Q SHIP HMS BEGONIA

[GRAZ]

Hi All

Does anybody know if the above " Q" ship sank any U-Boats before it was sunk in 1917.

Any info would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Graham

[Michael Lowrey]

Graham,

That's unknowable. She certainly didn't sink any before September 1917, the month in which she disappeared. It's possible that:

1.) She was sunk by a U-boat that did not return home. There are three are U-boats that would qualify: U 106, UC 21, and UB 32. They're listed in what I'd rate as the order of probability that they sank Begonia.

2.) That the U-boat also sank in this engagement. U 106 was mined homebound, so she certainly hasn't sunk by Begonia. The other two U-boats are missing. They could also have been lost through other causes.

3.) You can come with variants on this theme: Begonia sinks a U-boat and is sunk in turn by a different U-boat. Or Begonia sinks a U-boat and later sinks wit hall hands in a storm.

Best wishes,

Michael

[sotonmate]

Graham

The last Log Book for BEGONIA is at Kew, covering August 1917, under ADM53/35033. There are files also concerning the Casualties from the ship (ADM1/8452/70) and the torpedo-ing (ADM137/3150-this file had data extracted from another file ADM137/1190,so the latter may not be with us any more). The NA Catalogue gives the year for both the Casualty and the torpedo reports as 1916,but probably an error there.

Some BEGONIA casualties are on the Portsmouth Memorial.

Sotonmate

[Michael Lowrey]

Sotonmate,

The 1916 dates actually makes sense -- Begonia was torpedoed by U 44 on March 29, 1916. IIRC, she became a Q-ship after that.

Best wishes,

Michael