eltoro1960 Posted 15 January , 2007 Share Posted 15 January , 2007 I came across a newspaper clipping dated May 24th 1917 relating to an eye witness account of the sinking of a troopship enroute to Egypt from the south of France (Marseilles perhaps). The ship was transporting the Royal Scots and one of the men described being rescued by a Japanese ship and being taken to Italy. Apparently they only suffered one casualty as a result of the attack, can anyone assist with details please. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dycer Posted 15 January , 2007 Share Posted 15 January , 2007 John, I've a Book at Home that may help. I'll post or confirm tomorrow with details. George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kath Posted 15 January , 2007 Share Posted 15 January , 2007 Italian War Ship Destroyers - Nembo Class Turbine: launched 21st November 1901 Sunk on 24th May 1915 ??? From: http://forums.navalwarfare.org/showthread.php?t=300 Kath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarvis Posted 15 January , 2007 Share Posted 15 January , 2007 I can't yet confirm that the Turbine was carrying Royal Scots but have the following info about the ship. 24/05/1915 Helgoland, aided by Ulan, Lika, Csepel and Tatra, sank Italian destroyer Turbine south of Pelagosa and took 35 PoWs. Tatra shelled railway embankment near Manfredonia; picked up survivors from Italian destroyer Turbine. Csepel shelled Manfredonia station; exchange with Italian destroyer Turbine and then picked up survivors. In fact the more I find the less likely it seems that Turbine would have been 'carrying' the Royal Scots. 24th May - Main Sortie of the Austrian Fleet - With war declared, the bulk of the Austrian fleet sails to bombard the Italian Adriatic coast, mainly in the northern part. Further south the Italian destroyer "TURBINE" (1902, 330t, 4-7.6cm, 2-45cm tt) is encountered off the island of Pelagosa and sunk by Austrian scout cruiser "Helgoland" and destroyers "Csepel", "Tatra" and "Lika". The Austrian ships, including the three pre-dreadnought "Radetzky's" and the three completed "Tegetthoff" dreadnoughts, are back in Pola that same day. There they spend the rest of the war, with one exception in 1918, inactive as a "fleet in being" ready for any large fleet action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 15 January , 2007 Share Posted 15 January , 2007 John, Which battalion of the Royal Scots is this? regards Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dycer Posted 15 January , 2007 Share Posted 15 January , 2007 John, Which battalion of the Royal Scots is this? regards Michael Michael, Can you please be patient until tomorrow unless someone has the defintive answer. I've a Book at Home which gives a brief outline of a Royal Scots Battalion(not the 7th) which was involved in a sinking in the Med in 1915. In echos of that more famous sinking when a Battalion stood fast as a Ship (cannot for the life of me remember the Regiment and name of vessel) sank in the 19th Century a similar thing happened to a Royal Scots Battalion in 1915. I'll post the number of the Battalion and Name of Vessel tomorrow but as John points out there was little loss of life. George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 15 January , 2007 Share Posted 15 January , 2007 George, You're 'other' ship was probably the Birkenhead in 1852? Regarding the present question I don't have any details which match the pre-24th May 1915 date Hence my request for clarification of which battalion was involved There was a problem with the transfer of the 1st/4th from Lemnos to the Gallipoli peninsula, but that was later on the 12th June and it was a collision and not an enemy attack. from Westlake "Headquarters, 'A' and 'B' Companies sailed Reindeer 10 pm. War Dairy records vessel colliding with the Immingham (sank) and forced to return to Mudros badly damaged. Men transferred to a French ship, the Moulooya, and later to Empress of Britain. Enemy aeroplane dropped bomb near ship during transfer. Headquarters with 'A' and 'B' Companies sailed Basilisk and 'D' Company Grasshopper 9 am 14th June. Landed 'W' Beach 2 pm................." I look forward to learning the correct answer to this query Best regards Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eltoro1960 Posted 15 January , 2007 Author Share Posted 15 January , 2007 Ladies, Gents Sincerest apologies, as you can probably see I have amended the title of the post, I misfiled the clipping in my 1915 file in what I can only describe as a 'senior moment' when it should have went into 1917. Unfortunately that has sent all you good people of on a wild goose chase for which I apologise The article concerned did appear in the May 24th edition of 1917.