The Brigantine ‘Harriet Williams’

Introduction

The Harriet Williams, launched on the 4^th of August 1866, was originally rigged as a brigantine, registered at Llanelli belonging to Thomas Stone. Her hull was sheathed with zinc for the Mediterranean trade.

Wreck and Recovery

The Schooner Paulus and Hernts

On Friday the 25^th of June 1880, it was reported that the ship landed in Plymouth carrying five sailors from the Dutch Schooner Paulus and Hernts. The Dutch schooner was taking fire bricks from Briton Ferry to St Petersburg. On Friday the 18^th they were mid-channel off the Eddystone Lighthouse in foggy weather when they were hit by a large three masted steamer. The crew hailed the steamer, asking for help and the ships' name, both of which were refused. The steamer, which was moving slowly at the time, increased speed and disappeared into the fog. The crew of the schooner took to their boat, just in time as the pressure of trapped air beneath the deck of the sinking hull blew out the deck, causing her to go down suddely, head first. As the crew pulled toward Plymouth, they saw hope in the Russian barque Mahino. Pulling alongside and asking to be taken on board, they were again refused. After several hours in the boat they were eventually picked up when the Harriet Williams crew spotted them.

Rough Weather

The Harriet Williams saw more bad weather in November 1884. After leaving Brake, Germany, for Newcastle in ballast, she had to put into Cuxhaven. She had lost some sails, was leaking and the pumps were choked. Then in March 1886, after leaving Shields, she had to be towed into Yarmouth through stress of weather.

Crew Lost

On the 10^th of December 1891 the Harriet Williams was moored in Shields Harbour at the Mill Dam, laden with coal. Two crewmen, George Jacobs and Philip James Brown obtained shore leave and went ashore about 7pm that evening. Returning to the landing at about ten to eleven, they hailed their ship, but got no reply. They then asked a sculler man to take them aboard, but were refused because they had been drinking. They then took a small boat that was moored at the landing which had no oars. Taking to the water, they tried to paddle the boat with the bottom boards, but were caught in a westerly squall. The boat drifted with the wind and the water became rough, eventually capsizing the boat, throwing the two men into the water.

George Jacobs was rescued by a sculler man, John Hurst, and taken ashore. After being brought round, he was then taken to the River Police Station where he was looked after. Philip Brown was not seen until the following morning when William Harris found his body, along with the boat just below the penny ferry, about a quarter of a mile from the Mill Dam. Ordinary Seaman Jacobs said that the 22 year old, from Fowey, had sunk immediately after going in the water.

Damage in Grangemouth

In July 1895 the Harriet Williams had arrived at Grangemouth from Rotterdam with scrap iron. On entering the harbour, she collided with the quay wall, causing her anchor to damage the bow. She was towed up river and put on the ground for repairs.

Girl Rescued by Crewman

The ship was in Exeter in August 1905. On the 18^th a young girl was playing by the canal, near the basin when she fell into the water. A boy who saw her struggling raised the alarm. A sailor from the Harriet Williams plunged himself into the canal, and with some difficulty, recovered the girl from the water. After artificial respiration was applied, she showed signs of life, and was then taken home.

The Smack Myrtle

In 1909, now belonging to her final owner, Edward Stephens of Fowey, the Harriet Williams was herself involved in a collision at sea. On the morning of Saturday the 6^th of February she was carrying a cargo of coal from Newcastle to Guernsey when she collided with the Lowestoft fishing smack Myrtle, which sank about three miles north of the Outer Gabbard Lightship.

The owners and crew of Myrtle tried to claim against the owner of Harriet Williams for damages and loss of property. The action was dismissed, the court ruling that the accident was due to poor look-out on the part of the smack.

Collision With a Steamer

In January 1910 the Harriet Williams had left Dunkirk, bound for Cork with a cargo of manure. She collided with a steamer, the name of which was unknown, that was travelling east. She was towed into Dover on the 7^th with a broken bowsprit and considerable damage to the starboard bow.

World War One

By the time of World War One there were precious few merchant ships from Wray’s yard remaining. Many of the remaining fishing smacks had been sold abroad. As if seafaring was not already a perilous enough occupation, the outbreak of war meant it got a whole lot worse, with this war seeing the beginning of a new threat to shipping.

Looking at the half yearly agreements for the year 1915, held at the National Maritime Museum, we see the Harriet Williams sailing around the UK coast under Captain George Bishop.

