Maritime record MWX1701 - Broomhill

The BROOMHILL was carrying 1,700 tons of cargo and was attacked by gunfire at 3.30am by UC61 at a range of about 800yds. The master ordered full speed and attempted to escape, this continued until his vessel had been hit about 12 times, two men killed and one wounded. They stopped and surrendered, the enemy boarded using one of the steamers own boats. Scuttling charges were placed and the survivors allowed to get off, the vessel sinking at 4.15am. The submarine then dived and the crew waited in the area until picked up by a patrol vessel which arrived shortly after, they were landed at Weymouth. The ships confidential papers and code books sank with the vessel. (2)

Owner: Broomhill Collieries Ltd
Master: G Wright
Crew: 18
Crew Lost: 2
Built: 1909 Builder: Irvines SB Co Ltd
Where Built: West Hartlepool
Engine HP: 170
Boilers: 2
Propulsion: Screw driven, 3 cylinder triple expansion engine
Additional Construction Details: P deck 19ft; Q deck 63ft; B deck 54ft; F castle 26ft; 1xdeck; machinery by Richardsons, Westgarth and Co, Hartlepool.
Additional sources cited in United Kingdom Shipwreck Index: PRO Kew Adm137/2962.

Position 50 27.16N 2 48.87W taken from (7)

<1> Larn, Richard, 1992, United Kingdom shipwreck index, Extracted 23-NOV-1992 Page(s) N/a (Index). SWX5030.

<2> Larn, R, and Larn, B, 1995, Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 1 : Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset Section 6, Dorset (AJ) Vol 1 (Monograph). SWX4541.

<3> 1990, Lloyds war losses, The First World War: Casualties to shipping through enemy causes 1914-1918, p131 (Index). SWX4540.

<4> 1988, British Vessels Lost at Sea 1914-18 and 1939-45, p49 (Monograph). SWX4538.

<5> Tennant, A J, 1990, British Merchant Ships Sunk by U boats in the 1914-1918 War, p48 (Monograph). SWX4539.

<6> Le Pard, G, 1995-2003, Dorset Coast Forum Maritime Archaeological Database, 129 (Digital archive). SWX8707.

<7> Hinchcliffe, J and V, 1999, Dive Dorset: a diver guide (3rd Edition), Wreck 36 p47 (Monograph). SWX1.

<8> Cumming, E, The Dorset shipwreck and maritime incident directory, 17 (Monograph). SDO16406.

<9> National Record of the Historic Environment, 904590 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 26 2024 3:35PM