Mary B Mitchell (schooner)

Last updated

StateLibQld 1 147123 Mary B. Mitchell (ship).jpg
History
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgNaval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgFlag of Ireland.svg
NameMary B Mitchell
OwnerJones, Preston, Lord Penrhyn, William Thomas, Royal Navy, Job Tyrrell, James Tyrrell
Port of registryAnglesey, Dublin
BuilderPaul Rogers, Carrickfergus
Launched1892
Commissioned1893
In service1893-1944
FateWrecked 14 December 1944
General characteristics
Tonnage227 gross tons [1]
Length129' 7"
Beam24' 4"
Depth10' 8"
Propulsionsail + auxiliary motor
Armament
  • 1 ×12 pounder naval gun,
  • 2 × 6 pounder guns,
  • 2 × Lewis guns
Notesmotor & armaments fitted 1916, disarmed 1919

The Mary B Mitchell was a British and later an Irish schooner, affectionately known as Mary B.. She was a pleasure craft, a war hero, a working schooner, a film star and a transporter of essential cargoes in dangerous waters.

Contents

Built in 1892 she carried slate from Wales. In 1912 she was acquired by Lord Penrhyn and converted into a luxury yacht and spent two years cruising the Mediterranean. She resumed carrying cargo; it was china clay on this occasion. In April 1916, she was requisitioned as a Q-ship she featured strongly in reports at the time, however no U-boats were actually damaged. In 1919 she joined the Arklow fleet and for the next dozen years she traded on the Irish Sea. In 1934 she appeared in a film. She featured in a number of films. Mary B. was then retired. At the outbreak of World War II, she was brought out of retirement. Mary B. brought vital food to Britain and vital coal to Ireland. She travelled to Lisbon to collect American cargoes. In December 1944, she was wrecked in a storm.

Early career

Mary B Mitchell was built by Paul Rogers in 1892 at Carrickfergus, as a three-masted topsail schooner. [2] She started her career exporting slate from North Wales to Hamburg. She was owned by Lord Penrhyn and served for a period as a yacht, before being put to work as a coaster, [3] transporting china clay from Cornwall.

World War I

In 1916 three Arklow schooners were requisitioned by the Admiralty to be used as Q-ships, they were: Cymric, Gaelic and Mary B Mitchell. Another Q-ship was the schooner Result which was built in 1893 in the same yard as Mary B Mitchell. Result is now with the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. [4] They sailed the Southwest Approaches, masquerading as merchantmen, inviting attack by U-boats. Their guns were concealed, when a U-boat approached, a "panic party" would abandon the ship, while the gun crews waited for their target to come into range. The expectation was that the U-boat would approach the apparently abandoned ship and would be surprised and sunk when the guns were revealed and opened fire. Great successes were claimed [5] and medals awarded. [6]

In April 1916 the Mary B. was requisitioned for service as a Q-ship. She was armed with a 12-pounder and two 6-pounder guns as well as two machine guns and small arms. [7] She was commissioned on 5 May 1916 and sailed on her first patrol on 26 June 1916.

On 20 June 1917, she claimed to have sunk two U-boats, SM UC-65 and another U-boat and seen a third. On 3 August 1917 Mitchell reported exchanging fire with SM UC-75. A further engagement on 6 December 1916 was also reported. The Naval Intelligence Department stated that none of Mitchell's encounters resulted in the destruction of any U-boat. [8] Nonetheless these claims were widely reported in the popular press. [9] and Lawrie was awarded the DSO. [10]

After the war, it was concluded that Q-ships were greatly overrated, diverting skilled seamen from other duties without sinking enough U-boats to justify the strategy. [11] One Arklow schooner requisitioned as a Q-ship, the Cymric, did sink a submarine. Unfortunately it was HMS J6, [12] a "friendly fire" incident.

