Friday, December 31, 2004

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

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

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

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

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.
Posted by Hello

Saturday, December 11, 2004

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

Friday, December 10, 2004

Memorial at Barry


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

The Memorial at Barry


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

Sunday, November 14, 2004

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.

Friday, October 15, 2004

Line Drawing Image


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

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.) Posted by Hello

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

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

Monday, October 11, 2004

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. Posted by Hello

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

T R Thompson ~ Ship Port Side Bow


Posted by Hello

T R Thompson ~ Ship Aft View


Posted by Hello

Dover (St James's) Cemetery, Kent


An image of the Kent cemetary which is the final restingplace for Fireman S ALI, of the Indian Merchant Service. A casualty ofthe sinking of the T R Thompson. Chris-P Posted by Hello

Monday, September 13, 2004

UB-57 Picture


This is stated to be a photograph of UB-57 although I'm not able to confirm that at present. All I can state is that it is probably a UB-III class boat... and this one is the right way round! Posted by Hello

Post Card from Beni Saf


A Post Card from Beni Saf
Three images of Beni Saf the Algerian port from which the T R Thompson departed on it's last voyage

And I'm doing the legwork on behalf of Chris "I'm too busy to learn how to post my own photos" Pascoe, although in deference to him, I am at least posting these images the correct way round!
Posted by Hello

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

Article ~ Herr Oberleutnant zur See Lohs


I've received a copy of the article from John Grogan (thanks John, if you're reading this!) and although it mostly concentrates on Herr Lohs better known kills such as the RMS Moldavia, Shirala and The City Of Brisbane, it also mentions the Luxor who was hit only days before T.R Thompson on March 19, 1918.
I've extracted a couple of photos from the report which I'll try and source again as they are a scan of a photocopy of a photo and therefore not exactly top quality... but, here is Herr Oberleutnant zur See Lohs in uniform.

He is further referred to in "The German Submarine War 1914-1918" by Gibson & Prendergast as Herr "Losz" which might explain why I've had a lot of trouble tracking him down. He is quoted as being known as "the blithesome spirit of Flanders" which might sound more poetic in German and is directly quoted as having said (on referring to the Dover Barrage) "Go through the barriers on the surface" and boasting "The patrols are blind. I go through under their noses"*

A captain indeed...

* "Raiders of the Deep" - Lowell Thomas
Posted by Hello

Friday, August 27, 2004

Magazine Article on Johannes Lohs

I've just received a reply from a chap called John Grogan who wrote a magazine article called "Johann Lohs - The Channel Hunter" about our elusive U-boat Kapitan. He's kindly offered to send me a copy of the article, and given me some pointers of where to go next for material.

So, watch this space...

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Gun Details

I think it's a fabulous idea, but it's really going to need a bit of planning... mind you, if the BSAC could lift that U-Boat deck gun that's sitting outside Paradise Park then it's got to be do-able (also I seem to remember the "Mary Something" in a shed in Portsmouth?

A cautionary note though:

Gun Weight: 0.6 tons (510 kg)
Gun Length oa 123.6 in (3.139 m)

I'm in....

Monday, August 23, 2004

Survey Planning

Hi to all

Having Dived the Thompson a few weeks ago I have come to realise how difficult it is going to be to carry out the survey dives, we are really going to need to be spot on. Project dives will need perfect planning if we are going to achieve proper useful results. I am at present working on dive planning sheets for this.
I feel we should for the time being concentrate any survey /photo work on the stern section.

We dived the stern area of the ship and noticed that the gun is still connected to the mounting pintel and that someone seems to have tried to lift it. This has given me an idea. With the development of Newhaven marina, would it be a good idea to develop some sort of partnership with Newhaven Council and developers to see if we could lift the gun get it restored and create some sort of memorial in Newhaven to the crew of the thompson and all other merchant seaman lost of our part of the coast.

Lifting the gun would be a mammoth task and we would need permission, but it could be done next season with the right planning. How do other project members feel about this? any thoughts or ideas would be welcome.

Tad

Mr Evan NICHOLAS ~ First Mate

Some additional information on the First Mate of the TRT:-

NICHOLAS Evan
Place of Birth : St.Davids , Pembrokeshire
Born : 1849
Certificate of competency or certificate of service number : 95597
2nd Mate Certificate issued 1872
Only Captain certificate 1875
Kew Reference : 122/66&85

Appointments:-
Mate / 66870/ Lilian / 1877-8, Bombay.
Mate / 35237/ Beau Monde / 1878-9, Bombay.
Mate &Captain / 66966 / Prince Rudolph / 1879-81, WI, US.
First Mate / 8617 / Mylomene / 1883-7, Aust, EI.
Captain / 70168? / Grampian / 1888, EI.
First Mate /106417 / T.R.Thompson, vessel sunk by enemy off Beachy Head on 29 March 1918. Killed or drowned whilst serving.