Port	From	Until
Falmouth	---	12/1/1915
Guernsey	20/1/1915	12/2/1915
Poole	11/3/1915	30/3/1915
Fowey	29/5/1915	9/6/1915
Glasgow	8/7/1915	10/7/1915
Fowey	11/8/1915	24/8/1915
Preston	8/9/1915	11/9/1915
Fowey	2/10/1915	8/10/1915
Preston	22/10/1915	26/10/1915
Fowey	1/12/1916	8/12/1915
Preston	17/1/1916	---

Crew	Age	Birthplace	Last Ship	Date Signed	Place Signed	Capacity Engaged	Date Left	Place Left	Cause Left
George Bishop	49	Torquay	Same Ship	10/7/1915	Glasgow	Master	18/1/1916	Preston	Discharged
J Parsons	29	Guernsey	Same Ship	10/7/1915	Glasgow	Mate	---	Preston	Discharged
E Martin	43	Guernsey	Same Ship	10/7/1915	Glasgow	Able Seaman	14/8/1915	Fowey	Discharged
J Jorgensen	49	Norway	Same Ship	10/7/1915	Glasgow	Able Seaman	11/8/1915	Fowey	Deserter
G Marshall	18	Liverpool	Same Ship	10/7/1915	Glasgow	Ordinary Seaman	17/1/1916	Preston	Discharged
C Perren	15	Poole	Same Ship	10/7/1915	Glasgow	Cook	18/1/1916	Preston	Discharged
A Mortensen	55	Denmark	Milderred	24/8/1915	Fowey	Able Seaman	8/9/1915	Preston	Discharged
James Hurst	16	Wigan	Cormendie	11/9/1915	Preston	Able Seaman	2/10/1915	Fowey	Discharged
Ben Vermen	36	Belgium	Emogene	4/10/1915	Fowey	Able Seaman	17/1/1916	Preston	Discharged
James Radcliff	65	---	Ben B	8/10/1915	Fowey	Seaman & Cook	22/10/1915	Preston	Discharged
Phillip Humphrys	27	Liverpool	Jane Slade	26/10/1915	Preston	Able Seaman	1/12/1915	Fowey	Discharged
John Murphy	38	St Johns	Pedestrian	8/12/1915	Fowey	Able Seaman	18/1/1916	Preston	Discharged

The Harriet Williams was the first of two Stather ships to become the victim of German submarines in 1917 during World War One. The other was the schooner Florence Muspratt in September of that year.

UB-18 was a prolific destroyer of vessels, with a count of 128 ships sunk, totalling 131,565 tons, in a short career of just under two years. This came to an end on the 9^th of December 1917 when the U-boat met an unlikely nemesis in the form of the British trawler Ben Lawer which rammed and sank the submarine with the loss of all 24 crew.

Vessel Details for Harriet Williams

Official Number:	53355
Code Flags:	TVBM
Vessel Name:	Harriet Williams
Type:	Brigantine
Built:	4th of Aug 1866
Tons:	144
Length:	96.6
Beam:	21.9
Depth:	12.8
Owners:	Stone & Co Honner 1874 Michael Flanagan of Youghal Cork 1880 George H Bate of Fowey 1882 J E Hocken 1894 Henry John Newman 1899 Edward Stephens of Fowey 1907
Masters:	Gurnett Gosnell 1874 John Smith 1894 H J Newman 1899 George Bishop 1915
Ports:	Llanelli Fowey 1888
Notes:	Appears earlier in Lloyds register as a Brigantine, but 1882 onward as a schooner.
Construction:	Sheathed with felt and zinc. Iron bolts. Damage repairs in 1872 and 1875.
Trade:	Llanelli, France and Mediterranean.
Incidents:	Feb 1874, wrecked at Dunnycove Bay, Co Cork, later recovered and repaired.1909, While carrying coal from Newcastle to the Channel Islands, Harriet Williams collided with the Lowestoft fishing smack Myrtle, sinking her about three miles north of the Outer Gabbard Lightship in the North Sea.
Fate:	Sunk by German Uboat UB18, 28th Feb 1917 15 mile NNE off Cape dAntifer. Travelling from London to Le Harve. No fatalities.

Sources

1. Lloyd's Register of Ships. - 1869 to 1899.
2. The Mercantile Navy Lists.
3. Shields Daily Gazette.
4. Sheffield Independent.
5. Northern Echo.
6. Western Times.
7. The Merthyr Telegraph - 25^th June 1880.
8. The Dundee Courier - 8^th February 1909.
9. Dover Express.
10. Half-Yearly Agreement and Account of Voyages and Crew - Harriet Williams 1915, National Maritime Museum.
11. www.uboat.net - Ships hit during WWI.