Inter-war years

StateLibQld 1 140595 Mary B. Mitchell (ship).jpg
view from fore crosstrees
StateLibQld 1 148367 Mary B. Mitchell (ship).jpg
from poop deck. and fore deck ->
StateLibQld 1 148371 Mary B. Mitchell (ship).jpg
Photos taken on 21 May 1932, in Kingston Dock, Australia, of the Mary B Mitchell with a cargo of china clay (note: Australia is very dubious - she was not known to have sailed further than Newfoundland, Canada, during the 30s)

Mary B Mitchell was "demobbed" on 24 March 1919 and sold to Captain Job Tyrrell of Crinnis Ferrybank, Arklow (note: Job Tyrrell never lived at Crinnis - he lived at Marlborough House; his son, James Tyrrell, bought Crinnis in the 30s) . She was then an "Arklow schooner". A new twin-screw auxiliary diesel engine, known as an "iron topsail", was installed. She spent the next dozen years plying the Irish Sea.

Film roles

In 1934 Mary B Mitchell was chartered by the British International Film Company and featured in a number of films. She was the doomed Mary Celeste in the film The Mystery of the Mary Celeste , which was released in the U.S. as Phantom Ship (1935), [13] one of the early films from Hammer Film Productions. She featured in the 1936 film McGlusky the Sea Rover , [14] which was released in the U.S. as Hell's Cargo. [15]

World War II

At the outbreak of World War II there were only 56 ships on the Irish register, 14 of those were Arklow schooners. These schooners played a vital role in keeping Ireland supplied. [16] Mary B. Mitchell carried food exports and pit props to Wales; returning with cargoes of coal.

In 1943 she went on the hazardous "Lisbon run". American ships would not enter Irish waters; [17] they brought Irish-bound cargoes to Lisbon. Ships like the Mary B. Mitchell had to collect them. Britain had declared the Bay of Biscay to be an "exclusion zone"; their objective was to prevent supplies from reaching Germany, in particular Japanese exports. However Britain needed foreign currency, which she could obtain by exporting coal to Portugal. 'Navicerts' were introduced. Ships with a navicert were permitted safe passage through allied lines. They were to follow the line of longitude at 12° west. [18] Allied convoys to Gibraltar were at least 20° west [19] to avoid the range of German bombers. However, it was difficult for sailing ships to adhere to this straight line, particularly in the stormy conditions, common in the Bay of Biscay.

Mary B. Mitchell made five of these voyages, carrying food to Britain, then British coal to Lisbon, returning with the American cargo to Ireland. Arthur Dowds was captain James Harte was sailing master and Patrick Brennan was first officer. She survived these hazardous journeys. Cymric, another Arklow schooner, which had also been requisitioned as a Q-ship in World War I, was not as fortunate. She vanished with all hands; she may have hit a mine, been torpedoed by a U-boat or bombed by the RAF who were enforcing the blockade of Germany, as was the MV Kerlogue on this same route. [20] Sailing through the Bay of Biscay, Cymric and Mary B Mitchell now neutrals, would have been sailing the same waters as they did as q-ships three decades earlier. [21]

In preparation for D-day, Britain withdrew navicerts in April 1944. At this time there was a severe shortage of fuel in Ireland. Gas rationing was introduced and there was severe curtailment of rail services. The Minister for Supplies instructed the Arklow schooners to cease other imports and only to import coal. The schooners averted a possible great hardship that winter. By the autumn they had imported 40,000 tons of coal, while bringing food supplies to Britain. [22]

Mary B. Mitchell left Dublin for the last time on 13 December 1944; she was bound for Cumberland with a cargo of burnt-ore. She was to return with a cargo of coal. In a storm she was driven onto rocks at the entrance to Kirkcudbright Bay, and lost. Captain Patrick Brennan (the former chief officer) and his crew of eight were taken off by Kirkcudbright lifeboat, all survived. Some items from ship are on display in the Stewartry Museum. Some wreckage remains at the base of the cliff near Senwick Church. [23]

Commemoration

The Mary B Mitchell is commemorated in Bangor, Wales, by a memorial plaque and a bronze weathervane which adorns the city's new shopping precinct. It was designed and made by Ann Catrin Evans and Roger Wyn Evans. The plaque gives a brief account of the ships history, while the weathervane depicts her in silhouette.

See also

Related Research Articles

Q-ship Heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry

Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, decoy vessels, special service ships, or mystery ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the chance to open fire and sink them. The use of Q-ships contributed to the abandonment of cruiser rules restricting attacks on unarmed merchant ships and to the shift to unrestricted submarine warfare in the 20th century.