Source : www.welshmariners.org.uk/search.php

Chris-P

Thursday, August 19, 2004

A start point for researching the survivors...

I've been through the blog, and can't find any reference other than "there were three survivors"... so, today I found out from "Lloyds Shipwreck Index Of The British Isles Vol 2 - Hampshire, IOW, Sussex & Kent" that the survivors (three) were taken to Dover by another vessel.

I'm also trying to track down a copy of a BSAC book which might have some further info.

It's nice to know that some of our info is spot on though... as "British Vessels Lost At Sea 1914-1918" (HMSO pub 1919 - reprint 1988) confirms the date and the loss of life as "33 including master"

So, off we go in search of red herrings, wild geese and other curious creatures such as "footnotes"....

Friday, July 09, 2004

Crew Memorials at Barry & Tower Hill

I have a confirmation that the names of the following crew:

DAVIES, JOSHUA SIMEON

EVELEIGH, ALEXANDER DAVID

both from Barry in South Wales are commorated on the Merchant Navy Memorial in Barry as well as at Tower Hill Memorial in London. I'll be getting photo confirmation of this shortly.

I know that the name "Eveleigh" is well-known locally, so we may be able to get more information from surviving family members. "Davies" could be slightly more problematic, seeing as every 8th person in Wales is either Davis or Davies!

Monday, June 14, 2004

Apprentice Sylvetser Cowell~ A crewman who died

Apprentice S. Cowell

FIRST NAMES: Sylvester

UNIT: Merchant Navy

NUMBER: 106417

STATUS: Killed in Action

DATE OF DEATH: 29th March 1918

CEMETERY OR MEMORIAL: Tower Hill Memorial, London

AGE: 17 or 18


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sylvester Cowell was born in Northallerton and was educated at Northallerton Grammar School, having won a North Riding County Council Scholarship to do so. He lived with Mr & Mrs W Hunton, at Brompton, while he was at school, after which he joined the Merchant Navy. Sadly, William Hunton was also destined to die of wounds received during the Battle of the Somme and his name is recorded on the Brompton Memorial.

He was killed when his ship, the S.S. T.R. Thompson was torpedoed, without warning, on Good Friday 1918, with the loss of 33 lives including that of the Captain. The S.S. T.R. Thompson was a merchant vessel of 3538 tons, registered in Sunderland, though it did carry a gun for defensive purposes. The ship was approximately 7 miles South of Newhaven when it was attacked and sunk.

Sylvester has no known grave but the sea and he is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial in London, which is dedicated to all those officers and men who were killed while serving with the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets and who have no known grave. The memorial is situated next to the Tower Hill Underground station.

He was either 17 or 18 when he was killed, the former being his age according to the Register Of Shipping and Seamen and the latter that recorded in the register of the Tower Hill Memorial.

Thursday, June 10, 2004

T R Thompson ~ Memorials

Memorials to the casulaties of the T R Thompson include:-

The Bombay 1914-1918 Memorial

The Dover (St James's) Cemetery , Kent

The Plymoth Naval Memorial, Devon

The Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Hampshire

The Tower Hill Memorial, London

Photographs of the Memorials are now sought!

Chris-P

The Rota - A Mirror Image ?

A British armed merchantman that was transporting iron ore from the Algerian port of Beni Saf to the United Kingdom. That was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine during the First World War leaving a wreck with a stern gun lying upright in the English channel that has been dived and had it's bell recovered, is this the story of the T R Thompson - No!

It's the sory of the 'ROTA' that lies at 50 24 57N; 03 18 50W. The bell of this British, formerly Danish, 2171-ton armed merchantman built in 1915 by Dunlop, Bremmer and Company, was raised by Devon divers Ken Breeze and Dave Baker in 1981. The 310ft ship was heading from Beni Saf in Algeria with a cargo of iron ore for Middlesborough on 22nd July 1917, when she was torpedoed by UB-40, commanded by Oberleutnant Howaldt. On this mission from Zeebrugge (14th to 25th July), Howaldt had already sunk the liner Salsette in Dorset waters on 20th July and had been heavily depth-charged on several occasions. When this torpedo struck the ROTA, the captain and four men died.

Today the ship is upright and the torpedo damage can be clearly seen between bows and bridge on the starboard side. She lies almost east-west, in 28m to her deck and 44m to the sea bed. There is a 2m scour in her port side. Until recently her gun was still on the stern.

