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Leasowe Castle: The Leasowe Castle was a Passenger Steamship of 9.737 Grt built at Cammell, Laird & Co., Ltd. Originally laid down as the Vasilissa Sophia for the National Steam Navigation Co. of Greece with management by Embericos Bros. However, work was suspended for some months and during that time she was transferred to the British subsidiary, Byron Steam Ship Co. of London, in anticipation that she could be finished in time to be requisistioned by the government for trooping duties. Having been acquired under the Liner Acquisition Scheme, she was eventually launched on 05 April 1917 as the Leasowe Castle with a length of 148.9 meters and beam of 17.7 meters and was placed under Union-Castle management but never being owned by them. She was defensively armed and conducted trooping service between Alexandria and Marseilles.
No Photo Available On 20 April 1917 the ship under the command of Captain H.B. Harvey, was attacked at Gibralter by German submarine U-35 (Lothar von Arnauld de la Periere) which carried away the ship's rudder, however, the ship's propellers were not damaged and the ship was able to reach Gibralter. The following year, on 27 May 1918, under the command of Captain Holl, the ship was part of a convoy of six transporters accompanied by a number of destroyer escorts, and was carrying 2900 troops plus crew. The weather conditions were considered good, with the sea calm and a full moon in a clear sky. At 0130 the Leasowe Castle was struck on the starboard side by a torpedo fired from German submarine U-51 (Ernst Krafft)approximately 104 miles West-by-North 1/2 North from Alexandria at position 31.30N/27.56E. The engines were immediatley stopped and the troops mustered to their stations. About 40 boats and rafts were lowered into the water over a 45 minute period. The ship remained fairly steady at this point, though sinking slightly at the stern with a slight port list. The HMS Lily had separated from the convoy at 0145 and returned to assist the stricken ship. The Lily ran her bows up to the starboard side of the Leasowe Castle and made fast, so that troops were able to pass quickly on board. Meanwhile, the Japanese Destroyer "R" put up a smoke screen for protection. At approximately 0300 a bulkhead in the after part of the ship gave way and the ship sank suddenly by the stern. The HMS Lily barely had time to cut her hawswers, using an axe, from the sinking ship. The remainder of the boats and rafts in the water remained guarded by a smoke screen put up by two destroyers and were picked towards noon and brought into port. 92 troops and 9 of the crew lost their lives and no attempt to recover their bodies was made.
References:
Miramar Single Ship Report for "1140272" http://www.uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/3541.html http://www.onderscheidingenforum.nl http://www.prescot-rollofhonour.info/54.html http://www.red-duster.co.uk/UNION16.htm The German Submarine War 1914-1918 By R.H. Gibson, R H Gibson & Maurice Prendergast, Maurice Prendergast |
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