devon Posted 19 August , 2007 Share Posted 19 August , 2007 I am searching for information on my great uncle ship the ss bestwood, sank. May 29th. 1917, BESTWOOD Admiralty Collier. 12 miles S.W. of South Bishop. Sank after collision. any photo would be of great help to me i cant,s seem to get any information from National Archives on what happend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
per ardua per mare per terram Posted 20 August , 2007 Share Posted 20 August , 2007 Have you looked for the Admiralty report at Kew, to find it you will probably need to use the ADM 12 indexes. Please search the forum for other threads. Here's the link to their research guide: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalog...?sLeafletID=380 Colliers usually didn't attract many photographers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruth bond Posted 13 March Share Posted 13 March On 19/08/2007 at 23:57, devon said: I am searching for information on my great uncle ship the ss bestwood, sank. May 29th. 1917, BESTWOOD Admiralty Collier. 12 miles S.W. of South Bishop. Sank after collision. any photo would be of great help to me i cant,s seem to get any information from National Archives on what happend My Gt Uncke Thomas Henry Baty I think cod have been Captain that night. I too have been unable to find out additional info although have the name of company . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HERITAGE PLUS Posted 14 March Share Posted 14 March (edited) You will find details of SS Bestwood's fate and a photograph of the ship here: https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?13731 Dave Edited 14 March by HERITAGE PLUS Typo correction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruth bond Posted 14 March Share Posted 14 March Thank you, do you know how I find crew members? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KizmeRD Posted 14 March Share Posted 14 March A total of 253 colliers were lost on Admiralty service during the Great War. 207 of these were directly through enemy action, and the remainder were due to accidental causes such as collision, grounding or foundering in bad weather. 1917 was by far the worst year for colliers with a total of 119 of them being sunk. MB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ernest james Posted 15 March Share Posted 15 March Hi Ruth 'wrecksite' gives SS Bestwood's official number as 135288 I have found in the past that the British National archives (TNA) tend to retain the last crew list of a merchant ship lost in ww1. i searched TNA online and there appears to be a 1917 crew list for a ship official number 135288 in BT99. The record is not available on line but I have found in the past it is possible to buy a copy from TNA if you think it is worth the trouble. hope this helps you best wishes ernestjames Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KizmeRD Posted 15 March Share Posted 15 March (edited) Most accounts of the sinking say that all 16 of the crew onboard the ‘Bestwood’ perished as a result of the collision, however a letter sent to his widow by the shipping company refers to the fact that the Second Officer was the only officer saved (see attached). Also attached, photo of Thomas Henry Baty, Master Mariner, born Sunderland 1879. MB Edited 15 March by KizmeRD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruth bond Posted 15 March Share Posted 15 March Wow! Thank you so much , I appreciate your research so very much. I will be able to send this to his family where his daughters in Australia where they started a new life after this tragic accident. Again Thank you Ruth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ernest james Posted 15 March Share Posted 15 March Find my past have a list of the Bestwood casualties from 1917 in the table "british armed forces and overseas deaths and burials" there appear to be 16 in total including two Royal Marines. this suggests that Bestwood mounted a gun for defence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruth bond Posted 15 March Share Posted 15 March Thank you so much, for this information. I'm totally lost just starting to navigate my way around Thanx Ruth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KizmeRD Posted 16 March Share Posted 16 March 18 hours ago, ernest james said: i searched TNA online and there appears to be a 1917 crew list for a ship official number 135288 in BT99. The record is not available on line but I have found in the past it is possible to buy a copy from TNA if you think it is worth the trouble. 1917 Crew Agreement(s) for Bestwood 135288 are to be found here…. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2480717 But a trip to Kew would be required, as not available to download. MB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruth bond Posted 16 March Share Posted 16 March 19 hours ago, ernest james said: Hi Ruth 'wrecksite' gives SS Bestwood's official number as 135288 I have found in the past that the British National archives (TNA) tend to retain the last crew list of a merchant ship lost in ww1. i searched TNA online and there appears to be a 1917 crew list for a ship official number 135288 in BT99. The record is not available on line but I have found in the past it is possible to buy a copy from TNA if you think it is worth the trouble. hope this helps you best wishes ernestjames Dear Ernest Thank you so.much Ruth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ernest james Posted 16 March Share Posted 16 March 3 hours ago, KizmeRD said: 1917 Crew Agreement(s) for Bestwood 135288 are to be found here…. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2480717 But a trip to Kew would be required, as not available to download. MB kismeRD. Thanks for putting up the crew agreement Ruth You can avoid the trip to Kew by getting a quote from TNA to copy the document. This is what i have done in the past and I thought it was good value. Just make sure that it is the final crew list done after the sinking of the ship. It should have details of the casualties (and the survivors). i think you will find it interesting if you decide to go for it best wishes ernestjames Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruth bond Posted 16 March Share Posted 16 March Dear Ernest Thank you for your assistance, you have given valuable advice. Regards Ruth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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