Chris-P

Tuesday, June 08, 2004

T R Thompson ~ Casualty Names

Listed below are the names of the T R Thompson casualties, I have more information on each of the named persons, those with european names have a greater deal of information recorded :-

ABDUL HAMID

ABDULLAH

HASAN MUHAMMAD

IBRAHIM ALI

MUHAMMAD

UMAR MUHAMMAD

ALI

REES, HANANIAH

CRAIG, CHARLES GOWANS

SIMPSON, GEORGE

AGG , A

BAKER, HENRY

COWELL, SYLVESTER

DAVIES, JOSHUA SIMEON

DREW, ALBERT EDWARD THOMAS

EVELEIGH, ALEXANDER DAVID

GODFREY, MARSHALL

HARGEST, THOMAS LEWIS

HENDERSON, T

HOWELLS, FREDERICK

JACK, LESLIE FRANCIS

KRIPAH, C

NICHOLAS, EVAN

REMNANT, HARRY

SHEWAN, WILLIAM

SLATER, W,

SPAIN, STANLEY

TOWLER, THOMAS

WINBERG, R

WOODALL, THOMAS STANLEY

YAMARE,J

There are 31 names (RIP) whereas the information we have indicates that there was a crew of 36 of which only three were saved. The DIVER Magazine article of Sept 1990 suggests the Master's name was EGGLESTONE where as this research indicates that William SHEWAN was the master at the time of the ship's loss.

As ever more research is needed!

Chris-P

Friday, June 04, 2004

Ships Owners ~ Westoll Line

Been doing some more research to while away the hours and annoy the wife... seems we might possibly be woofing up some incorrect timber with our old mate Mr Thompson.

I found a copy of "Lloyds Shipwreck Index Of The British Isles Vol 2 - Hampshire, IOW, Sussex & Kent" sitting in Newhaven library... now it's Lloyds list-based so it ought to be legit and at £54 a copy I'd trust it!

T'book says she was owned by Westoll Line (not Thompsons) and that the Captain was one Thomas Knill.

Further to this it says that the gun was a 12 pdr 12 cwt (info here:
http://www.warships1.com/Weapons/WNBR_3-40_mk1.htm )

Plus, and this is the bit that really gave me some hope that we might get some cracking information... A lot of J Westoll's information and Short books and plans seem to be stored on Tyneside...

http://www.thenortheast.com/archives/guides.html

And it seems we need Guides 5 and 6 to really get cracking on... 'cos there's crew lists and all sorts of stuff!

Who's been a Busy Hector then?

Wednesday, June 02, 2004

Beni Saf - Algerian Port

Beni Saf - Algerian Port from which TR Thompson sailed on her last voyage a port, town, northwestern Algeria. It lies midway between Cape Falcon and Cape l'Eau. With the discovery of iron deposits in the surrounding hills, an artificial harbour enclosing 45 acres (18 hectares) of water was built (1876–81) by the Companie de Mines de Soumah et Toufna (later absorbed by the Companie de Mokta el-Hadid).

"Beni Saf." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2004. Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
2 June 2004 .

Matt's note:

1. "Hadid" is the Arabic word for 'iron', which makes the company's name spot on.

Monday, May 31, 2004

Owners and Shipwrights Possibly

Hi People

Below is some information I got from an Internet site. I reckon we still need more information to correlate with this to confirm that this article does relate to the TR Thompson that we are researching....if that makes sense. I'd hate to be barking up the wrong tree!! Perhaps this information will help others?

There are photos on the website but they would not reproduce here.

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2249/trt.html

Best wishes

Mike Daniels


THOMAS ROE THOMPSON J.P.
Steamship Owner, Shipbroker, and Agent
1846 - 1919
Updated: 11 August, 1998

[ Up ] [ SS Drummond Castle Sinking ]


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Matthew Thompson, ropemaker and shipowner of Monkwearmouth, Sunderland c. 1860, father of Thomas Roe Thompson

Thomas Roe Thompson was born on 6 February 1846 at 10 Dundas Street, Monkwearmouth, Sunderland, on the north shore of the river Wear, the second son and fourth child of Matthew and Celia (née Roe) Thompson, ropemaker and shipowner

Little is known about young Thomas Roe Thompson until he moved with his father, Matthew Thompson, and his uncle, John Thompson, to South Wales in 1858 at the age of 12.

According to the "History of the Barry Railway Company 1921-24", he joined his father in the business of Matthew Thompson and later, in conjunction with Captain John Cory, he embarked into the enterprise of ship owning.

