TRT images August 2005 Bank Holiday

Hull Plating

Images captured on last years memorable August Bank holiday Dive on the TRT taken by Matt Waterson.

TRT measuring exercise 25th August 2006

Our first attempt at measuring various pieces of the T.R.Thompson on the 25th highlighted how difficult measuring underwater can be. Having undertaken an N.A.S part one course a few years ago I had forgotten that measuring underwater is completely different to measuring on land.

Partnering up with Jim H we decided on what to measure before the dive and who was doing what. I had the easier job of just reeling off the tape whilst Jim took and noted the measurements which are listed below.

One of the questions we raised after doing this is how will these measurements and perhaps others in the future benefit the project? Are we just measuring for the sake of it?

Obviously the use of datums etc is a different ball game and is useful for plotting exact positions of items on the wreck if we want to produce a detailed map but as a team I feel we lack the experience to do this at this time.

Listed below are the measurements :-

Propeller bladehub to tip 2.24m width 1.04m

Top of pintle on rudder(seabed) to tip of centre stern rib 11.65m

Tip of centre stern rib to steering quadrant post 3.60m

Height of steering quadrant post 2.8m length from post to centre point of 'T bar' o-----)

Width of 'T Bar', 2.0m point to point

2.4m gun barrel tip to breech 3.2m base of mount to barrel

Profile of the Thompson

Profile from the 2nd dive on the 25th.

Simplified Impression of TRT wreck layout

Clicking on this impression will enlarge it . It is a very basic what's where diagram that I hope we can add to / improve / replace as we 'map' more of the wreck.

TRT Group Meeting 23rd August

A summary of the key points:-

1. Story so Far –
Circulate document (Chris 1st) amendments and additions using ‘track changes’
Action: Andy
Response: In hand (28/9/06)

2. Success List – Goals etc.
Action: Tad
Response: Done (presented at 27th Sept Meeting)

3. Future Meetings – Notes of meeting and agenda for each meeting
Action: Sheila
Response: Done!

4. Link to NAS website
Action: Chris
Response: NAS requested on 11th August 2006 - have advised that the link should be in place within a week.

5. Project Format – DVD, booklet etc.
Action: Tad
Response: Done - Project will aim to produce a DVD.

6. Ian Barefoot – Arrange visit
Action: Chris
Response: Ian attending the next TRT meeting on the 27th September.

7. NAS courses – Details and dates for courses (see below on Blog)
Action: Andy
Response: See existing entry on this Blog & add comments as required.

Sheila (Secty)

Impression of Deck Gun

An impression of the deck gun on the TRT drawn by Chris-P following the dives of 25th August. The gun and mounting is heavily fixed to a substantial plate / decking secton . The Plate is lying at a angle of perhaps 45 degrees . Apart from a double bollard the plate and area of the gun is unobstructed. The Barrel of the gun was measured to be 3.2 metres long.

Some TRT Images (taken 25/8/06)

Hatch (foreward of Midships)

'Pump' & Railing (near midships)

Muzzle of Gun (near stern)

Double Dive on the TRT ~ 25th August

The TRT Group undertook two dives from Nauticat. Departing from Brighton at 6am with the fist dive on a low tide at 7am. The second dive took place on the later high tide giving us a very long seaborne surface interval . The first dive was dark due to a low sun and low viz. Photography was very limited and the plan to measure some dimensions was itself wrecked! The second dive was deeper and therefore shorter. Being a little lighter some measurements were taken and more camera shots attempted. After the dive the immediate 'findings' were reviewed over a Harvey's at the Badgers watch. A simple lay out sketch was produced and measurements considered. More info to follow!

T R T Dives ~ 25th August 6am Sharp

Info from Sara B , the Thompson dives for 25th are "ON". Boat leaves Brighton Marina at 6 am sharp. Oh that's early! It had better be good!

NAS Introductory Training ~ Names Here !!

