T R Thompson ~ Wreck Tour

Hoping to put together a 'Wreck Tour' during the merry month of May. Planning is now underway ~ and who knows the TRT project may get a bit of a boost with regard to new information and more interest! Watch this space!

War Diary UB57

Now for the next page... if anybody can translate these pages from "naval" German I can send them the files...

War Diary UB57

Here are the relevant entries from the KTB. The note in the column at the top of the right hand page which names the Thompson was anotated in 1940 (or so it says) - the formula that starts "T.E" seems to be a ranging calculation for the torpedo attack.

War Diary UB57

I am awaiting a reply to an e-mail from a researcher who I believe to have a copy of the KTB (Kriegstagebuch) or War Diary of UB-57 - This almost certainly will have an entry regarding the sinking of the Thompson, and is genuine 24-carat gold as far as information is concerned. It IS source material.

More news as it happens...

Johannes Lohs ~ Image

This photo was taken from a book entitled "Fips - Legendary U-Boat Commander" which refers to Werner Fuerbringer (centre) - The other officers are (l-r) KK Bartenbach, Hans Valentiner, Fuerbringer, Johannes Lohs (light coat) and Paul Hundius. Therefore, the central character is the only man NOT to receive the "Pour Le Merit" decoration (known to fliers as The Blue Max). These are 5 of the most important U-Boat captains of WW1... it's also one of the only other photo's of Oblt Lohs I've been able to find.

Submarine Crew ~ Ranks & Titles

Some translations & suggestions from my fine, German speaking, friend , Mike H: -

Heizer : Boilerman or Stoker (literally 'heater')
Ober : Senior (literally 'upper' or 'over')
Maat : Ship's Mate
Maschinistenmaat : Engineer's Mate
Matrose : Sailor or Rating
Oberbootsmannsmaat : Chief Petty Officer's mate (?)
Bootsmann : Boatswain or Chief Petty Officer
Steuerman : Helmsman

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

Sketch of TRT Machinery

Sketch of Machinery on the T R Thompson
Something of an artist's impression of one section of machinery on the wreck of the T R Thompson. If any one would like to hazard a guess as to what it is please add your comments! The sketch relates to machinery that is several metres across in size.

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

Memorial at Barry

This image is of one of the brass plaques on the memorial - it shows the names of Eveleigh and Davies.

The Memorial at Barry

This photo shows the Memorial for Merchant Seamen lost from the town of Barry.

Local History Group ~ Barry

I now have some photos of the Memorial in Barry showing the names of Everleigh and Davis. and will be posting the images as soon as I can get near the scanner in work.

I have also made contact with the local historical group in Barry who may be able to put me in touch with the families, and possibly obtain photos and the like.

Line Drawing Image

A line drawing of the UB-III type courtesy of www.uboat.net

Wesser Shipyard ~ Image

A G Weser Shipyard taken around 1939 as these are Type VII U-Boats (a direct decendant of the UB III type.)

Technical Information for Type UB III

Displacement: (Tons)
516 (sf)
651 (sm)
730 (total)

Length: (m)
55,30 oa
40,10 ph

Beam: (m)
5,80 oa
3,90 ph

Draught:
3,68 m

Height:
8,25 m

Power: (hp)
1100 (sf)
788 (sm)

Speed: (knots)
13,6 (sf)
8,0 (sm)

Range: (miles)
9040 (sf)
55 (sm)

Max depth:
ca. 75 m (246 feet)

Torpedoes:
10
4 x bow tubes
1 x stern tube

Deck gun:
88mm
160 rounds

Mines:
No mines carried

Crew:
34 men

sm = submerged, sf = surfaced, ph = pressure hull,oa = overall, hp = horsepower.

Source : http://uboat.net/wwi/types/index.html?type=UB+III

UB57 Shipyard ~ A G Weser

Founded on 8 November 1843 as the Eisengiesserei und Maschinenfabrik Waltjen und Leonhard, becoming Waltjen & Co in 1849 this firm only started very slowly in ship construction.

