whitby

We will remember thee. RIP

The HERCULES, built 1909, (not to be confused with the armed merchantman SS HERCULES), was torpedoed approximately three miles off Whitby at 1550hrs on 30th December 1917 by UB-21 (Kapitan Walter Scheffer). HERCULES was a 1,295 ton former Norwegian collier which served as an armed merchantman with a single 12-pounder gun mounted on a stern platform. When torpedoed she settled rapidly by the port side and sank in 14 minutes.

The CWGC Site gives the date of death for LS TynesideZ/11314 Joseph Ingham Battye as 30 Dec 1917. The torpedo that sank the HERCULES struck amidships on the port side. The explosion apparently caused panic amongst the crew of 20. The engines were not stopped and this caused problems with launching the boats. The master fell into a lowered boat that immediately capsized drowning 10 men. Some of the crew succeeded in launching another boat and the rest had to jump over the side to swim to it. Exposure in the icy December water accounted for the loss of another 2 of the crew bringing the number lost to 12. The survivors were picked up by a fishing boat and landed at Whitby. The ship sank in 14 minutes and it was considered later that if the crew had kept calm, it is likely that they would all have been saved. Source: Racey, Carl. A Century of Steamship Losses.

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Born 27th August 1899 in Featherstone, Pontefract, Yorkshire, son of Edith and Willie. In 1911 the family is shown at Tanshelf Post Office where they ran a newsagents and general store. Joseph Ingham Battye was 11 years old and shown as being at school but also working as a newsboy for his parents. UK, Royal Navy and Royal Marine War Graves Roll, 1914-1919 shows that his body was not recovered for burial and gives only his mother's details as next of kin: Edith, 59, Ings Road, WAKEFIELD. His rank is given as Acting Leading Seaman. Service number TYNESIDE Z/11314.

A view across the River Esk in Whitby, with St Mary's Parish Church on top of the hill in the distance.

This is another view of the village of Sandsend.

This looks like the same terrace of cottages as appear on another of your Sutcliffe images www.flickr.com/photos/preusmuseum/5226252740/ This is the village of Sandsend, which lies on the coast a few miles North of Whitby.