(attached) Regarding the men concerned Edward (Ted) Scott was a company bomber with the 8th Royal Scots, Joseph Bartons numbers seems to indicate he was an 8th RS as well 5259 330462, as do James Moffat's 5517 330603. However to the best of my knowledge, the 8th never left F&F so maybe they were seconded. Hopefully you will accept my apology for wasting your time thus far. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 15 January , 2007 Share Posted 15 January , 2007 quote: Hopefully you will accept my apology for wasting your time thus far. John No damage done; take a strong night-cap before turning in early That's what I do when this sort of thing happens Best regards Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarvis Posted 15 January , 2007 Share Posted 15 January , 2007 No worries, I have learnt a little about the Turbine and the Italian Navy in the process. (Managed to do that in a slack moment at work so the quest kept me occupied). Wondered why I had so much trouble locating a 'hit' for 1915. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historydavid Posted 15 January , 2007 Share Posted 15 January , 2007 Hello John, On 4th May 1917 HMT Transylvania, defensively armed, built 1914, 14,315 grt, was torpedoed in 44.15N, 08.30E, by German submarine U 63, 2½ miles S from Cape Vado, Gulf of Genoa, Italy on voyage Marseilles to Alexandria with the loss of 12 crew. Owned by Anchor Line (Henderson Brothers) Ltd of Glasgow. From the OH: She was escorted by 2 Japanese destroyers, the Matsu and Sakaki. When the Transylvania was first torpedoed the Matsu closed to take off people on board whilst the Sakaki circled looking for the submarine. Another torpedo was seen heading for the Matsu, which backed engines and the Transylvania was again hit and sank. All but 270 passengers and crew were saved. It would appear that the magnitude of the loss was kept under wraps. Best wishes David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eltoro1960 Posted 16 January , 2007 Author Share Posted 16 January , 2007 Fantastic folks,this would indeed seem to be the ship and this would be the man Ted Scott refers to : Casualty Details Name: GUTHRIE, JAMES Initials: J Nationality: United Kingdom Rank: Private Regiment/Service: Royal Scots Unit Text: 4th Bn. Date of Death: 04/05/1917 Service No: 301561 Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Memorial: SAVONA MEMORIAL SAVONA TOWN CEMETERY contains 85 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, all but two of them casualties of the "Transylvania". Within the cemetery is the SAVONA MEMORIAL, which commemorates a further 275 casualties who died when the "Transylvania" went down, but whose graves are not known. As always I am impressed by the quality of replies to the Forum, it looks like the newspaper clipping fundamentely accurate other than not mentioning the other casualties, probably bad for motale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esskay Posted 16 January , 2007 Share Posted 16 January , 2007 The Times of 25th May 1917 reports the sinking and lists the losses as: 29 officers, 373 other ranks, the Captain of the Ship - Lieut S Brenell RNR and 1 officer and 9 men from the crew. It also reports that 64 nurses were among the survivors Cheers Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dycer Posted 16 January , 2007 Share Posted 16 January , 2007 John, Got your e-mail,no problem. Michael, The Book I've got refers to the Reindeer. "Lt/Col Dunn and his staff with "A" and "B" Companies of his battalion were being ferried from Lemnos to Gallipoli in the Reindeer when there was a collision with the hospital ship Immingham.The two vessels were locked together and the Immingham sinking fast,threatened to take the Reimdeer with her to the bottom.In this crisis the 4th Royal Scots lived up to the example of their predecessors in the doomed troopship Premier. In the words of the regimental history-"The troops who paraded with their boots off,behaved splendidly,though there were no lifeboats,there was no panic and the men carried out unhesitatingly every order given to them,moving from side to side as ordered to trim the boat..... Their conduct during the crisis earned them a special mention by Sir Ian Hamilton-------." George p,s anyone know what happened on the Premier? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthw Posted 16 January , 2007 Share Posted 16 January , 2007 Hi, Found this on the Premier http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hal...mier/184317.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dycer Posted 16 January , 2007 Share Posted 16 January , 2007 Thank you for finding the report. No more to add,only that I read it with awe and admiration. George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 16 January , 2007 Share Posted 16 January , 2007 The wreck of the Premier is a new one to me and what a great story too Many thanks for the link regards Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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