The NAS Introductory course is planned for Saturday 21st October . Cost £45.00 If you are interested in doing this course add a comment!

1. Andy N
2. Tracey M
3. Chris P
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

TRT Group Meeting 23rd August - Use of Blog

Special welcome to three new blog members , who have 'passed' the technology test and accepted invites to join the TRT blog:-

Shiela & Ernie
Tracey & Andy
Debbie

Welcome aboard!

TRT Dives Planned for 25th August 2006

Two dives are planned on the TRT . Diving from Nauticat , launching from Brighton. Fingers crossed for good weather & viz!

NAS Introductory Training

Andy has been in touch with the NAS they have an introductory course running on 21st October. Cost £45. If interested let Andy know or add a commentto this post!

Chris-P

T R Thompson ~ Project Team Meeting

A project Team Meeting was held at Newhaven on Wed 5th July with a view to boosting the effort going inyto this project. In attendance were :-

Tad
Andy
Tracey
Debs
Jim
Simon
Chris

Renewed energy will now be going into 1). Getting dives on this wreck, 2). Videography & Photography of the Wreck, 3). Hsitorical Research.

The period of anticipated best-viz is approcahing , so let's hope we can take advantage of it.

Chris-P

TRT Dived ~ 24th June 2006

Not too much to report but even getting a dive on the TRT is a little unusual for me! Thanks to the Skipper of "Fizzing" I managed to take part in a 32.6m dive on the wreck. The viz was good at 5 to 6 metres, but the depth reduced the total dive time to 26 minutes. Short & sweet. The descent line lay a midships on the starboard side. We mad our way along the hull to the stern dropping down to get a good view of the rudder & prop. Returning to deck level on the port side we looked for the gun but could not locate it. We did spot the spare propeller (blade) on the deck area and the remains of the three bar railings. Plenty of Bib and a few large edible crabs. A very nice (if short) dive. No new info to report. No cameras taken - what a pity!!!

Chris-P

The Ship's Bell

Andy, Tracey & Chris were kindly invited to the home of the Bromley BSAC diver who recovered the T R Thompson bell in 1989. An accomplished diver and wreck researcher he had recovered ten ships bells but the TRT bell was the largest (and heaviest) of them all. It took Andy & Chris to lift the bell out into the daylight for a photo. Finding the bell invloved a degree of good luck , the plan had been to dive another wreck but a fishing boat moored over that wreck saw Bromley BSAC relocating to the TRT. The bell was lying upside down in the sand with only the circular rim showing. The dive team had to use a lorry jack to push winches out of the way to free the huge bell - what a find! And more luck was needed to recover it, just as the bell was lifted one of lines to one of the lifting bags failed and the bell was only prevented from sinking out of sight by a diver holding the divers ladder in one hand and the bell in the other - Phew , a close one! Chris-P

T R Thompson ~ Dived 6th June 2006

Just when I thought it was never going to happen - a surprise dive opportunity came along and the crew & divers agreed it would be on the T R Thompson.

The evening dive was a real bonus, air temp was warm, the sky was blue, the sea flat and the sun shining! Underwater viz lookewd like it would be good but was reduced to about 3+m and as the sun set the dive became quite dark. The shot landed around mid-ships and our little cruise around the wreck at 32m was constrained by time. We toured over the iron ore cargo and holds , found a huge boiler and engine but didn't quite reach the stern . A couple of good sized lobsters saw us and took up defensive positions but they were not our objective! Depth limited us to 29mins (inc 5m stop) so it was long ride (8miles) for a short dive but it was good to see the wreck I've not dived for nearly three years! It won't be so longto the next return!

Chris-P

The TRT Makers Plate

Arch researcher Andy N strikes again by tracking down the person who has custody of the TRT's makers plate. That individual has forwarded us a photo of the handsome plate.

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

TRT up to her old tricks again!

