- SS English Trader
The SS "English Trader" was a merchant ship which was wrecked in 1941 off the coast of
Norfolk, England on theHammond's Knoll sandbank. [The loss of the English Trader, By Cyril Jolly,Chapter 1, Page 1 ISBN 0906554063 ] . Several epic rescue attempts by lifeboats failed, but a further attempt, the following day, by theCromer lifeboat rescued the surviving 44 men on board.The ship was built in
1934 [The loss of the English Trader, By Cyril Jolly,Notes, Page 95 ISBN 0906554063 ] at the shipyards of the Furness Ship Building Company Ltd at Haverton-Hill-on Tees for the ArcteesShipping Company Ltd [The loss of the English Trader, By Cyril Jolly,Notes, Page 95 ISBN 0906554063 ] where she was then called "Arches". She was designed by Joseph Isherwood and had the revolutionary 'ARCFORM' [The loss of the English Trader, By Cyril Jolly,Notes, Page 95 ISBN 0906554063 ] hull design to improve fuel consumption. Fifty ships were built to that design between1933 and1954 . Joseph Isherwood later received aknighthood in recognition of his contribution to themaritime industry . In1936 she was sold to the Trader Navigation Company Ltd as their first tramp vessel and renamed "English Trader". All the company's later vessels had the same -"Trader" suffix.ervice
The first three years of the vessel's life were uneventful. On
23 January 1937 the "English Trader" found herself in the waters of theDevon coast. Whilst entering Dartmouth harbour she was run aground [The loss of the English Trader, By Cyril Jolly,Chapter 3, Page 22 ISBN 0906554063 ] close to the Castle at the entrance to the haven. Attempts were made to re-float her by four tugs and aRoyal Navy destroyer without any success. She was badly holed and some of the holds were filling with debris and so after ten day of being stuck fast, drastic measures were taken to save the ship. This course of action involved cutting the ship in two at her bow section which was eventually scrapped. The process took nineteen days after which the undamaged after part was pulledstern -first into Dartmouth Harbour. Later she was moved toSouthampton . A contract was given to The Middle Docks & Engineering Company ofSouth Shields to repair her. She was rebuilt from theboiler room forward in only 100 days [The loss of the English Trader, By Cyril Jolly,Chapter 3, Page 22 ISBN 0906554063 ] . It is argued that the ships uncomfortable and pronounced roll of her future career were as a result of this grafting work.The Second World War
From the start of the
Second World War the "English Trader" played her part in fetching and carrying thousands of tons ofcargo to and from the British Isles. For two years she crossed the seas avoidingU-Boats , mines and aircraft attacks. In October 1941 she was berthed inLondon Docks where a cargo of sugar fromCuba was being unloaded. By23 October she had discharged hercargo and was taking aboard a mixed cargo bound forMombasa ,Kenya . The cargo contained a variety of export goods including farmtractor s and other agricultural implements,umbrella s,pocket watch es,whisky ,Andrews Liver Salts , dresses andkitchenware . Stamped on the cases was proudly announced ‘BRITAIN DELIVERS THE GOODS’ [The loss of the English Trader, By Cyril Jolly,Chapter 1, Page 3 ISBN 0906554063 ] in defiance ofHitler ’s aggressive war against Britain.Convoy EC90
Before her next voyage, a virtually new
crew had been signed on - of the crew of 44, only eight men had been on the previous voyage [The loss of the English Trader, By Cyril Jolly,Chapter 1, Page 4 ISBN 0906554063 ] . This eight includedCaptain Grimstone and his three deck officers, the Mate John Elliot, William Hickson the Gun Layer, two other gunners and the ship steward. On Friday24 October , in the early afternoon the "English Trader" left theThames for what would be her lastvoyage . By late afternoon she had reachedSouthend on Sea . Here theThames estuary was wide enough for convoys to form up in relative safety. Convoy EC90 was made up of 20 ocean-goingfreighter s, two or three coastal steamers and two Royal Navy destroyers, one of which was the ageing HMS "Vesper" [The loss of the English Trader, By Cyril Jolly,Chapter 1, Page 6 ISBN 0906554063 ] . Convoy EC90 set of on its voyage in single file to start with, proceeding at a steady eight knots. For the "English Trader" this was close to her maximum speed; with a crew who knew how to get the best from her which the new crew did not. Theconvoy ’s route would take it up the east coast ofEngland and around the top ofScotland and down into theAtlantic Ocean . TheEnglish Channel was far too hazardous for shipping convoys at this stage of the War. By 3 p.m. the "English Trader"'s troubles had began. She had been running sluggishly, which had been noticed by the crew members from previous voyages. She was now a least a half a mile behind the bulk of the convoy and HMS "Vesper" was enquiring for the reasons for the poor speed of the ship. The Captain inquired with the chief engineer as to what the problem was, but to no avail. The speculation from the more experienced crew members was that the "English Trader"s’coal -firedboiler s which were forced draught fed required the Booster fans to be precisely set. It was concurred that the ill-experienced new crew and the new chief engineer were unable to accomplish this. The captain was told by the commodore aboard the "Vesper" that if she could not regain her position in the convoy by nightfall she should make forharbour at one of the east coast ports.Aircraft Attack
By nightfall the "English Trader" was some five miles from the
