According to google somebody once posted on this topic, but the link takes me to 'Should Haig's statue be melted down' and a search of the site produces no results!!

Anyway I'm looking into the sinking of the Apapa. My knowledge currently is:

S.S. ‘Apapa’, built in 1914 at 7,832 tons for Elder, Dempster & Company, a mail carrying company based in Liverpool. ‘Apapa’ was defensively-armed and on 28 November 1917, 3 miles N by E from Lynas Point, near Amlwch, Anglesey, she was torpedoed without warning and sunk by a German submarine. 77 lives were lost and there were 64 survivors.

Amongst those lost was 2nd Steward Albert Taylor of the Merchant Navy who is buried in Abergele, North Wales, and whom I am researching.

I can find nothing else on Google so I wondered if anyone may be able to add to the story?

Andrew,

Apapa was sunk by the German submarine U 96 while the steamer was on a voyage from Lagos for Liverpool carrying passengers and general cargo.

I can get you a scan of U 96's KTB describing the sinking if that would help.

Best wishes,
Michael

Michael,

Fantastic! I'll PM you my e-mail address.

Thank you very much.

Cheers,
Andrew

Andrew,

The original thread might have been mine. I was researching a memorial in a local church a year or so back where 2 brothers died on board the Apapa. They were......

Percy E Buchan
F Jessie Buchan

Like you, I could only find basic info - generally the same info as Michael has mentioned.

Les.

We seek you here, we seek you there!

Thanks Les. Have you had the U96 details Michael refers to?

Only really the date/place info.. nothing else. I couldn't even find my men - the must have been civvies 'cause they're not listed on CWGC.

Below is all I've really got ---

The APAPA was a twin-screw steel steamship and was built in 1914 by Harland & Wolff in Glasgow, as were also the quadruple expansion engines. Capable of fourteen knots, she was one of the largest ships in the Elder Dempster fleet.

It was a clear moonlight night and she had just passed the Middle Mouse on her starboard bow when she suddenly shook from stem to stern. Many passengers were thrown from their bunks and it was obvious that she was sinking. At that time she was still on an even keel and the Captain ordered the engines to be stopped. Close examination showed that a torpedo had ripped a huge hole in the starboard side towards the stern of the ship, and Captain Toft then ordered that the boats should be lowered.

As the lifeboats were being loaded, a man was seen disappearing down a companion-way. His mission was one from which he never returned. His name was Mr. Harragin, of the Gold Coast Customs, and he was coming home with his wife to spend a well-earned rest in England. She was lying in their cabin, ill with black-water fever and he tried to carry her on deck, but she declared herself too ill and too weak to be moved. And so he stayed with her - just two of the forty passengers who lost their lives.

By this time many of the passengers were safely in the lifeboats and the ship had developed a list to starboard. Suddenly, there was a streak in the water and a second torpedo hit the ship, again on the starboard side but this time further forward. Some of the lifeboats were swamped and the ship lurched to starboard. As she did so, the stays supporting the funnel snapped and the funnel collapsed, falling onto a lifeboat that was loaded and was just about to be lowered into the water. It was this second torpedo that contributed to the large number of casualties. A few moments later the ship plunged stern first to the bottom of the sea.

63 survived but 77 died.

Here's a cropped shot of the plaque I was looking into...........


If you get any info regarding these two men, I'd be grateful if you could let me know.

Les.

There seems to be a confusion in some parts re the date. The SNWM gives 28th November 1917 ( which seems correct) although two sites give 5th December 1917.
http://www.clydesite.co.uk/articles/5dec.asp has a photo of her.

Aye
Malcolm

Les,
Thanks very much for that. If I get any more info I'll pass it on.

Malcolm,
Thanks for the link. I hadn't found that one. As to the date, I think the following settles it.

The Apapa was sunk on 28th November 1917. She was a defensively armed liner and was owned by Elder, Dempster & Co Ltd of Liverpool but managed on a day to day basis by African Steamship Co Ltd

Best wishes
David

Thanks for your input David.

From the Times 6-12-1917





Steve.

Times 10-12-1917




Steve.

By the way, Les. From the list is its possible that one of your "men" was a Lady i.e. Mrs Buchan..?

Times 19-12-1917

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Times 20-12-1917

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Steve.

The U-Boat appears to have been commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Jess, whose name appears on a list of German war criminals arraigned per the Times of 9-2-1920

He was also held responsible for the sinking of the Destro on March 26 1918 and the Inkosi on March 28 1918.



Later Times articles mention that the escort ship had left the Apapa to sail the last leg into port alone, at which point the U-boat got her.


Steve.

The number of deaths given in British Vessels Lost at Sea is 77, and relates only to the crew (it never gives numbers for passengers etc).

Best wishes
David

Steve - that's fantastic! A very handy thing that Times Online subscription.

