troop ships

[Guest]

my great grandfather CHARLES MARTIN SELL royal engineers 241674 was on a troop ship that got topedoed ...he survived ,but i have no idear what the ship was

called... or where this incident occured

are their any listings of troop ships...sunk or damaged by enemy action that could

help me narrow this down.

ps.i know the list could be endless..but its a long shot

THANKS SAXON

[Kath]

There were Royal Engineers on HMS HYTHE which sank after a collision with HMS Sarnia off Cape Helles 28th October 1915.

The R.Es were in Kent Companies.

Kath.

[Guest]

THANKS KATH....

my great grandfather was originally from hertfordshire but moved to tottenham

north london after 1900....he was torpedoed at some point during the war, and

used to have nightmares after the war, and jump out of bed !!!!!!

but at least he survived.

SAXON

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

my great grandfather CHARLES MARTIN SELL royal engineers 241674 was on a troop ship that got topedoed ...he survived ,but i have no idear what the ship was

called... or where this incident occured

are their any listings of troop ships...sunk or damaged by enemy action that could

help me narrow this down.

ps.i know the list could be endless..but its a long shot

                                                  THANKS SAXON

If You can access a copy of the reprint of the HMSO Publication "Vessels Sunk 1914~1918",this lists all Shipping sunk in WW1 day by day so if you know the date of the loss of your Great Grandfather's ship,you can begin to narrow it down,your local libray may have a copy or could obtain one for you!

[Guest]

THANKS HARRY,

I will see if i can get a copy ....but i have no information

when the ship was sunk, but its worth a try

SAXON

[Michael Lowrey]

Saxon,

The problem with using "British Vessels Lost at Sea" is that while it is a complete listing of British vessels sunk and damaged, it does not specifically note which are troopships. You can kind of guess by looking at the tonnage -- troopships would typically be converted liners. Liners usually were large, fast ships, so would be of higher tonnages.

A better source might be A.J. Tennent's "British Merchant Ships sunk by U-boats in the 1914-1918 War" as it contains more information (cargo, voyage, etc) but excludes ships damaged. It might still be difficult to narrow things down adequately though -- you really do need a date, location, or ship name. Do you know where he served? That would be a starter...

Best wishes,

Michael

[Clive Maier]

... You can kind of guess by looking at the tonnage -- troopships would typically be converted liners. Liners usually were large, fast ships, so would be of higher tonnages. ...

All sorts of vessels were pressed into service. Both the Hythe and the Sarnia that were mentioned earlier in this thread, were small cross-channel steamers requisitioned from railway companies. The Hythe was only 509 tons.

[Michael Lowrey]

Clive,

That's true but only to a point. If you see a listing for a 10,000 ton merchant ship torpedoed in the Mediterranean in 1917, there's a good chance it was being used as a troopship. If you see a listing for a 2,000 ton ship sunk in the Mediterranean in 1917, the odds are much lower that it was carrying troops while sunk.

Also, a requirement here is that the ship was sunk or damaged, which does effect the odds.

Sure, lots of small vessels were taken into naval service during the war. Be careful though -- commissioned vessel's intended primary function wasn't carrying troops. HMS Hythe is listed as a minesweeper and HMS Sarnia as an armed boarding steamer in "British Vesssels Lost at Sea."

Best wishes,

Michael

[Clive Maier]

Michael,

I am not objecting to your logic in the least; only mentioning that there are lots of exceptions that could outwit the researcher. In the cases of Hythe and Sarnia, both size and description could be misleading. Both were diverted from their original duties to ferry troops from Mudros Bay to Gallipoli. The Hythe sank as a result of the collision. The Sarnia was repaired and was on escort duty – for which I think she must have been woefully inadequate - when she was sunk by torpedo in 1918.

Regards,

Clive

[hmsk212]

my great grandfather CHARLES MARTIN SELL royal engineers 241674 was on a troop ship that got topedoed ...he survived ,but i have no idear what the ship was

called... or where this incident occured

are their any listings of troop ships...sunk or damaged by enemy action that could

help me narrow this down.

ps.i know the list could be endless..but its a long shot

THANKS SAXON

A way to narrow the field down a bit would be to find out with which Royal Engineers Company your great grandfather served. This can then be used to either look at that Companies War Diary or at least ascertain when they went abroad. This falls down, however, if your great grandfather joined them as a relief rather than went with them on the initial move abroad. Likewise a look at his medal index card may at least narrow down the dates from which he first served, ie was he awarded a trio or a pair. These suggestions have lots of pitfalls but they may be worth giving a try. Best of luck

Steve

[ajsmith]

I have thought of a way you might narrow your search down. Get hold of the SDGW CD then search for all Royal Engineers who are recorded as having been lost at sea or drowned or similar. Assuming that at least some engineers were killed even though your ancestor survived you will at least have a list of possible dates to start working with.

Coincidentally me ggrandfather was an RE and was killed on the troopship 'Aragon'

on 30/12/1917 outside Alexandria.

good luck (you'll need it)

all the best

Tony

[Michael Lowrey]

Tony,

Your approach works to a point. Not every case of a troopship torpedoed or mined resulted in large scale loss of life, so you might miss those cases especially if relatively few RE were on board. Still, if you don't have more information, it would be worth a try.

Best wishes,

Michael