HMS <i>Scylla</i> (98) Cruiser of the Royal Navy

HMS Scylla was a Dido-class cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, with the keel being laid down on 19 April 1939. She was launched on 24 July 1940, and commissioned 12 June 1942.

SMS <i>Seeadler</i> (1888)

SMS Seeadler was a three-masted steel-hulled sailing ship. She was one of the last fighting sailing ships to be used in war when she served as a merchant raider with Imperial Germany in World War I. Built as the British-flagged Pass of Balmaha, she was captured by the German submarine SM U-36, and in 1916 converted to a commerce raider. As Seeadler she had a successful raiding career, capturing and sinking 15 ships in 225 days until she was wrecked, in 2 August 1917, in French Polynesia.

MV <i>Kerlogue</i>

The MV Kerlogue was an Irish ship attacked in World War II that has become the exemplar of neutral Irish ships during the war. The Kerlogue was a very small ship that was attacked by both sides and rescued people from both sides. She was almost sunk by a German mine and was strafed by the Royal Air Force, being left for dead. She rescued the Wild Rose of Liverpool and the survivors of the German destroyer Z27 and its escort, the survivors of which, in the latter case, were brought back to Ireland and interned until the end of hostilities.

SS <i>Irish Oak</i> (1919) Irish-operated steamship, sunk during World War II

The SS Irish Oak was an Irish-operated steamship which was sunk in the North Atlantic during World War II by a German submarine.

SS <i>Cymric</i>

SS Cymric was a steamship of the White Star Line built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast and launched on 12 October 1897.

Irish Mercantile Marine during World War II Overview of the IMM during World War II

The Irish Mercantile Marine during World War II continued essential overseas trade in the conflict, a period referred to as The Long Watch by Irish mariners.

Irish maritime events during World War II

Below is the timeline of maritime events during the Emergency,. This period was referred to as The Long Watch by Irish Mariners. This list is of events which affected the Irish Mercantile Marine, other ships carrying Irish exports or imports, and events near the Irish coast.

<i>Mary B Mitchell</i> (Q-ship)

Mary B Mitchell was a British schooner completed in 1892 that served as a Q-ship during the First World War. She was in service from April 1916 until the end of hostilities, operating in the Southwest Approaches from her base in Falmouth. She had several encounters with German U-boats in her career, and was credited with the destruction of two, though post-war analysis established that no U-boats were sunk. She had a reputation for being an efficient and successful vessel.

HMS Penshurst was a Royal Navy warship that was active during World War I. She was a Special Service Vessel whose function was to act as a decoy, inviting attack by a U-boat in order to engage and destroy it. Penshurst fought a number of engagements against German U-boats during her service, and was successful on two occasions, destroying UB-19 in November 1916, and UB-37 in January 1917. Penshurst was sunk following an action with U-110 in December 1917.

Empire Cymric was a 4,820 GRT Ferry that was built in 1944 by Harland & Wolff Ltd, Belfast as LST (3) HMS LST 3010 for the Royal Navy. She was transferred to the Koninklijke Marine in 1945, serving as HNLMS LST 3010. In 1947, she was transferred back to the Royal Navy and renamed HMS Attacker. The ship was requisitioned by the Ministry of Transport in 1954 and renamed Empire Cymric. Requisitioned briefly during the Suez Crisis in 1956 as HMS Empire Cymric, she served until 1962, and was scrapped in 1963.

SS <i>Lanthorn</i> Cargo ship

SS Lanthorn was a 2,299 GRT cargo ship built in 1889 as SS Magnus Mail, renamed in 1916 and sunk by enemy action in 1917. She was a combined steamship and two-masted sailing ship.

<i>Cymric</i> (schooner)

Cymric was a British and Irish schooner, built in 1893. She joined the South American trade in the fleet of Arklow, Ireland, in 1906. She served as a British Q-ship during the First World War; she failed to sink any German U-boats, but did sink a British submarine in error.