The Roland in 1846, the Falcke in 1865. On 26th March 1873 the activities and firm became part of the AG Weser and the very first important order came from the Kaiserliche Marine.

During the First World War they constructed small cruisers and U-boats. D’Equevilley, who worked before at the Germaniawerft yard, was asked by the AG Weser to construct a new U-boat in 1912. As they now had their own U-Bootkonstruktionsbüro they immediately became part of the Ms Type U-boat program of the Marine-Amt. The first U-boats constructed over there were however not of the Ms Type but were UB I class subs, the UB 9-UB 15 series. Also UC I series and UB and UC II series were constructed at Weser.

By 1917 most of the work went into the construction of the UB III class. Three UC III were ordered in 1917 also but never got finished. 14 more UB III’s ordered in June 1918 were never started.

Also three U-boats for the Austrian-Hungarian navy were constructed over there, the U15-U17 series at Pola.

AG Weser was also responsible for the plans of the U 27-U 32 series and the U 40 that were constructed at Pola and Fiume for the Austrian-Hungarian navy and they also gave a licence for construction of three U-boats in Sweden, the Bävern was constructed at Kockums at Malmö and the Illern and Uttern at the state naval shipyard of Karlskrona.

Oberleutnant zur See Johannes Lohs - Biographical

Born on 24 June, 1889 at Einsiedel, Sachsen.
Son of plant owner Oswald Lohs. First ran school in his home village and later a grammar school in Chemnitz.

He entered the Kaiserliche Marine on 1 April, 1909. Had several commands as Fahnrich zur See and served from 1st October 1912 on the cruiser Strasburg on which he saw half of the world.

Saw action for the very first time on 28 August, 1914 and was promoted Lt.z.S. in the autumn of 1915. Moved to the U-Bootschule and got his first U-Boat command on UC 75 of the Flandern Flottille on the 17th March 1917, on which he did 9 patrols off the British coast.

On 2 January 1918 he became CO of the UB 57, taking over the command of this boat from another legendary U-Boat commander, Otto Steinbrinck. Lohs had also some very good ideas on U-boat warfare and new tactics and in April 1918 he received the Pour le Mérite.

On 3 August he sailed from Zeebrugge for the last time. The last contact he made with the base was on the evening of the 14th, as UB 57 was homeward bound roughly in the area of the Sandiette Bank, east of the Straits of Dover. Nothing more was heard. UB 57 is believed to have run onto a mine.

Ships sunk on this last patrol were the Clan Max Vey (5815 BRT), Glenlee (4915 BRT) and City of Brisbane (7094 BRT). In total, Lohs sank approximately 165.000 tons of shippin. Lohs' body washed up on shore a week later; he is buried in the military cemetary at Vlissingen.

On 4 October 1937 the III Unterseebootflottille was named after him at Kiel.

Source: http://uboat.net/wwi/men/index.html?officer=182

UB 57 Shipyard & Patrol Info

Some information on UB57 :

Shipyard :
A G Wesser , Bremmen (Werk 269)
Ordered 20 May, 1916
Laid down 13 Sep, 1916
Launched 20 Jun, 1917
Commissioned 30 Jul, 1917

Commanders:
3 Jul, 1917 - 1 Jan, 1918 : Kptlt. Otto Steinbrinck
2 Jan, 1918 - 14 Aug, 1918 : Johannes Lohs

Career :
11 patrols
20 Sep, 1917 - 14 Aug, 1918 Flandern I Flotilla
Successes 53 ships sunk for a total of 153.150 tons (warships excluded).
Fate 14 Aug, 1918 - Mined off the Flanders coast on August 14, 1918. 34 dead (all hands lost).

Source : http://uboat.net/wwi/boats/index.html?boat=UB+57

Torpedo Image

This is a torpedo recovered from the UB 61 - a U-boat of the same design as UB 57. It is believed to be a G6 torpedo, but there's not a lot left to go on! It would probably have been one of these that sank the T.R. Thompson.

T R Thompson ~ Ship Port Side Bow