards

Adam Hargest
Hargest/Hergest One-Name Studies
Registered with the Guild of One Name Studies 4334

http://www.one-name.org/profiles/hargest.html

Thomas Towler ~ Marconi Marine Wireless Operator

I am grateful for the follwoing informaton from George V Monk :-

"My Colleague and I have produced a Memorial Register of all the Marconi Marine Wireless Operators who were killed in WWI.

I thought you would like to know of the entry we have for:-

TOWLER, Thomas, Aged 27"

Thomas Towler was a member of the crew who lost his life when the TRT sank. I will enquire with George to see if his register is on-line.

Chris

T.R.Thompson Relative

After the BBC showed the T.R.Thompson report on their Look North Programme I was contacted by a descendant of Lesley Frances Jack (17 years) who was an apprentice on the T.R,T at the time she sank. Lesley was killed during the sinking.

I have arranged to speak to Mr Jack's relative next week to get further information but he has told me that Lesley's father who was a master of a ship also died on a ship run by the Westoll line who owned the T.R.T

The story continues and I will post more info as soon as I have it.

Tad

Reconciling Lists - No progress!

As yet I'm not sure of the origin of Andy's Crew List, where as the list on the June 2004 archive is a CWGC Casualty List. I thought reconciling the two lists might produce a list of survivors - it didn't!! The lists are virtually identical, the ony discrepancy being in the Indian Merchant Service crew.

The CWGC casualty lists :
Ibrahim Ali - Fireman & Trimmer , and
Ali S - Fireman.
Whereas Andy's crew list only lists "Ibrahim Ali"

This clearly suggests TWO fireman both having the name of 'Ali'.

The CWGC list also lists "Abdullah, Fireman & trimmer", whereas Andy's list records "A Aboullah" . This is probably the same man.

Net result - no clearer on identifying any survivors!

Chris-P

TRT Crew List

There is a TRT crewlist in the June 2004 archive, but Andy has been trying so hard and he has included post, ages & places of birth to his crew list , so I'm gonna reproduce the deluxe version of the list :-

Master William S SHEWAN

First Mate: Evan NICHOLAS aged 69 Born in Mathry

Second Mate: Stanley SPAIN age 25 born Sunderland

1st Engineer: Thomas Stanley WOODALL age 34 Born Sunderland

2nd Engineer: Marshall GODFREY age 36 born Stockton-on-Tees

3rd Engineer:Thomas Lewis HARGEST age 46 born llangorse, Breconshire

Carpenter: T HENDERSON age 53 Born London

Donkeyman: C KRIPAH age 58 born in Copenhagen

Boatswain: Harry REMNANT age 38 born Epsom

Wireless Operator: Thomas TOWLER age 27 born Hunslet Yorks

Sailor : R WINBERG age 42 born Riga, Latvia

Sailor: Albert Edward Thomas DREW age 19 born Bristol

Able Seaman: A AGG age 40 Born Bristol

Able Seaman: Henry BAKER age 31 born Liverpool

Able Seaman: W SLATER age 38 born Manchester

Seaman: Charles Gowans CRAIG RNVR Service no 5710A age 22 born Montrose

Signalman: Hananiah REES RNVR Service no Wales/Z/3488

Signalman: George SIMPSON RNVR Service no Clyde Z/8685

Cook: Freddie HOWELLS age 28 Born Newport

Steward: Joshua Simeon DAVIES age 29 Born Cardiff

Messroom Steward: J YAMARE age 22 born Yamaguchi, Japan

Appentice: Sylvester COWELL age 17 born Northallerton

Apprentice: Leslie Francis JACK age 17 born Sunderland

Fireman and Trimmers: Hasan MUHAMMAD Indian Merchant Service
Ibrahim ALI Indian Merchant Service
F MUHAMMAD Indian Merchant Service
Abdul HAMID Indian Merchant Service
A ABOULLAH Indian Merchant Service
Umar MUHAMMED Indian Merchant Service

Cooks Boy: Alexander David EVELEIGH age 15 Born Barry

Quite a multinational crew!

