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Ian U3A Empire Wave Sunk 1941.10.0221

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Ian U3A Empire Wave Sunk 1941.10.0221 S.S. Empire Wave 1941 by George Cogswell The Tragic Story of the Loss of a CAM Ship Every single man on its one surviving lifeboat suffered severe frostbite & had to have toes or limbs amputated Introduction The genesis for this document came from a part-diary and part-memory record of the experiences of R.A.F. Aircraftman 2 – James Eric Longmire Service No. 1143493 who, in 1941, was serving on one of the Merchant Navy’s CAM ships (an acronym for Catapult Armed Merchant Ships) – the 7,463 ton - S.S. Empire Wave. The prefix of “Empire” indicates that it was one of hundreds of Ministry of War Transport ships that had been been, built by, requisitioned by the British Government, or obtained from the U.S.A., or captured from the Germans to become part of the British Merchant Navy. The British Government owned them but they were contracted out to various shipping companies to operate. Empire ships were supplements to Britain's normal peacetime merchant fleet, swelling its wartime numbers to 12,000, then the largest merchant ship fleet in the world. Approximately 4,000 ships on the British register were lost between 1939 and 1945, a considerable number being sunk during the Battle of the Atlantic. 30,248 merchant seamen lost their lives during World War Two Apart from the deadly U-Boats, the next most serious threat to our freight convoys was from the German Focke-Wulf FW 200 Condor aircraft that had range of nearly 2,300 miles, which was way beyond the capabilities of the British support aircraft available at that time. In the first two months of 1941, Condors sunk 26 merchant ships. ~ 1 ~ The Focke-Wulf FW 200 Condor Airliner This was developed as a long-range airliner. A Japanese request for a long-range maritime patrol aircraft led to military versions that saw service with the Luftwaffe as a long range reconnaissance a shipping/maritime patrol bomber aircraft. The Luftwaffe also made extensive use of the FW 200 as a transport aircraft. It achieved success as a commerce raider until mid-1941, by which time it was being harried by long-range RAF Coastal Command aircraft and the Hurricane fighters being flown from CAM ships. James was part of the R.A.F. teams that travelled with the basic merchant vessels that had been converted to CAM ships, by the addition of a 75 foot ramp that the aircraft rested upon and was rocket assisted in taking off from. Only one problem with these was that once the pilot had taken off he was unable to land back on the vessel, and had to ditch in the sea close to a convoy ship that he hoped would be able to stop and pick him up. The aircraft used was a converted Hawker Hurricane that was called “Sea Hurricane”, but generally became known as “Hurricat”, the title being made up from a cross between Hurricane and catapult. Each Hurricat team comprised - one pilot for Atlantic runs (or two for voyages to Russia, Gibraltar, or the Mediterranean Sea), plus one fitter, one rigger, one radio-telephone operator, one FDO (Flight Deck Officer) and a seaman torpedo man who worked on the catapult as an electrician. MSFU (Merchant Ship Fighter Unit) crews each signed ship's articles as civilian crew members under the authority of the civilian ship’s master. The ship's chief engineer became responsible for the catapult, and the first mate acted as CDO (catapult duty officer) responsible for firing the catapult when directed. The single Hurricane fighter was launched only when enemy aircraft were sighted and agreement was reached using hand and flag signals between the pilot, CDO, and ship's master. More about the Hurricat operation later, let us now look at the very short, but eventful sailing record of the Empire Wave:- Initially there was to be 200 merchant ships converted into CAM ships, but that was soon reduced to 50 and reduced again down to 35, twelve of which were sunk. ~ 2 ~ The (MOWT) S.S. Empire Wave A Catapult Armed Merchant Ship showing the 75 ft Launching Ramp BL 4 inch DEMS Naval Gun ~ 3 ~ . The Record Card for the S.S. Empire Wave (Images Courtesy of the National Archives ref: BT 389/12/90) The S.S. Empire Wave was launched at Sunderland on the 28th Mach 1941 and sailed to Tyneside, arriving on the 3rd July. From there she sailed to the Clyde, arriving on the 7th/8th July and Glasgow on the 8th/9th July. Back on the Clyde on the 14th July, but was involved in a collision, the dates of the collision