From his earliest acquaintance with Cardiff, he made himself thoroughly conversant with the requirements of the port there. Previous to this, he was placed in the office of a Courtier Maritime at Nantes, where beside learning all there was to know of ship-broking, he also acquired a very thorough knowledge of the French language which was to serve him well in later life.

Family myth says that he spent part of his early life in Bordeaux, Southern France but this may have been confused with his time in Nantes.

Thomas Roe Thompson as High Sheriff of Glamorgan in 1899

After his father, Matthew Thompson died in 1864, Thomas traded as T.R. Thompson & Co at 2 Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff and amongst the ships he owned there were:

SS Alacrity (1182 gross tons) built at Milford Haven
SS Alaska (2112 tons) built by Shorts of Sunderland
SS Advance (1391 tons)
SS Alert (1382 tons) built by Palmer & Co of Jarrow
SS Dinas (712 tons) built by Schlezinger & Davis of Newcastle upon Tyne.

He promoted the construction of Barry Docks to provide facilities more suitable for modern larger shipping than had been provided by Lord Bute in Cardiff. His name was in the first list of Promoters and he represented the ship owning side of Cardiff Commerce. He attained fame as a Parliamentary witness during the 1880s both in the House of Commons and the House of Lords during the Parliamentary Procedures needed to pass a law so that the Barry Docks could be constructed. It was said that his knowledge of Pilotage was unrivalled and he was a master of statistics when a Parliamentary witness.

He gave evidence to the House of Commons Select Committee in favour of the building of Barry Dock on 11 and 12 April 1883, and to the House of Lords on 6 June 1883. This first attempt to obtain parliamentary approval failed but he and his colleagues were more successful in a second attempt a year later, so that the construction of the Docks was able to commence on 14 November 1884.


Cutting the First Sod of No.1 Dock by the late Earl of Plymouth Lord Windsor on November 14, 1884


As an aside, the legal costs in promoting the two Bills exceeded £150,000 and the cost of construction of the dock and railway up to the time of opening the undertaking exceeded £2,000,000 (Western Mail Barry and District Directory 1897-8).

Thompson himself put up several thousands of pounds towards the enterprise.

He was on the bridge of the first ship to enter the new Barry dock, the Steam Ship Arno at the opening of the docks in 1889.



Opening Ceremony at Barry Dock - 1889


Thomas Roe Thompson was a County Magistrate for the Division of Dinan Powis and was High Sheriff of Glamorgan in 1899. It is said within the family that he was offered a baronetcy by the Government of the time, for a payment. Rightly, he turned this down, saying that if he merited such an honour, it should be given to him without payment. How many would refuse today!

There is a street named after him, Thompson Street, which is not far from the Public Library in the centre of Barry.



Thompson Street, Barry (photographed in 1995)


Thomas Roe Thompson built a public house in Vere Street, Barry, called the Wenvoe Arms, now called The Admiral Inn, in which he placed one David Thompson. The reason behind this is somewhat of a mystery and it is not known whether David Thompson, a native of Forfar in Scotland, was a distant relative.



Thomas Roe Thompson senior

Thomas Roe Thompson married Mary Elizabeth Davis of Sundridge in Kent on 16 December 1864 at the age of 18.

They lived at Erw'r Delyn on Sully Road near Llandough, and had eight children of which only one child, the seventh, was a son, also called Thomas Roe Thompson (junior) although more commonly called Tom. Within the family, he was known as "Tappa". Erw'r Delyn is now a rather dilapidated building converted into flats.

Thomas Roe Thompson, senior, died on 13 April 1919, in Penarth, the death certificate stating that he had died of "senile decay". He was a widower, his wife having died very much earlier, in 1906. He is buried in the churchyard at Llandough.

There is an inscription on the side of his memorial commemorating the death of his daughter Emily and her husband John Gethin together with their two children, Lorna and Jack, who died in the wreck of the Union Castle liner Drummond Castle on the night of 16 June 1896.





Thomas Roe Thompson's Memorial at the entrance to Llandough churchyard. The Church overlooks Cardiff Bay.


My thanks go to the Local Studies Section of Barry Public Library who were most helpful in providing much of the information above.

My appreciation goes also to my late brother, Brian Gladstone Roe Thompson, who made the initial contact with Barry Public Library on my behalf. He died suddenly on 11 July 1997, one day short of his 64th birthday.

Michael Thompson July 1997

Saturday, May 29, 2004

Research Topics

This is the current list of ideas for research - if you are interested in taking up one of the leads let Chris P know. Some of these seem a liitle cryptic , if you need some more info just ask!

