Penarth Dock, South Wales - 150 years - the heritage and legacy  
Penarth Dock, South Wales - the heritage & legacy . . .

Volume Ten - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - Even more aspects - The Lloyd's Register at Penarth Dock . . .

s.s. 'Albert C. Field'

 

The s.s. 'Albert C. Field' was a steel hulled steamer built as a Great Lakes Bulk Carrier at the Haverton Hill yard of the Furness Shipbuilding Company Limited on Teeside and was launched during May 1923. She was of 1,764 gross and 1,302 net register tons being 252.5 ft. long x 43.3 ft. breath x 17.8 ft. deep. She was torpedoed by a German aircraft on 18th June 1944 when off St. Catherine´s Point sinking in only 3 minutes. She was en route Penarth for the Normandy beachhead with ammunition and mail. Four of the crew and other unnamed personnel were lost. [801]

The ship was requisitioned by the British government during World War II. On 16th June 1944, Albert C. Field sailed from Penarth as part of Convoy EBC-14 bound for the Normandy beachhead. She was carrying 2,500 tons of munitions and 1,300 bags of mail. [948] (Apparently, her munitions exploded hence her swift demise.)

The following is an eyewitness account from Mr. I. J. Freeman in 2006 :

'I was Third Engineer on the ALBERT C FIELD when it was torpedoed. I joined the ship in Barry on the 20th May, so I was not on it too long. The ship was sunk shortly after I had come off watch. I was asleep and wakened by the explosion, and when I put my feet on the deck it was wet, and the next thing I knew was that I was in the water and saw the ship going down. I was hailed by other crew in the water and was pulled onto a raft where we were soon picked up by a Royal Navy Flower Class trawler, and landed in Portsmouth the following morning. I only discovered the names of the lost crew many years later when I visited the Merchant Navy Memorial on Tower Hill. The ship's master, J R Bramley, was one of the missing." [951]

 

Lest we forget.

1. John Robert Bramley, aged 47, Master, of South Shields, Co. Durham, Tower Hill Memorial.

2. Frederick Brown, aged 31, Able Seaman, of Aberdeen, Tower Hill Memorial.

3. Muro Mocassar, aged 51, Fireman & Trimmer, of ??, Tower Hill Memorial.

4. Ivor Snoddy, aged 20, Sailor, of Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland, Tower Hill Memorial. [882]


 
s.s. 'Albert C. Field'.
s.s. 'Albert C. Field'.

The s.s. 'Albert C. Field' -  [949]

 

s.s. 'Albert C. Field'.

s.s. 'Albert C. Field'.
The s.s. 'Albert C. Field'. The lower image has been colourised. -  [950]

 
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