on the record card seem to contradict each other. ~ 4 ~ She arrived at Bangor Bay, Northern Ireland on the 15th/16th July, Belfast on the 16th/17th July and returned to Liverpool the same day. Repairs to the collision damage were started on the 19th July. Having been repaired, she sailed from Liverpool on the 10th September 1941 and sailed to Belfast Lough arriving the 11th/12th September, then Belfast on the 16th. She then set sail on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic in Convoy ON-19 bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on the 21st/22nd September 1941. She was due to dock at Halifax on the 10th October 1941. Presumably James boarded the ship at Liverpool on the 10th September? [Convoys listed as ‘ON’ = Liverpool to Halifax, Nova Scotia – this was the 19th ON convoy.]. They got as far as the south-west of Iceland when the ship was torpedoed by U-Boat U-562, at 06.52 hrs on the 2nd October 1941 about 500 miles east of Cape Farewell, Greenland, in position: 59º08’N – 32º26’W. According to the BT (Board of Trade) record above, the ship sank within 20 minutes taking many of the crew down with it. The ship’s complement was 60 – 33 of whom died and there were 27 survivors, three of whom died on the lifeboat or soon after landing in Iceland. The master, 19 crew members, five gunners and five other DEMS (Defensive Equipped Merchant Ship) personnel (RDF and catapult operators) abandoned ship into one lifeboat, but they were never seen again after losing contact with the other lifeboat. The second lifeboat carried 27 crew members that included one gunner, one DEMS personnel and five RAF personnel. After a miraculous 14 day, 500 mile journey in an open lifeboat, the men in this boat were eventually picked up by the Icelandic trawler “Surprise” on the 16th October 1941 and were landed at Patrick’s Fjord, Iceland. However, by then one man had died of exposure in the lifeboat and two others died shortly after being taken to a hospital at Reykjavik. It is hard to imagine how anyone could survive, physically or mentally, bobbing about in a lifeboat for 14 days in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean close to the Arctic Circle in October, with little or no water or food? ~ 5 ~ ACM 2 James Eric Longmire One of those five RAF survivors was ACM 2 James Eric Longmire and I think that it is time to bring into the story James Eric Longmire’s diary and his memories of the sinking and the surviving crews’ miraculous, traumatic lifeboat journey across 500 miles of the North Atlantic to the safety of Iceland, but first let’s look at James himself. James Eric Longmire is on the left James Eric Longmire was born on the 13th February 1921, the birth being registered during the March quarter 1921 in the Chorlton R.D. – ref: 8c/1609, the son of Christopher Edgar & Catherine Longmire (nee Wilkes). He married Rosina Ada Winifred Stringer during the September quarter 1954 in the Bucklow R.D. – ref: 10a/195. Rosina was born on the 3rd December 1931 and died on the 13th August 1999 in the Stockport R.D. – ref: 0131B/B76A, aged: 68. James died on the 6th July 2002, the death being registered in the Trafford R.D. - ref: C47A/0151C, aged: 81. He was then residing at 1a Priory Road, Sale, Cheshire, M33 2BS Probate was granted at Brighton, Sussex on the 23rd September 2002. ~ 6 ~ James’ Diary and Memories of the Sinking and Lifeboat Voyage - 1941 21 Sept Set sail from Bangor Bay to join convoy. Sighted convoy on 22nd 23 Sept Bill very bad; won’t eat anything, just lies in his hammock all day. ‘Plane’ OK, did Radio Test with Lt. Bain – everything OK. 24 Sept ‘Plane’ got a bit of a soaking (rough weather) at night. We had a scare as planes were flying around and we thought they were Jerries but nothing happened. Bill still very bad and Tom is a bit off colour. 25 Sept Nothing special happened today except weather was a bit rough. 26 Sept Nothing going today. Bill still very bad and won’t eat anything. 27 Sept Weather very bad and l thought Bill was a bit better because he got up for a few hours. 28 Sept Weather terrible. We have been doing about 2 knots. Bill was very sick after eating some cheese. Tom was a bit green too. [There were problems with the ship’s engines that slowed them down turning them into a ‘straggler’. On their own, stragglers soon became easy prey to the U-Boats]. 29 Sept This is the date we lost the convoy. Very bad weather. 30 Sept We did about 2 miles in 12 hours (going round in circles); no sign of the convoy.
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