pjac49 Posted 10 November , 2013 Share Posted 10 November , 2013 I discovered recently that my great-uncle, William Russell Stobo, Chief Engineer, and his captain,F D Struss, were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross after their ship, The Manchester Trader, engaged in a running battle with Submarine U65 in the Mediterranean and was sunk off Pantelleria on 4 June 1917. I haven't been able to find out much more than this, other than a reference to the crew having been taken prisoner, and I wonder if anybody can provide any more detailed information. I never knew my great-uncle or indeed his brother John Stobo, my grand-father, who was also a ship's engineer with Manchester Liners. I know absolutely nothing about his war service. Unfortunately, I have no idea what happened to the DSC medal.All those in the family who might have known are no longer with us, although I never heard it mentioned. Thanks Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 10 November , 2013 Share Posted 10 November , 2013 Details from U Boat.net here (showing only one POW):- http://www.uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/3866.html London Gazette here:- http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/30227/supplements/8208 The one casualty appears to have been an RN Rating, Probably gun's crew, if so MANCHESTER TRADER was a Defensively Armed Merchant Ship (DAMS):- WILLIAMS, Francis A, Leading Seaman (RFR B 1997), 188556 (Po) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjac49 Posted 10 November , 2013 Author Share Posted 10 November , 2013 Horatio Thanks for the very swift and informative reply. The u boat captain seems to have come to a sorry end , still a POW in 1950 . Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Lowrey Posted 10 November , 2013 Share Posted 10 November , 2013 Patrick, Manchester Trader was sunk after a four-hour long gunnery action with the German submarine. The sole prisoner taken was F. Steffano, the steamer's second mate. Per the German official history (Handelskrieg mit U-booten, Vol IV, page 348), the reason the steamer's master wasn't also taken prisoner is that the survivors had incorrectly claimed that he had been killed during the fire fight. I can get you a scan of U 65's Kriegstagebuch (KTB, war diary) describing the action. From the British side, it seems that the action is described at length in Volume III of The Merchant Navy. Best wishes, Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjac49 Posted 10 November , 2013 Author Share Posted 10 November , 2013 Michael Thanks for the information.A scan would be great. Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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