Hmmm, now it's getting hard to believe that the TRT hasn't put a jinx on any diving upon her. I have lost count of how many plans to diver her have 'failed'. And yet again a TRT dive turns out to be an utter failure! On Sunday 7th May Mako 1 made her way out to the dive site and luckily rendezvoused with another dive boat . Why "Luckily"? Well, because Mako 1's engine refused to start having arrived on site! The other dive boat had 'shot' the wreck and Mako 1's divers used that shot to descend - to nothing! They all missed the wreck! Doh ! (Again). The good news was that the other boat towed Mako 1 back to Newhaven

Another fine mess.....!!!!

Oh well, maybe next time!

TRT Dive Planned for 7th May 2006

A dive on the TRT is planned for the 7th May. Very annoyingly I won't be able to make it (there is some conspiracy with the TRT pulling every trick to prevent me diving on her!) . Fingers crossed for those that can make it that the weather will be good and the vis excellent. Photos please!

Chris-P

T R Thompson Ship's Bell

A photo of the ship's bell recovered by Bromley BSAC

Welcome to DIVER readers !

A big welcome to you if you have navigated here as a result of the "Between the Winds" article by John Liddiard published in DIVER magazine (May 2006, pp84-89). It was a great shame that the weather prevented John diving the TRT.

As you will see this blog is devoted to collating information on the TRT. If you can contribute to the work please let me know by adding a comment to this post.

Take time to look through the blog, there is quite a lot material and much of the easily found on the www stuff has been found (but I'm sure not all of it!). Ideally we like info on the TRT itself even if this indirect, pictures of the ship are always welcome, either before or after she sank.

If you have a lot of information to share add your email to the comment. All comments are brought promptly to my attention , I will contact you and if need be edit comments.

Hope you enjoy the information and that you can contribute.

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

How the Survivors were Rescued ?

Avid blog follower, Jim H has been surfing the www again and found this little gem (well, extract from DIVE Magazine of 4/1/2003, written by Simon Volpe) :-

The TR Thompson sank so quickly that 33 of the crew were killed outright. There was a tremendous explosion and the next thing that the three survivors could recall was that they were in the water. Those on a nearby trawler heard the blast and headed it to the debris field and found the three men. The sinking occurred at 3.50am, which is probably why most of the crew perished. Many would have been trapped below, as the ship fell to the sea floor.

Check the site yourself on :-

http://www.divemagazine.co.uk/news/article.asp?UAN=2210&v=5&sp=332140698295342633356

All we need now is details of the nearby trawler, it's crew and what happened to the survivors. We could ask Simon Volpe I suppose but sometimes journalists are relucatnt to reveal the sources!

T R Thopmson Dive 5th Feb 2006 ~ Not by us!

This little story taken from the Yorkshire Divers website from "Tom" :-

Few of us went out on Spartacat today, planning to do the TR Thompson. Vis didn't look great at the surface (coffee coloured water) and it only got worse as we descended. Hopes that it was just a surface layer and would clear as we got deeper were dashed around halfway down the line, when we met Alan (Getafix) coming back up. Not a good sign. Eventually hit bottom at 29m, in about 15cm of vis (seriously). Only stayed long enough to locate Matt and (using touch signals) indicate we should go back up.

Hmmm, gallant effort "Tom", especially in 5 Deg C of water. Do let us know when you do see something ... that said the Yorkshire Divers article went on to say that there was a net on the wreck , so do keep an eye open and take care!

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.

T R T ~ Memorials : Portsmouth Naval Memorial

On 10th June 2004 I posted a list of locations for T R Thompson memorials with a view to getting them photographed. With this posting is the Portsmouth Naval Memorial which is a huge monument with many thousdnads of names inscribed upon it. Sadly I was unable to find a reference to the T R Thompson or her crew but I presume it must be there - perhaps some more enquiries to locate the inscription.

Dolphins on the T R T

Way back on August Bank Holiday (29th Aug 2005) Dolphins were spotted on the wreck of the TRT , this was something special as dolphins are rarely seen of the Sussex coast at all. The local paper, the ARGUS reported the sighting.

