Ville de la Ciotat: 24 December 1915

[sanctuarywood]

On Christmas Eve 1915, the Ville de la Ciotat was torpedoed in the Mediterranean.

I've been researching war dead connected to Ceylon, and I would be grateful for any suggestions you may have regarding researching the sinking. The passengers included a group of young men from Ceylon on their way to enlist in England, approximately fourteen of whom lost their lives in the sinking. A number of the survivors later died on active service.

I'm particularly eager to find a manifest, or a list of the approximately eighty passengers who lost their lives. There was a manifest posted on a French forum, but I haven't been able to figure out the original source of the information.

[wightspirit]

The UK National Archives almost certainly holds what you want.  Probably the most informative is here: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4115692  Not downloadable so it will mean a personal visit to the archives or pay a researcher to conduct the work on your behalf. The staff there will do the work but a private researcher will be cheaper.

Otherwise, to widen the search for documents of interest, search the NA website using 'enemy submarines mediterranean', the reference ADM, and the year.

Dave W

 

[KizmeRD]

Have you already seen this website?

https://medium.com/@serendibrising/louis-frederick-j-w-obeyesekere-a-christmas-eve-tragedy-out-at-sea-c0c9ca95a52a#:~:text=On Christmas Eve of 1915,it caught many by surprise.

MB

[sanctuarywood]

15 hours ago, wightspirit said:

The UK National Archives almost certainly holds what you want.  Probably the most informative is here: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4115692  Not downloadable so it will mean a personal visit to the archives or pay a researcher to conduct the work on your behalf. The staff there will do the work but a private researcher will be cheaper.

Otherwise, to widen the search for documents of interest, search the NA website using 'enemy submarines mediterranean', the reference ADM, and the year.

Dave W

 

Thank you, Dave! I'm hoping to get to the National Archives in the UK later this year, so this is perfect.

 

13 hours ago, KizmeRD said:

Have you already seen this website?

https://medium.com/@serendibrising/louis-frederick-j-w-obeyesekere-a-christmas-eve-tragedy-out-at-sea-c0c9ca95a52a#:~:text=On Christmas Eve of 1915,it caught many by surprise.

MB

Thank you, MB! I have seen that website – most of the available information surrounding the Ville de la Ciotat seems to come from family histories and the occasional contemporary newspaper article. The war at sea is outside my area of expertise, so I'm grateful for everyone's help in tracking down any extant records.