1 Research / Locate : Iron Ore (Cargo on TRT)

2 Research links with Middlesborough (Destination for TRT/Cargo)

3 Research Type of Torpedo ( Volunteer: Simon W)

4 Research Submarine UB57 ( Volunteer: Simon W)

5 Research TRT Deck Gun

6 Locate / Photo Shell cases (on wreck)

7 Research naming of ship (Volunteer: Simon W)

8 Research Literature “History of the Barry Railway Company 1921-24” (Refers to T R
Thompson)

9 Research Ownerhsip of TRT

10 Organise (dive) Trip & Drink at the Pub “The Admiral Inn” (Owned by the Thompsons)

11 Research story of the wreck of the “Drummond Castle” (Thompson relatives on board)

12 Photos of T R Thompson memorial (Wales) IF this is the owner / person the ship is
named after.

13 Research Familiy connections (if any) between TRT Owner & the Captain of the TRT

14 Research George Short (Ship Builder)

15 Research James Westoll, Ship Owner.

16 Research launch – local newspapers?

17 Research Financial records?

18 Research “Claxhueugh” (Ship Yard?)

19 Research Wear Shipbuilders Association

20 Research “Pallion” (Ship Yard? )

21 Research Wear Ship Output 1984

22 Research UB57 Commander Lohs ( Volunteer: Simon W / Mike D)

23 Get Photos of the bell

24 Research Beni Saf, Near Oran, Algeria (Port at which Cargo loaded)

25 Identify TRT Lookout (crew).

26 Research TRT Captain Eggleston (link tp Action 13 above)

27 Identify Survivors /descendants.

28 Identify / Research Patrol Vessel / Crew that came to aid of TRT Crew.

29 Trace & Interview , get copy of original article regarding fist recreational dive on
TRT

30 Locate other memorials , grave stones (buried locally?)

31 Research Victim / family/ Memorial – photos.

32 Research Register of Shipping & seamen

33 Identify subjects depicted within dive photos

Thursday, May 27, 2004

2nd TRT Project Meeting ~ 25th May 2004

Although there were only 5 of us at the meeting it was still a very useful one in the end Simon has done loads of research around T.R.Thompson himself and has some interesting facts these have been passed on to Sheila and Ernie who are doing the Welsh Connection research.

Outcomes of the meeting

Simon to research to see if TRT was the original name of the ship
Tad to design project objective sheets for project dives

We need a volunteers for

Project co-ordinator
Archive Co- ordinator
Training Co- ordinator
Press co- ordinator

Lists of research tasks are available from Chris P.

The first project dives of the season will be posted soon and it has been agreed that the teams first dives will be orientation dives with no allocated tasks.


Once again sorry for the moan but it was a little disheartening on Tuesday.

Tad

Wednesday, May 26, 2004

More UB57 Information to Come!

I've dug up the following: -

* The (probable) type of torpedo
* A possibly divable wreck of one of UB-57's sisters (shame it was built in a different yard, but the plans would be the same... vorsprung durch teknic and all that...)
* a probable location of Obl. Lohs grave.

busy busy busy....

Saturday, May 22, 2004

NAS Entry level course

Just to let you know that I have emailed the NAS to see if we can organize an entry level 1 day course. I am not sure what the cost will be yet or when this can be done.
The NAS will require at least 10-15 people to make this feasible but I do recommend that those who have done no NAS training sign up because it will certainly help with the project.

Due to problems in the past with people saying they want to do trips or courses and then backing out at the last minute the full cost of this course must be paid up front to cover our costs.

Please let me know if you are interested or perhaps we should make mandatory to be involved with the project what do you think?

Tad

Friday, May 21, 2004


Stern ribs with steering quadrant in place Posted by Hello

TRT Machinery


Remains of the engine? Posted by Hello

Triple Expansion Engine


Dave and Rob on the triple expansion engine of the TRT Posted by Hello

Porthole Position


Where there once was a porthole! Posted by Hello

Steering Quadrant


Steering quadrant Posted by Hello

Deck Winch


winch Posted by Hello

Spare Propellor Blade


spare prop Posted by Hello

Deck Railing ~ Image


TRT Railing ~ Chris-PPosted by Hello

Deck Feature Image


for those of you who havent seen them these are pics from last years dives on the TRT taken by Chris Posted by Hello

Range Finder Images ~ Markings


Markings on the wheel (which by the way is solid brass and very heavy) indicate which way to turn or raise the gun Posted by Hello

Range Finder Images - Markings


Here are the markings on the range finder Posted by Hello

Range Finder Images


closer inspection the wheel is the range finder Posted by Hello

Ranger Finder Images


The recovered items from the stern gun of the T.R.Thompson as donated to NSC Posted by Hello