The Ghost Ship of the North Sea Part 2

Scandinavian Sailors in World War One

On the morning of Boxing Day 1914 the collier the Glenmorven sailed from Tyne Dock for Livorno, Italy, with a cargo 3,620 tons of gas coal from the collieries at Littleburn and Throckley. The River Tyne would have been a remarkable sight on that morning, crowded with shipping; the sudden roar and crash of coal being loaded into ships from high wooden staithes, the hammering and sparks from yards busily constructing warships for the Royal Navy and lighters flitting to and fro with men and cargoes.

As the Glenmorven passed this hive of activity, the ship’s steward may have been preparing breakfast for those who had been engaged in the ship’s departure from the quayside. The hiss and crackle of the bacon and eggs being a gentle echo of the cataclysm emanating from the riverbank.

The man preparing breakfast, a task every bit as vital as the strenuous wartime activities of the riverbank, was not a Briton. He hailed from a neutral nation, Denmark.

The Glenmorven’s steward was Copenhagen-born Julius Wedderkopp. One of many Scandinavians who had found employment on British-flagged merchant vessels. Like many of his compatriots, Julius had crossed the North Sea to find a new life in the economic superpower that was pre-Great War Britain. It was a well-beaten track, with thousands of Scandinavians settling in ports such as Newcastle, Sunderland, Hartlepool, Hull and Grimsby. The impact of those arrivals can still be witnessed in the built environment, with Scandinavian churches and sailors missions extant all along the north east coast. Whilst many surnames have been Anglicised in the ensuing decades, for example Johannson became Johnson and Svensson became Stephenson, the Scandinavian emigration to Britain can also be witnessed on memorials of the Great War in Britain and in Scandinavia.

Like many of his compatriots, Julius Wedderkopp did not just find employment in his newly adopted country, he also found love. He married a local girl, Winifred Nicholson, the couple set up home at 39 Linskill Street, North Shields. They had four children.

Danish-born Julius Wedderkopp, the steward on board the SS Glenmorven c. unknown

Julius was not the only Scandinavian on board the Glenmorven, one of the vessel’s able seaman was J. Thompson (possibly an Anglicised name) who had been born in Christiania (Oslo), Norway.

The Glenmorven was carrying coal to Italy, a major importer of British coal, the country had industrialised relatively late for a developed European economy and had almost no coal reserves of her own. Of course, from April 1915 Italy was also an ally of Britain and France in prosecuting the Great War and was particularly important in countering the threat from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with whom Italy shared a land border and contested the Adriatic Sea.

The Glenmorven sailed south in the company of the Sunderland steamer the Joseph Davis. The two vessels remained in close proximity until they were off the Whitby in failing light at 16.30 on Boxing Day. John Pescod, the second officer of the Joseph Davis noted the Glenmorven a mile inshore and drawing ahead. When he retuned to the bridge at 18.00 the Glenmorven was no longer in sight.

The Joseph Davis had been having problems with her engine and had been making around 5½ knots, whereas the Glenmorven was estimated to have been travelling 8 knots, hence her drawing ahead from Whitby onwards.

The Sunderland steamer the Joseph Davis c. Wrecksite.eu

On 27 December 1914 the Joseph Davis anchored in order to make repairs to her engines five miles east of the Inner Dowsing Lightship, off the Lincolnshire coast. The captain, Matthew Hodgson and the second officer, John Pescod, saw a steam ship about a mile away, Pescod commented that it must be the Glenmorven. However, after the captain left the bridge, Pescod examined the passing ship through his glasses and realised that she had three masts instead of the Glenmorven’s two. He omitted to inform the captain of the mis-identification, indeed at the time neither of the men knew that the Glenmorven was missing, which caused the captain to give a misleading statement at Liverpool that he had seen the Glenmorven off the Inner Dowsing.

It was concluded at the Board of Trade Inquiry into the loss of the Glenmorven that, due to the differential speed of the two vessels, it was inconceivable that the vessel sighted was the Glenmorven as, had she passed the Scarborough minefield unscathed, she would have been far to the south of that position by 27 December. Thus it was concluded that the probable reason for the loss of the Glenmorven was her striking a mine off Scarborough. However, until her wreck is found and positively identified, the fate of the Glenmorven will remain a mystery.