Chris-P

Memorial to Crew Member Freddie Howells

Good research by Andy N has unearthed another memorial to a T R Thompson crew member. Way back on the blog archive (June 2004) a post lists all the crew names, one such member is listed as Frederick Howells. Well frederick is Freddie and there is a brass plaque in the Memorial Hall, West Street, Newport , Pembrokeshire that commemorates Freddie. Freddie, born in Newport, was 28 years old when he lost his life.

In the right hand column of names shown in the photo , Freddie (listed under Seaman) is the fourth named.

Well done Andy.

Chris-P

Inscription on the Head stone - Fireman S Ali

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission have kindly provided a translation of the inscriptions on the head stone to Fireman Ali's grave :-

Top :
“IN THE NAME OF ALMIGHTY ALLAH MOST KIND (OR BENEFICENT) MOST MERCIFUL”.

Below:
“WE BELONG TO THE ALMIGHTLY ALLAH AND WE HAVE TO RETURN TO HIM”.

Grateful thanks to the CWGC for their assitance . The CWGC also confirm that it is their belief that Ali's grave is the only known grave for those who lost their life in the sinking of the TRT.

Chris-P

T R T ~ Memorials : Fireman S ALI ~ Inscription

A close up of the inscription on the grave stone of Fireman S Ali. I hope that we will be able to get it translated in due course.

T R T ~ Memorials : Grave of Fireman S. ALI

As far as this project research is concerned, the grave of Fireman S Ali a member of the T R Thompson crew is the first grave to be located. As far as I can establish at this time Ali's grave is the only known grave for a victim of the sinking of the T R Thompson. The grave is situated in St James' Cemetery, Old Charlton Road, Dover, Kent.

The Crew Of UB-57

The following are the names of the crew on UB-57 when she struck a mine on 14/08/1918. The likelyhood is that most of these men were there when the Thompson was torpedoed, as it was more common practise to rotate commanders through boats than to move crew. Crew were, I believe, only moved or replaced when necessary (i.e. sickness) as they trained as a team and were used to working together.

I'm working to translate the ranks into English at the moment, and will amend this post accordingly when I have them all - I'll also sort out the formatting which seems to have gone a bit to cock!

Name Rank
Albert U-Heizer
Ausborn U-Maschinistenmaat
Baumert U-Oberheizer
Beck U-Heizer
Berger U-Matrose
Bermpohl U-Heizer
Blumenburg U-Oberbootsmannsmaat
Degener U-F.T.Maat
Ebel U-Heizer
Fleischmann U-Matrose
Flügge U-Obermaschinistenmaat
Fuchs Siegfried Oberleutnant z.S
Fuchs Rudolf U-Obermatrose
Gehrau U-Maschinistenmaat
Knüpfer U-Oberheizer
Kretschmann U-Heizer
Lohs Oberleutnant z.S
Münzl U-Obermatrose
Möhner U-Matrose
Oppelland U-Maschinistenmaat
Petersen U-Obermaschinistenmaat
Raecke U-Maschinist
Röbel U-Matrose
Schanz U-Oberheizer
Scheele U-Matrose
Schmidt Marine Ingenieur
Schröter U-Heizer
Specht U-Steuermann d.Res
Stoll U-Heizer
Theisen U-Maschinistenmaat d.Res
Torner U-Bootsmannsmaat
Töpfer U-Maschinistenmaat
Wehlitz U-Obermatrose
Weller U-Matrose

The Portsmouth Naval Memorial

Seaman, Charles Gowan CRAIG, Royal Naval Reserve. Age 22. Son of Joseph and Isabella Dalgetty Craig, of 3, Craig's Close, Gourdon, Montrose and Signalman George SIMPSON , Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, two members of the T R Thompson crew are commemorated at the Portsmouth Naval Museum.

A plague at the Memorial records:-

"This memorial commemorates officers ranks and ratings of this Port who died at sea during the wars 1914-1918 and 1939-1945. Actions in which they fought are recorded in the registers and on the memorial itself Similar memorials at Plymouth and Chatham commemorate men and women of those manning ports while merchant seamen who died from enemy action and have no grave but the sea are commemorated in Liverpool and at Tower Hill in London...."

Source: http://www.memorials.inportsmouth.co.uk/southsea/naval.htm