Thank you very much.

Ref my post No 16 above.

This extract is from The Merchant Navy by Archibald Hurd:

"But the worst tragedy of the month was the sinking of the Elder Dempster liner, the Apapa (7,832 tons), at 4 a.m. on the 28th, both because no fewer than seventy-seven lives were lost, about equally divided between passengers and crew, and because most of these deaths were due to the callous and quite unnecessary firing of a second torpedo at the ship just at the moment when the boats had reached the water, and had not had time to pull away."

This extract is from Disasters at Sea by Hocking:

"The Elder Dempster liner Apapa, Capt. Toft, one of the largest in the company's fleet at that time, was returning home from West Africa when she was torpedoed by a German submarine. The vessel had reached a position three miles N. by E. of Lynas Point, near Liverpool, when she was attacked at 4.10 a.m. on Wednesday, November 28th, 1917, when steaming at 13 knots. No sign of the submarine was visible to those on board. The torpedo exploded on the starboard side nearly amidships, extinguishing the electric light and making the work of mustering the passengers much more difficult, but fortunately the sea was calm, with brilliant moonlight. Capt. Toft managed to launch a number of boats without mishap, but ten minutes after the first attack a second torpedo struck one of the boats containing from 20 to 30 people and killed or drowned the majority. There were 249 persons on board the Apapa, of whom 129 were passengers, and 40 passengers and 37 crew were lost. Capt. Toft went down with the ship, but came to the surface and was rescued."

It would appear, therefore, that on this occasion, British Vessels Lost at Sea quoted the the gross number lost in the sinking, in error.

Best wishes
David

David,

Thanks for the time taken to type that additional detail and also for clarifying the issue of casualties. Much appreciated.

Steve,

I wasn't too sure about the "Jessie Buchan" aspect when I first saw the plaque, but this confirm that my man is now a woman!! I think I can safely say that the Buchans were passengers and not crew. I can update my plaque details now, thanks.

David,

Thanks for the extra info - always welcome.

Andrew,

bet your glad you asked now


Les.

This is a damn fine thread - one of the best Forum ones of recent times. Well done all.
Aye
Malcolm

I agree Malcolm. One of those were people throw in heaps of time and information to help a fellow member - shows the forum at its most positive.

OK, I've a look at U 96's war diary. The quality of the microfilming done in 1946 isn't up to modern standards; the material in the extreme left margin, including date and time, was often cut off. That's the case for this page. The original, held at the German military archives at Freiburg, should have the times.

.

A quick and dirty summary: U 96 spots a large inbound steamer, which is overtaking her from astern. The submarine dives and conducts an attack using her stern torpedo tubes which requires her to go to high speed to achieve the desired firing location after the steamer changes her course.

First torpedo is fired from torpedo tube #5 (one of two stern tubes). K. III. torpedo. Firing solution based upon estimated speed of target of 8 knots. However, the high and long promenade deck of the steamer was only recognized too late, which caused the solution to be more astern than ideal. A hit is achieved at a range of 300 meters well aft. Target identified as a passenger steamer of the Highland class = 7500 tons.

Second K.III. torpedo fired. (Fangschuß roughly = coup de grâce). Hit amidship. Steamer sinks with heavy list over the stern. The stem remains remains above water, with the sea burning...

OK, a few additional comments.

The submarine war is an area that was the subject of a great deal of propaganda from both sides, both during and after the war. The British tried to put the worst possible light on the U-boats, with the spin aimed at both domestic and international audiences. So it's best to treat the statements from, say The Times in this case with some caution.

The clear implication of The Times articles and secondary sources cited is that Kplt. Jeß' second torpedo was excessive as the steamer was obviously going down anyways and amounted to a war crime. Let's examine this a bit more closely.

Torpedoes were expensive; indeed, during most of the war, the big U-series boats based in Germany like U 96 carried mixed torpedo loads that included older and smaller models (45 cm types fired on rails from the standard 50 cm torpedo tubes were fitted!) for use against less valuable targets. U-boats virtually always fired torpedoes one at a time against a target in World War I. And Apapa was certainly a valuable target -- she was about the 150th largest ship sunk by U-boats during the war (out of 6,500 vessels+ sunk).

U 96's KTB (war diary) paints a rather different picture of the situation: Kplt. Jeß admits to misjudging his attack and rather than hitting the big steamer amidship, the first torpedo struck home well aft. The obvious implication of the second torpedo shot was that he did not feel, based upon the information available to him, that it was a given the steamer was going down.

Also, the inevitability of a sinking cannot be presumed merely because the Apapa was in the process of being abandoned. A number of ship were abandoned only to be reboarded later and salvaged.

What's missing is additional primary source material, specifically, the report on the sinking filed by Captain Toft, which should be in ADM 137/4005 at Kew.