As the crew of the Glenmorven have no known grave, they are commemorated on a number of memorials around the world. In death the crew are remembered, not as one, but on two separate memorials; in London and Mumbai (Bombay).

The separation of merchant sailors was decided by the Imperial War Graves Commission in the 1920s. Thus, whilst the British and European sailors who died on the Glenmorven are commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial to the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets, the five Indian sailors on board are listed on the Bombay 1914-1918 Memorial. The latter commemorates more than 2,000 Indian sailors who died in the First World War and have no grave.

The twenty-four men lost on the Glenmorven

Ali Bin Ali, Fireman & Trimmer, Indian Merchant Service

Saleh Ali, Fireman & Trimmer, Indian Merchant Service

George Alfred Balcomb, Apprentice, son of Alfred and Clara Balcomb, of Brankstone, Beacon Rd., Broadstairs, Kent. Born at Strood, Kent

William Bower, Apprentice, son of Alexander Bower, and Mary Jane Bower, of 51 Coburg St., North Shields. Born at South Shields

William Francis Hamilton, aged 34, Master, son of the late William and Mary Hamilton; husband of Mercy Catherine Hamilton, of 4, New St., Paignton, Devon

Ghulame Hasan, Fireman & Trimmer, Indian Merchant Service

Robert Huntley Hedworth, aged 27, First Mate, husband of Isabella Hedworth (nee Ramsey), of 14 Blunen Terrace, South Shields. Born at South Shields

J. Hercuelson, aged 47, Able Seaman, born at Lerwick

Thomas Jameson Huntress, aged 30, Chief Engineer, son of Eliza Huntress and the late John Huntress; husband of Mary Elizabeth Huntress (nee Slater), of 10, Sandwich Rd., South Shields. Born at South Shields

Meynell Kerr, aged 16, Mess Room Steward, son of Thomas Newman Kerr and Sarah Kerr, of 183, South Eldon St., South Shields

David Macfarlane aged 55, Second Mate, son of the late David Macfarlane; husband of Mary Sarah Macfarlane (nee Moffatt), of 19, St. Thomas St., Newcastle-on-Tyne. Born in Quebec

George Robert McKendrey, aged 38, Donkeyman, son of the late William and Betsy McKendrey; husband of Elizabeth Taylor McKendrey (nee Ovington), of 1, Garwood St., South Shields. Born at Gateshead

William McKenzie, aged 51, Able Seaman, born at Edinburgh

Frank MCMullen, aged 62, Boatswain, son of the late William McMullen; husband of Sarah Elizabeth McMullen (nee Brown), of 19, Waldo St., North Shields. Born at Poole

William Miller, aged 52, Third Engineer, son of the late William and Jane Miller; husband of Sarah Jane Miller (nee Ledger), of 79, West Holborn, South Shields. Born at Liverpool

Ali Muhammad, Fireman & Trimmer, Indian Merchant Service

Francis Robert Peacock, aged 61, Carpenter, son of the late Richard George and Ellen B. Peacock; husband of Dorothy Peacock (nee Hull), of 89, Cleveland St., South Shields. Born at South Shields

John O. Robertson, aged 46, ship's Cook, born in Ceylon

Ali Saleh, Fireman & Trimmer, Indian Merchant Service

Alwin Thompson, aged 20, Apprentice, son of Alwin Car Thompson and Minnie Thompson, of 22, Olave St., Anlaby Rd., Hull

J. Thompson, aged 34, Able Seaman, born at Christiania, Norway

John Thorp, aged 51, Second Engineer, son of the late Joseph and Hannah Thorp; husband of Mary Thorp (nee Wilson), of 34, Ashley Rd., South Shields. Born at Leeds

John Todd, aged 17, Ordinary Seaman, born at Morpeth

Julius Charles Wedderkopp, aged 44, Steward, son of the late John and Marie Wedderkopp; husband of Winifred Wedderkopp (nee Nicholson), of 39, Linskill St., North Shields. Born at Copenhagen