The Glocliffe (Wreck)

 First World War 1914-1918, shipwreck, interesting place, draw only border

The Glocliffe, a British steamer of 2211 tons, 287ft long with a beam of 43ft, was built in 1915 by Craig, Taylor and Co at Stockton-on-Tees. She was well short of a year old when she had her first unpleasant taste of war, writes Kendall McDonald.

On 2 January, 1916, she hit a mine in the North Sea, but was lucky to be beached. After repairs, she went to war again.

This time, her master was Captain Robert T Evans of Cardiff, who had orders to take a full cargo of 3281 tons of Welsh coal from Barry to Southampton.

Coal was not the only thing loaded at Barry. A 12-pounder 12cwt gun was mounted on her stern, and her crew became 22 when two Navy gunners were put aboard to man the big gun.

All went well for the next two days until Glocliffe, making a steady speed of nine knots, reached Falmouth and began the zig-zag course specified in Captain Evans' orders for steaming up-Channel. When he reached Start Point, visibility became very poor, with heavy rain showers and mist. Evans felt he was too close to land, stopped the zigs and zags and headed further out to sea off Berry Head.

It was then, on 19 August, 1917, that Oberleutnant Howaldt in UB40 of the Flanders Flotilla spotted Glocliffe. He was near the end of his mission and low on torpedoes, but the steamer was a perfect target and made things even easier when it stopped zig-zagging. Howaldt fired from a hull-down position, hitting Glocliffe amidships in the boiler-room and killing two firemen in the stokehold.

Only one of the lookouts had spotted the wake of the torpedo, and though he screamed a warning, the torpedo was then only 45m away. The helm was put hard over, but it was too late. Minutes later, at 5.25pm, Glocliffe sank.

The remaining crew and gunners took to the boats and were saved. The gunners, who had been on the steamer's stern with their gun, had not fired a single round - hardly surprising because, like everyone else aboard, they had failed to see UB40 or her periscope, the only thing showing above the swells.