SS Stockforce

[stripeyman]

The bell from a Q ship SS Stockforce is being auctioned in Scarborough. This vessel was sunk by a U Boat in 1918, the surgeon being awarded the VC

The writer of the piece in the Yorkshire Post, Izzy Hawksworth, describes the ship in the heading as a 'Battleship' Again a example of modern education.....

[horatio2]

44 minutes ago, stripeyman said:

This vessel was sunk by a U Boat in 1918, the surgeon being awarded the VC

Lieutenant Harold AUTEN VC DSC RNR was the Commanding Officer of HMS STOCK FORCE, not the surgeon. Surg. Prob. George Edward Strahan, R.N.V.R was awrded the DSC (with five other officers). 

Maybe not a literal 'battleship' but she was a battler and sent the U-Boat that torpedoed her (UB.80) home with severe damage before herself foundering a few hours later. I  think we can forgive the writer's hyperbole.

"She then sank with colours flying, and the officers and men were taken off by two torpedo boats and a trawler. The action was cited as one of the finest examples of coolness, discipline and good organisation in the history of "Q" ships." [LG 31021 - 19 NOVEMBER 1918]

Edited 4 July , 2023 by horatio2

[Simon Schnetzke]

UB 80 did not suffer severe damage. The boat was hit twice when diving but one hit set the periscopes out of action which forced the commander to return home.

Best wishes,

Simon

[horatio2]

"Badly damaged" per uboat .net  -  https://uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/5784.html    As the saying goes, "recollections may vary" vide LG:-

 "Fire was opened at 5.40 p.m.; the first shot carried away one of the periscopes, the second round hit the conning tower, blowing it away and throwing the occupant high into the air. The next round struck the submarine on the water-line, tearing her open and blowing out a number of the crew. The enemy then subsided several feet into the water and her bows rose. She thus presented a large and immobile target into which the STOCK FORCE poured shell after shell until the submarine sank by the stern, leaving a quantity of debris on the water."

[Simon Schnetzke]

That‘s just a fairytale. No one of the crew was hurt. UB 80 was hit twice with minor damage. I have checked the war diary.

Best wishes,

Simon

[Simon Schnetzke]

From the war diary:

17:00 Uhr Unterwasserangriff auf etwa 1.500 BRT großen Dampfer (Tankdampfer), Kurs Guernsey-Lizard, 18:10 Uhr G/6 AV mit M.Z. geschossen, Treffer, Abstand 1.200 m, auf Sehrohrtiefe geblieben und Dampfer, der verdächtig schien und nur langsam wegsackte, beobachtet, nach etwa 15 Min. beginnt Dampfer mit Vorschiff zu sinken, aufgetaucht in etwa 400 m Abstand, auf dem Dampfer wird aus einem bisher maskierten Geschütz Feuer eröffnet, Schnelltauchen, UB 80 erhält während des Tauchens 2 Treffer, als auf 11 m gegangen wird, um Dampfer zweiten Torpedo zu geben, lassen sich beide Sehrohre nicht mehr ausfahren, bis zum Dunkelwerden unter Wasser geblieben, 23:00 Uhr aufgetaucht, ein Vollgeschoß hat Brückenschutz und Sehrohrbock durchschlagen, an beiden Sehrohren sind die Objektivlinsen gebrochen, beide Sehrohre voll Wasser und unbrauchbar, der zweite Treffer, eine Sprenggranate, hat eine Stütze und Netzabweiser durchschlagen, da Boot ohne Sehrohre, wird Rückmarsch wegen der kurzen hellen Nächte und des notwendigen Gebrauchs eines Sehrohrs zur Kanaldurchfahrt um England herum angetreten, Kurs 260°, Fahrt 10 sm

Best wishes,

Simon

[stripeyman]

Horatio

I was only quoting the poorly written account, there is also a grammatical error as well.

[KizmeRD]

Just another case of inaccurate and exaggerated reporting (Yorkshire Post).  UB-80 (Max Vieberg) was clearly not sunk, although it was certainly hit twice and damaged, having to return home for repairs to be made.

For those non-German speakers, here is  an English translation of the U-boat’s war diary entry, previously posted by Simon…

5:00 p.m. Underwater attack on 1,500 GRT steamer (tank steamer), course Guernsey-Lizard, 6:10 p.m.  G/6 AV with M.Z. fusing, hit, distance 1,200 m, stayed at periscope depth and observed steamer, which seemed suspicious and only slowly sagged, after about 15 minutes steamer begins to sink by forecastle. Surfaced about 400 m distance, and was opened fire on by the steamer from a so far masked gun, fast dive. UB 80 takes 2 hits while diving, when going to 11 m to give steamer second torpedo, both periscopes can no longer be extended, stayed under water until dark, surfaced at 23:00 , a shell had penetrated the bridge protection and periscope mount, the objective lenses on both periscopes were broken, both periscopes are full of water and unusable. A second hit, a high explosive round, penetrated a support and net deflector. Since the boat has no periscopes, will head back because of the short, bright nights and the necessary use of a periscope for the Channel passage around England, course 260°, 10 knots.

A G6 AV was a 50cm diameter torpedo which had a range of about 5,000 metres with a running speed of 27 knots, or 35 knots with a more limited range of 2,200 metres. The torpedo was fitted with a 160kg warhead, in this case with magnetic detonator setting (as opposed to an impact setting).

MB

Edited 5 July , 2023 by KizmeRD

[NWR]

I dived the Stockforce (2004 / 2005) before it was identified, this being when the site was listed as an unknown by the UKHO. The wreck is upside down and sits in 60mtrs. At the time of diving the site the Stockforce was listed by the UKHO as being located at a different position. Due to this fact the now identified site of the Stockforce was believed to be that of SS St Katharine by local divers (myself included) up until such time as the site was positively identified as that of the Stockforce by a dive team out of Plymouth. Of note, the bell at auction to the best of my knowledge had no proven accompanying provenance? The bell that was recovered from the Stockforce had no name on it. There are several theories floating around regarding the auctioned bell. One of these being that the named auction bell was removed during the Q ship refit and an unnamed bell was fitted in its place, upon discharge the named bell would have been refitted on the Stockforce?

Edited 19 February by NWR