mbriscoe Posted 5 April , 2018 Share Posted 5 April , 2018 Just picked up a copy of new book about the loss of the TUSCANIA and OTRANTO during WWI - published 2018 The Drowned and the Saved: When War Came to the Hebrides by Les Wilson Published by Birlinn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechfield Posted 23 March , 2020 Share Posted 23 March , 2020 I have this book listing those who managed to swim ashore and I wondered if this list is complete as we believed that my father swam ashore that day. He was Able Seaman Charles Creasey..... A stoker ?? Beechfield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin DavidOwen Posted 23 March , 2020 Admin Share Posted 23 March , 2020 2 minutes ago, Beechfield said: I have this book listing those who managed to swim ashore and I wondered if this list is complete as we believed that my father swam ashore that day. He was Able Seaman Charles Creasey..... A stoker ?? Beechfield Welcome to the forum Might I suggest you start a new thread in the Sailors section with his name as the title? Plus add any info you have on him as that will help. Good luck with your search David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechfield Posted 23 March , 2020 Share Posted 23 March , 2020 Thanks David I am very new to this and I really would like to find out if my father was on the Otranto when it sank on 6th October 1918, or was it another of his 'stories' !! Beechfield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 23 March , 2020 Share Posted 23 March , 2020 Able Seaman Charles CREASEY, SS.7815, born Walworth 3 November 1898. Served in OTRANTO from 5 July 1918. and was still serving in the ship when she sank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechfield Posted 23 March , 2020 Share Posted 23 March , 2020 Thank you so much Horatio2 This is so good to know. We were a bit doubtful about this because his record shows that he was in Chatham the very next day, which seems impossible ! We can find no record of him on Islay, or in THE DROWNED AND THE SAVED, or in Belfast, if he managed to transfer to the Mounsey. Ir you have any further info we would love to have it. Thanks again. Beechfield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HERITAGE PLUS Posted 23 March , 2020 Share Posted 23 March , 2020 Beechfield I stand to be corrected but many of the RN personnel on Otranto were Chatham based. Could it be then that the Chatham reference on the day after the sinking simply notes that he was now without a ship but still a Chatham rating? Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 23 March , 2020 Share Posted 23 March , 2020 He could not be borne on the books of OTRANTO after she had sunk so, as a Chatham rating, was on the books of PEMBROKE forseveral weeks. After the sinking he made his way back to Chatham Barracks until drafted on to HMS LANCASTER on 23 November. N.B. his record does not show where he was on any particular day. It tells us which ship bore him for pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kath Posted 23 March , 2020 Share Posted 23 March , 2020 3 hours ago, horatio2 said: Able Seaman Charles CREASEY, SS.7815, born Walworth 3 November 1898. Served in OTRANTO from 5 July 1918. and was still serving in the ship when she sank. horatio2, would you mind telling us where you got this information from. Kath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 24 March , 2020 Share Posted 24 March , 2020 1 hour ago, Kath said: horatio2, would you mind telling us where you got this information from. Kath. Excuse me butting in, but almost certainly from the preview option of his service record in ADM 188, Registers of Seamen's Service, at TNA Kew. I found Charles Creasey by entering his name + ADM and filtering in the relevant dates: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7220274. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechfield Posted 24 March , 2020 Share Posted 24 March , 2020 11 hours ago, HERITAGE PLUS said: Beechfield I stand to be corrected but many of the RN personnel on Otranto were Chatham based. Could it be then that the Chatham reference on the day after the sinking simply notes that he was now without a ship but still a Chatham rating? Dave Hi Dave, I am sure that's it. I was hoping to find reference to him in the book THE DROWNED AND THE SAVED, it is still a mystery, as no note of him on Islay either. Thanks for your help. Beechfield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechfield Posted 24 March , 2020 Share Posted 24 March , 2020 9 hours ago, horatio2 said: He could not be borne on the books of OTRANTO after she had sunk so, as a Chatham rating, was on the books of PEMBROKE forseveral weeks. After the sinking he made his way back to Chatham Barracks until drafted on to HMS LANCASTER on 23 November. N.B. his record does not show where he was on any particular day. It tells us which ship bore him for pay. Hi Horatio2 Thanks for explaining that, it does answer the question. My father told me that he swam ashore when the OTRANTO sank, but there seems to be no mention of him anywhere. Beechfield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kath Posted 24 March , 2020 Share Posted 24 March , 2020 11 hours ago, seaJane said: Excuse me butting in, Thank you, Jane - you're always welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechfield Posted 25 March , 2020 Share Posted 25 March , 2020 Does anyone know of a book, other than THE DROWNED AND THE SAVED that lists the survivors who swam ashore when the OTRANTO sank on 6th October 1918 ? I am trying to trace my fathers journey. Thanks Beechfield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 25 March , 2020 Share Posted 25 March , 2020 (edited) I note that the Wikipedia entry (caveat emptor) records: "Of the roughly 489 men aboard after Mounsey departed, only 21 (17 of these were American) were able to successfully swim ashore, although two of these, including one American, later died of their injuries. The islanders were able to rescue some of these men by pulling them up the coastal cliffs or from rocks just offshore." The reference quoted is "Scott, R. Neil (2012). Many Were Held by the Sea: The Tragic Sinking of HMS Otranto. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-1342-5." pp.103-122. This implies that only 4 non-American survivors got ashore and one of these died, so your father would, by his account. be one of only three crew members who swam ashore and survived. Does this fit? There are three options as I read this matter: "The Drowned and Saved" list is incomplete (as you suggest); AND/OR the Wiki reference is wrong; OR your father did not "swim ashore" but was actually one of those saved by HMS MOUNSEY. Only you can judge which is the most probable, unless further evidence comes to light. E.g. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4781428 Islay Museum may have information on those who got ashore: (curator@islaymuseum.org). This link has an image of a couple of "OTRANTO survivors" - https://www.islay.blog/article.php/tuscania-and-otranto-distasters-islay-1918 Edited 25 March , 2020 by horatio2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechfield Posted 27 March , 2020 Share Posted 27 March , 2020 Hi Horatio2 Thanks for taking the trouble to check this out for me. I have been in touch with the curator of Islay Museum and she sent me a copy of the list of survivors made at that time. My father's name was not on it,and there is a small difference to the list in THE DROWNED AND THE SAVED. I can only conclude that he 'taught himself to swim' as he said and was picked somehow, possibly by the HMS MOUNSEY and taken to Belfast. I have found a list of casualties in Belfast at that time but not the survivors. I shall keep trying, and I do appreciate your help. Beechfield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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