convoy and at times laboured to achieve 4 knots. The crew were apprehensive; a lame duck, such as their predicament was, made easy pickings for enemyU-Boat s andaircraft alike. The situation was made worse when in the darkness, the convoy ahead came under attack. The night sky lit up in a blaze of fire as the aerial attack commenced. The crew now prayed that they would not be spotted. Almost as suddenly as it had started the attack on the convoy stopped and again all around the "English Trader" became veiled in darkness. The next few moments were a terrifying experience for the crew as the ominous sound and shape of aDornier Do 17 bomber attacking the ship [The loss of the English Trader, By Cyril Jolly,Chapter 2, Page 15 ISBN 0906554063 ] . The gunner aboard "English Trader" opened up at the approaching aircraft. The crew watched as the bomber released two bombs, which narrowly missed the ship. Two huge large pillars of white foam rose as high as her mast on the port side just yards from the ship. The bomber now swooped over the ship and into the darkness to prepare for another attack. Much to the surprise of the crew, HMS "Vesper" had broken off from the main convoy to help [The loss of the English Trader, By Cyril Jolly,Chapter 2, Page 16 ISBN 0906554063 ] . "Vesper" opened fire on the aircraft, possibly damaging it as it broke of it attack and was not seen again.Aground on Hammond Knoll
By midnight all was quiet, but the ship was still labouring to rejoin the main part of the convoy. Steaming on slowly, Saturday turned into Sunday. Sunday
26 October [The loss of the English Trader, By Cyril Jolly,Chapter 3, Page 19 ISBN 0906554063 ] would be a day that the crew of the "English Trader" would never forget. Between 1 am and 1.30 am the ship was struggling against a strongebb ingtide , which in turn forced her dangerously close to thesandbank s ofHammond Knoll [The loss of the English Trader, By Cyril Jolly,Chapter 2, Page 21 ISBN 0906554063 ] . At around 1:45 am the crew felt a slight jolt followed by a more severe Jolt. This flung theship forward followed by loud grinding, crunching and scraping of metal. Then there was silence. The ship had run aground on Hammond Knoll.The "English Trader" was stranded on the knoll with her
crew powerless to do anything about her. As the first signs of daylight approached theweather began to rapidly deteriorate, with thewind reachinggale force. Ever increasingwave s crashed around her decks, smashing thestarboard lifeboat and itsderrick . The ship's back had broken as it settled on the knoll and the sea started it relentless destruction of the "English Trader". Theport lifeboat, though in the lee of the storm, could not be launched because of the turbulent waves crashing around the sandbank. The crew would rely on others for their rescue.Lifeboat Launched
At 8.15 am the
Cromer Lifeboat was launched and was asked to aid the "English Trader". She was crewed by twelve men including the tripleRNLI Gold Medal holding coxswainHenry Blogg . By 11.35 that morning the lifeboat, "H F Bailey" had reached Hammond Knoll. Unfortunately by this time three of the "English Trader"'s crew had been swept off the floundering ship to their death. By the time the "H F Bailey" reached the ship the gale was at full force and things looked bleak. The remaining 44 crew of the stricken ship had taken refuge in thechart room , the highest and safest point on the ship. The Cromer lifeboat made two attempts to get a line to the "English Trader" with out any success. A further attempt at rescue resulted in a near disaster for the "H F Bailey" and in the death of one of her crew. Coxswain Henry Blogg had attempted to approach the stricken vessel and a wall of water hit the lifeboat on her port side which washed five of the lifeboat men, including the non-swimmer Blogg, overboard into the raging sea. The five men were hauled back on to the lifeboat but the signalman, Edward "Boy Primo" W Allen after being in the water for 25 minutes fell unconscious and died a short time later. At 3 pm the Cromer lifeboat broke off the rescue attempt and made forGreat Yarmouth , her crew had tried in vain for seven long hours to rescue the crew of the "English Trader" and were now exhausted. Meanwhile TheGreat Yarmouth andGorleston Lifeboat had been launched and was on its way. Between 4 and 6 pm, that lifeboat made five attempts to get alongside with a line without any success. After these attempts and with darkness setting in,Coxswain Charles Johnson and his crew also reluctantly returned to Yarmouth after receiving orders from theRoyal Navy . By 8 am the next morning theCromer Lifeboat was back at the Sands. The sea had calmed considerably by now and the "H F Bailey" was able to take the beleaguered crew of 44 from the "English Trader" with relative ease, taking them to the safety of Great Yarmouth. The "English Trader" was then left to her fate, stuck upon the sands of Hammond Knoll. Reports from the following day said that the "English Trader" had gone completely under the waves.Infobox Person
name = Edward Walter Allen
image_size = 200px
caption = Edward Walter Allen
birth_date =
birth_place =
death_date =26 October 1941
death_place = Hammond Knoll of Haisborough
education =
occupation =Signalman of the Cromer lifeboat
spouse =
parents =
children =Cromer Lifeboat Crew
References
*Jolly, Cyril (1981): "The Loss of the English Trader" Acorn Editions. ISBN 0-906554-06-3
*Jolly, Cyril "Henry Blogg, the Greatest of the Lifeboatmen", Pub: Poppyland Publishing, new edition 2002, ISBN 0-946148-59-7
*Leach, Nicholas & Russell, Paul,"Cromer Lifeboats 1804-2004", Pub: Tempus Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0-7524-3197-8
*Tikus, Ayer (2004): "The Ship-wrecks off North East Norfolk" Pub: Ayer Tikus Publications, ISBNExternal links
* [http://www.cromerlifeboats.org.uk/07/index.php The Cromer Lifeboat]
* [http://www.rnli.org.uk/rnli_near_you/east/stations/CromerNorfolk/ Cromer Lifeboat Station]
* [http://freespace.virgin.net/david.cragie/cromershed.html The Old Cromer Lifeboat Shed]
* [http://nationalhistoricships.org.uk/index.cfm/event/getVessel/vref/1446 H F Bailey Lifeboat (National Register of Historic Vessels)]
* [http://www.cromerlifeboats.org.uk/Gallery/Imagegal/thumbnails.php?album=31 Lifeboat Museum Gallery]
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