SS Tiberton

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SSTiberton.jpg
Tiberton
History
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameTiberton
Namesake Tyberton
OwnerR Chapman & Son, Ltd
Port of registry Newcastle upon Tyne
Builder Richardson, Duck & Co, South Stockton & Thornaby
Yard number679
Launched20 January 1920
CompletedMarch 1920
Identification
Fatesunk by torpedo, 19 February 1940
General characteristics
Class & typeWar Standard Type B cargo steamship
Tonnage5,225  GRT, 3,190  NRT
Length400.1 ft (122.0 m)
Beam52.4 ft (16.0 m)
Depth28.4 ft (8.7 m)
Decks2
Installed power1 × triple-expansion engine; 397 NHP
Propulsion1 × screw
Speed11 knots (20 km/h)
Crew34
Sensors &
processing systems		by 1939: wireless direction finding

SS Tiberton was a cargo steamship that was built in England in 1920. She was a War Standard Type B ship, ordered by the UK Shipping Controller. She was completed for R Chapman & Son, Ltd, of Newcastle upon Tyne, who owned her throughout her career. She was lost with all hands in 1940, when a German U-boat torpedoed her in the North Sea.

Contents

Building and registration

After the First World War, R Chapman & Son acquired several newly-built War Standard cargo ships. They included three Type B's: Innerton (originally War Scilla) and Clearton in 1919, and Tiberton in 1920. [1] [2] [3] All three were built on Teesside: Innerton by Ropner & Sons at Stockton, and Clearton and Tiberton by Richardson, Duck and Company at South Stockton and Thornaby. [4] [5] [6]

Richardson, Duck & Co built Tiberton as yard number 679, launched her on 20 January 1920, and completed her that March. [6] Her registered length was 400.1 ft (122.0 m), her beam was 52.4 ft (16.0 m), and her depth was 28.4 ft (8.7 m). Her tonnages were 5,225  GRT and 3,190  NRT. She had a single screw, driven by a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine built by Blair & Co of Stockton. It was rated at 397 NHP, [7] and gave her a speed of 11 knots (20 km/h). [8] Chapman & Son registered her in Newcastle upon Tyne. Her UK official number was 142861, and her code letters were KFCV. [9]

Peacetime career

On 14 June 1928, Tiberton ran aground at Bahía Blanca in Argentina. [10] She was refloated on 17 June. [11]

By 1930, Tiberton's call sign was GKVC, [12] and by 1934, this had superseded her code letters. [13] By 1939, she was equipped with wireless direction finding. [14]

Loss

On 28 January 1940, Tiberton left Hull and joined Convoy FN 81, which had left the Thames Estuary off Southend-on-Sea the previous day. [15] FN 81 went as far as the River Tyne, [16] beyond which Tiberton continued independently to the Firth of Forth. There she joined Convoy ON 10 off Methil, which left on 5 February, and reached Norwegian waters three days later. [17] Tiberton continued to Narvik, where she loaded iron ore. [18]

Tiberton left Narvik independently on 14 February 1940, bound for Middlesbrough and Immingham. U-23 attacked her on the morning of 19 February, firing one torpedo at her at 04:05 hrs German time. Tiberton broke in two and sank in 30 seconds at position 58°55′00″N01°53′00″W / 58.91667°N 1.88333°W / 58.91667; -1.88333 , German Naval Grid Reference AN 1634, about 33 miles east of Kirkwall, Orkney. There were no survivors. [18]

No distress signal was received from Tiberton. On 10 April 1940, Lloyd's Register recorded her as missing or untraced, and a Joint Arbitration Committee found her to be a "war loss".[ citation needed ]

Part of Panel 108 of the Second World War section of Tower Hill Memorial in London, showing the names of men killed aboard Tiberton The Tower Hill Memorial, London - 28th January 2007 003.jpg
Part of Panel 108 of the Second World War section of Tower Hill Memorial in London, showing the names of men killed aboard Tiberton

Monuments

Tiberton's Master was Captain Hugh Mason. He, and all but one of his crew, are commemorated on Panel 108 of the Second World War part of Tower Hill Memorial in London. The exception is the Third Engineer, Edward Oliver May, who was English, but had emigrated to Canada. He is commemorated on Panel 17 of the Halifax Memorial in Point Pleasant Park in Halifax, Nova Scotia. [19]

References

  1. ↑ "War P – War S." Standard WWI Ships. Mariners-List. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  2. ↑ "A – K". WWI Standard Built Ships. Mariners-List. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  3. ↑ "L – W". WWI Standard Built Ships. Mariners-List. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  4. ↑ "Innerton". Tees Built Ships. Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  5. ↑ "Clearton". Tees Built Ships. Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Tiberton". Tees Built Ships. Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  7. ↑ Lloyd's Register 1920, TIB–TIL.
  8. ↑ "Ship Types". WWI Standard Ships. Mariners-List. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  9. ↑ Mercantile Navy List 1921, p. 624.
  10. ↑ "Casualty reports". The Times. No. 44920. London. 15 June 1928. col. B, p. 29.
  11. ↑ "Casualty reports". The Times. No. 44923. London. 19 June 1928. col. G, p. 27.
  12. ↑ Mercantile Navy List 1930, p. 546.
  13. ↑ Lloyd's Register 1934, THY–TIF.
  14. ↑ Lloyd's Register 1939, THY–TIE.
  15. ↑ "Ship Movements". Arnold Hague Ports Database. Don Kindell, Convoyweb. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  16. ↑ "Convoy FN.81". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. Don Kindell, Convoyweb. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  17. ↑ "Convoy ON 10 — U.K.-Norway". Warsailors. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  18. 1 2 Helgason, Guðmundur. "Tiberton". Uboat. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  19. ↑ "Halifax Memorial". Veterans Affairs Canada. Retrieved 14 December 2017.

Bibliography

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