Kplt. Heinrich Jeß's commands:
U 79 (big minelayer with limited torpedo attack capacity): March 25, 1916 - February 20, 1917
U 96: April 11, 1917 to August 31, 1918
U 90: September 1, 1918 to war's end.

U 96 sinks 31 ships of 95,228 grt and damages an additional three vessels of 16,220 grt during the war, all under Jeß' command. Jeß also sank 11 ships of 21,754 will in command of U 79 and one ship of 3,587 grt while on U 90.

Best wishes,
Michael

Michael,

I did not intend to imply any war crimes from my postings. I was adding the Times articles to add to the sources available, which are often pitifully few. As fairly seasoned researchers our belief in newspaper articles (of ANY era) is hopefully tinged with a fair bit of sceptism.

They do remain as a contemporary resource which to a large extent have survived the ravages of time a fair amount more than the comtemporary official records (of which we also treat with a healthy dose of sceptism - War Diaries, I'm looking at you....)

The modern approach to research is far more prone to a balanced view of all sides to the war, and an appreciation of the position that soldiers, sailors, and especially their commanders, were put in.

As you say, the submarine commander no doubt acted on the information available to him, and the standing orders of the day.

The report of Captain Toft would certainly help add to the picture, though inevitably the passage of time will likely prevent us ever seeing the full picture on most events this far in the past.

As usual, the truth is often somewhere in between the extremes.

Best wishes,
Steve.

Michael,

May I offer a huge 'thank you' for the details posted above. When I began this thread I wasn't expecting to learn too much more to be honest. Now I feel that there can be very little left to discover (other than Toft's account).

Thanks again.

Andrew,
Just in case you were wondering, there don't appear to be any Mercantile Marine casualties' War Graves from "Apapa" listed on Anglesey itself. The bodies, if picked up locally, were buried elsewhere. Civilians are another matter entirely. Was your man local to Abergele, or just washed up there?
LST_164

I'm still working on his background. He doesn't appear to have an obvious Abergele connection. The only additional information on CWGC is 'Son of Richard Taylor; husband of Emma Taylor, of 48, Cairns St., Liverpool.'. There are Taylor's in Abergele at the time but as it's a fairly common name I wouldn't like to assume a connection.
There are no other 'Apapa' casualties in the town so presumably it's a case of either he was washed up on the beach or that he was local. I can't think of any other reason.
My next step is the local papers which may, or may not, provide a clue.

Andrew,
The local papers may well help even if only they record discovery & burial (?also Liverpool papers) - censorship and restrictions on newsprint in 1917 may mean they don't. Papers might later have a digest of Inquest also. If he was from Abergele & found elsewhere, the Inquest etc. will be reported & recorded under that area. Coroner's Records ( try County Record Office), esp. his Register or Daybook of incidents & eventual conclusions may help, but see caveat above.

If you think it's worthwhile, you could ask for a copy of his Merchant service record etc from Kew - should include place of birth and other info. Is he not on the local Memorial?
Cheers,
Clive

The lost crew are commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial, which means they were lost at sea and have no known grave.

Best wishes
David

From ADM 137/4005 as recommended by Michael Lowrey.

Part 2 of Report1



Part 2 of Report1

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2nd Report


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Part 2 of 2nd Report

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Had some time spare at the NA, and broadening my research horizons. Forgot to copy the index of the numbers. Oops.


Steve.

How strange is this,

I have a mercentile marine pair to Thomas Jennings.

I looked on the CWGC site and 2 are listed to having died,

1 was on SS Appa and died in WW1

The other was on MV Appa and died in WW2.

What are the chances of 2 men with the same name both dying on 2 different ships with the same name?

Hi Andrew

Here's picture to go with all that information

Regards John.


Click to view attachment

Some info on U-96 (scroll down the page, the top is blank)
http://www.uboat.net/wwi/boats/index.html?boat=96

This has all the details of the ship.
Aye
Malcolm

Hi Andrew
I've just read through your 'quest'. My great uncle's Steamer, SS Sea Gull was sunk off Point Lynas .Seemed to be a hot spot for subs. I couldn't get any newspaper reports in the Irish papers I noticed the Times covered yours maybe because it was a larger ship?
Endron

Steve,
Sorry, I've only just caught up with this post. I recall now that you mentioned something about this when we met on Saturday and I gave a rather vague response. I hadn't seen the report you have provided at that time so huge apologies! You must have felt a bit miffed at my casual reaction. Sorry, sorry, sorry....

John,
Thank you for the photograph - very helpful.

Geoff,
Thank you - also very helpful.

Endron,
You may well be right. I cannot help you with this at all and I would hate to see your question get lost in this thread so might I recommend you start a thread of your own where your question will hopefully fare as well as mine?