<i>James Postlethwaite</i>

James Postlethwaite was a schooner, launched in 1881. She operated out of Arklow after 1909. She was in Hamburg on the day that Britain entered the First World War with its declaration of war against Germany. Her crew was imprisoned and she was impounded and used as a barge to carry munitions.

HMS <i>J6</i> J class submarine

HMS J6 was a First World War J-class submarine built for the Royal Navy by HM Dockyard at Devonport in Plymouth. Commissioned in 1916, she was sunk in a friendly fire incident by the Q-ship Cymric in October 1918.

<i>Result</i> (schooner) Three-masted cargo schooner built in Carrickfergus in 1893

Result is a three-masted cargo schooner built in Carrickfergus in 1893. She was a working ship until 1967, and served for a short time in the Royal Navy as a Q-ship during World War I. She currently rests on land at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, and in 1996 was added to the National Register of Historic Vessels.

SS <i>Irish Willow</i> (1918)

Irish Willow was one of the few ships which maintained Irish trade during World War II.

Arklow Maritime Museum Maritime museum in Arklow, County Wicklow, Ireland

The Arklow Maritime Museum opened in 1976 in the old technical school on Saint Marys Road in Arklow, County Wicklow. Its original purpose was to celebrate the town's rich seafaring heritage, described by the late maritime historian John de Courcy Ireland in a letter to the museum as "Ireland's Most Maritime Town". In 2009, the museum moved to its current location at the Bridgewater Shopping Centre.

HMS <i>Prize</i> German schooner captured and refitted as a British Q ship during the First World War

HMS Prize was a schooner converted to a Q ship during the First World War and commanded by Lieutenant William Sanders of the Royal Naval Reserve.

References

  1. ↑ Ritchie p189
  2. ↑ Forde Maritime Arklow, p 84
  3. ↑ Ritchie p8
  4. ↑ "National Museums Northern Ireland". Schooner Result. Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  5. ↑ "Mary B Michell - A Terror to U-boats". Daily Leader. Associated Press. 13 January 1919. p. 7. Retrieved 19 November 2011. Sailing vessel sank two submarines in one day during the war
  6. ↑ Noonan, Dix. "Lot 1244, 7 Dec 05". Lot details. Retrieved 26 November 2011. quoting London Gazette 16 February 1917, and 11 August 1917
  7. ↑ Ritchie p97
  8. ↑ Rees, p 84
  9. ↑ "TWO SUBS SUNK IN ONE DAY BY "MYSTERY SHIP"". Cornell Daily Sun. Cornell University. Associated Press. 13 January 1919. Retrieved 16 March 2015. Mary B. Mitchell, Sailing Vessel, Plays Havoc With U-Boats.
  10. ↑ Chatterton p74
  11. ↑ Preston, p. 58
  12. ↑ "The J Class Submarines". Naval Historical Society of Australia. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  13. ↑ Gary Don Rhodes and F. Richard Sheffield (2006). Lugosi: His Life in Films, on Stage, and in the Hearts of Horror Lovers. McFarland. p. 108. ISBN   978-0-7864-2765-9.
  14. ↑ Forde, Maritime Arklow, p. 52
  15. ↑ "Hell's Cargo (1935)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  16. ↑ "From Sail to Steamship". Follow the Fleet. Irish Maritime Development Office. 2007. Archived from the original on 7 November 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2011. Two famous sailing ships Cymric and Mary B. Mitchell, brought vital supplies from overseas during the war years.
  17. ↑ Burne, page 537
  18. ↑ Forde, (2000). The Long Watch, page ii.
  19. ↑ Hessler, Günter (1989). The U-Boat war in the Atlantic 1939-1945. H.M.S.O. p. 31. ISBN   978-0-11-772603-1. these convoys was the invariability of their route between 20 degrees and 25 degrees W
  20. ↑ Kennedy, Michael (2008). Guarding Neutral Ireland. Dublin: Four Courts Press. p. 254. ISBN   978-1-84682-097-7.
  21. ↑ Forde Maritime Arklow p. 217
  22. ↑ Forde, The Long Watch, p. 20
  23. ↑ Collin, David (2002). "General Histories". The Mary B. Mitchell. Kirkyards Website Project Team. Retrieved 19 November 2011.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.