TRT Bollards

TRT Steering Quadrant

TRT Steering Quadrant

T R T Anchor

This photo of the TRT's anchor was taken by Matt Waterson on a recent TRT dive ! It's the first photo of the wreck that has been added to the blog for a long time , I hope more will follow! The plan was to create an extensive photo record!

TRT Dives

You wait for ages then all of a sudden two come along! Well that's how it was on Bank Holiday Monday (29/8/05) when TWO dives were made on the TRT! After all the false starts / near misses some dives have been done! Whey hey - hang out the bunting! And if that was not enough the divers reported DOLPHINS on the site / wreck (I kid you not!) The sighting has been reported to the Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society and should (we hope appear at some stage on their website :-

http://www.wdcs.org/sightings

A full report from the dives is awaited!

Anyone seen the TRT?

The TRT dive planned for Sun 21st August was redirected to the Clodmore - with this number of cancelled TRT dives it is time to recognise the wreck is a 'Ghost Ship' , that is , a wreck about which there is much speculation but very few , if any, corroborated sightings! When a wreck becomes a 'Ghost Ship' and there are so little first hand obseravtions you have to start questioning whether or not it exits at all! If anybody wishes to prove me wrong I'd be happy to receive a dive report on the TRT!

Two TRT Dives on the Cards!

Two dives on the TRT are planned for 21st and 29th August - if these take palce (!!) they should be very good - this is the best time of the year for viz! Hopefully someone will tell us something new about the wreck and maybe sketch it or photo it! Oink , Oink - look out low flying porcine!

Dive Plans

The TRT dive planned for the evening of Saturday 6th August was cancelled due to insufficient numbers of divers on the booking list - the TRT is surely jinxed!

Two more dates are planned :-

Sunday 21st August , meet at 1130hrs, and

Monday 29th August (BH) , meet ar 1215hrs

Get your place booked!

Third Dive Plan Cancelled!

It's a roll over! There , once again, were no winners on the TRT dive planned for 31st July 'cos for the third time in succession the dive was cancelled! We are running very low on excuses and so had to spend some time thinking up this one:-

The reason it was cancelled was because all our boat skippers were unavailable, the Skipper who had been pencilled-in to take the boat out was delayed on his return flight to the UK from the Red Sea and as a result could not take the boat out.

We are now opening a book on the fourth attempt - it's a bit like an accumulator, get your bets in - someone , one day is going to win big time!

Another TRT Dive Cancelled!

The TRT project dive planned for Sat 2 July was cancelled due to strong SW winds! The project team are now proposing a TRT dive on Sun 31st July , meeting at 12 midday. Third time lucky ?

TRT Dive Cancelled!

Everything was set for the "Wreck Tour" , dive team ready , boat ready but unfortunately no one had remembered to sort the weather out! Force 5 winds, low surface vis, rain and recent poor underwater vis sealed the fate of the dive - cancelled! John Liddiard used the freed-up time well by providing the dive team with insights of work & techniques along with some helpful tips on identifying steam ship faetures. Another date will be planned!

Triple Expansion Engine ~ Sketch

I am indebted to John L of Diver Mag who has pointed out that the sketch added to this blog on Tuesday, December 14, 2004 is a plan view of a triple expansion engine! Reckon I should have known that - but didn't ! Thanks John.

T R Thompson "Wreck Tour" Dive ~ 19th May 2005

19th May has been chosen for the DIVER Mag "Wreck Tour" . The dive team will soon be selected. The plan is for the team to dive on Nitrox for this dive . Max depths I have reached on this dive site is 30.5m , and 'shallowest' Max depth has been 27.4m , should give some indications for calculating Nitrox blend! Fingers crossed for good vis!

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

T R Thompson ~ Ship Aft View

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

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!

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!

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

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...

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....

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

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"....