Thanks everyone.

Not miffed at all, Andrew.

I was interested in what the reoprt would add, and it expanded my research knowledge, so win, win.


Steve.

Well, I've finally tracked down a newspaper report. The 'Abergele Visitor' of January 5 1918 carries an extensive article which also raises the 'war crimes' angle. The highlights of the report are:

"Near Miller's Cottage, Towyn, on Saturday morning last, a workman employed by the railway company discovered on the foreshore the dead body of a man who was subsequently identified as being A. Taylor, second stewrad of the liner ' Apapa' which was recently torpedoed....

Owen Roberts...stated.... a dark object on the jetty attracted his attention. It was about 7 o'clock and a bit dark and he had to go quite near the object to discern what it realy was. He found it to be the body of a man. When it became daylight witnesses found from buttons on his coat that he was a sailor...the body lay face upwards, and the head towards the sea, and it had to be moved higher up as the tide was coming in...it was fully clothed but had no lifebelt on....

Sergeant John Worthington [Police] said that about 8.30 on Saturday morning....[he saw]... a dead body clothed in a pale blue shirt, a blue jacket with brass buttons (on which was the name of a certain Colonial Company). On the coat collar on both sides were the words 'second steward'. The man also wore a brown cardigan jacket and blue serge trousers, but he wore no shoes nor stockings...[Worthington] searched the pockets and fond two keys to which was attached a brass tab which bore the name 'A Taylor'. A handkerchief found in the pocket also had the same name on. There were no papers of any kind in the pockets...[Worthington] said that as far as he could say, the deceased was 35 to 40 years....

the Coroner said that everything pointed to the conclusion that deceased had lost his life through drowning as the result of the action of an enemy submarine...

Mr. F. J. Gamlin, who represented the owners of he doomed vessel, strongly advised the jury to give condemnatory expression to their views on the murderous U-Boat campaign instituted by the Kaiser...they as Welshmen...should adopt a verdict that they considered the Kaiser responsible....they should pass a verdict of 'Wilful Murder'....

The Coroner said he was afraid it would not be possible to bring....a charge of murder...

The remains of the deceased were laid to rest on New Years Day...two relatives were in attendance..."

Thank you once again to everyone who has assisted in putting so much detail into this story.

Andrew
Amazing what info can be had on this Forum. A credit to all the members.
So I will add my small observations to broaden the story !
There may be a chance that passengers are listed at the National Archives in the (Inbound) Board of Trade series BT26. I looked for another vessel of this line earlier in the same year (May 1917,ABOSSO) and found that the Captain,some crew, and passengers, had survived a torpedo off the South Coast of Ireland been rescued by a destroyer. The Captain duly reported his vessel's data in Liverpool,complete with full survivor list. I read that file at the NA.The Captain at that time was also TOFT ! Lucky guy,twice surviving.
A second possibility is in the Special Collections at Southampton Civic Centre Library as there is an Elder Dempster book on WW1 sinkings of it's vessels. I can't remember whether it listed only crew lost,I think that is probably the case. I will take a look and get back to you sometime soon. I THINK I have a pic of Apapa somewhere so will take a look.
Best wishes
Sotonmate

Sotonmate,

Thank you for your interesting contribution.

I was aware of the existence of the Elder-Dempster book but have never seen one. If you get the chance to look and notice anything of interest that has not appeared above I would be very interested to hear it. Similarly, there are two different photo's referred to above but if you can access a different one I would be interested in seeing that too.

Cheers.

Andrew
Took a look in the book "The Elder Dempster Fleet in the War 1914-1918" today. There is a 3 page account of the sinking and a list of the lost crew. No passenger list shown. I digipic'd the pages but will have to get them downloaded elsewhere as I have a prob with my programme,but will post them soon. The data is much as you have discovered in your thread.
The crew list would be shown on BT99 at the NA but you would need the ship's Official Number to find the correct file number. You can get this (as you will probably already know) from the Lloyds' List for any year from the date of it's launching to it's demise,at a Reference Library. Even then they have a very small percentage of crew agreements remaining in Archive. If,as it seems,Taylor is a Steward,the Agreement would show his home address. My money would be on Liverpool.
Sotonmate

Apapa's Official Number was 136797.

Best wishes,
Michael

Michael
Thanks for completing the picture. I didn't think this morning when I was surrounded by Lloyd's Lists !
Sotonmate

Sotonmate,

Thanks for taking the trouble to look into this for me. I would be interested in seeing the digipics if/when you can make them available.

Cheers.

Andrew
I now have the digipics in my file so will send them on to you. There are 3 pages of account of the sinking and one showing the crew loss list. If they don't appear here then I will have sent them by PM !
Terry

Andrew
I THINK I have added the 4 pages !
Sotonmate