The sinking of R.M.S. Falaba - An sketch by Jamie, taken from an original image
that can be seen at: http://www.lowestoftjournal.co.uk/news/lowestoft_s_trawler_heroes_of_shocking_u_boat_attack_1_3614860
Note: Other images of the incident can also be viewed
on this website. Included are photos taken by an army officer on board: http://www.lowestoftjournal.co.uk/news/lowestoft_s_trawler_heroes_of_shocking_u_boat_attack_1_3614860
The Elder
Dempster shipping line, a major
Player serving
West Africa trade routes,
Commissioned in 1913 R.M.S. Falaba -
Built by Stephens and Sons in Glasgow's
Construction yards - in 1915, on 27 March,
Falaba left Liverpool on a routine voyage.
The civilian ship had welcomed aboard
All the passengers of varied nationalities
Among those who joined the travellers
On deck was a 31 year old Leon Thrasher,
An American from Massachusetts State -
His occupation being a mining engineer.
Work was taking Thrasher out to Africa
And the Gold Coast of Ghana. The crew
Had welcomed their charges and showed
Them all to their quarters - Captain Davis,
With his crew of 96, prepared with cargo
And passengers began voyage at 6 p.m.
As a passenger boat they carried no
Offensive gunnery on board - although
Their cargo, at a value of £50,000, had
Been loaded at the docks - to be ordinary
Kind of gunpowder and cartridges - of 13
Tons for general use on the African Coast.
Gathered on the deck, the passengers
Enjoyed the journey's start, as it moved on
The Mersey out to sea - ready to serve,
The crew of Stewards and Stewardesses
Prepared the paying guests their comforts;
undeterred by any presence of submarines.
Leon Thrasher was among the nationalities,
As a singular
representative of the USA.
While
independent of war status, his country's
President
Wilson, had made protestations
At the British
embargo, to starve the German
Nation - by
denying all goods and munitions.
With the sea at
war having stepped up, orders
To merchant
vessels had been to disguise
Their names and
port of calls - another ruse
Was for flags of
neutral nations to be flown.
Submarine
challenges would all be ignored -
Any unarmed ships were to ram enemy boats.
A German response
of February, had been
The Kaiser's
declaration, to declare waters
About Britain as
zone of war - any merchant
Ships present at sea would be open to attack,
Despite
neutrality - Mr Leon Thrasher on deck,
Looked out to sea, as R.M.S. Falaba made sail.
The journey had started out for Sierra Leone,
Under Captain Davis, with twenty years
Of experience and Mr Baxter, Chief Officer.
The morning of the 28 March 1915 began
With the ship's breakfast - by late morning,
11.30 a.m. the Captain was in the chart room.
On the bridge watch, was the third Officer
Mr Pengilly and Mr Baxter - when at 11.40 a.m.
Was seen - 2 point abaft the starboard beam,
At three miles - the firm shape of a submarine.
Mr Pengilly believed he saw the British ensign;
At a distance lay another steamer, Eileen Emma.
Falaba was travelling at 13 knots, being 60 miles
West of St Ann's Head - the sea was then heavy
And becoming choppier. With Captain Davis
Summoned, their course was altered to keep
The submarine astern - with orders to increase
Speed, which the engine room was unable to make.
The Submarine came closer, moving at 18 knots
Their ensign could now be seen to be German -
Baxter ordered Marconi operator to signal stations,
And state submarines fast approach at 11.50 a.m.-
Within ten minutes, the enemy submarine fired
Up a signal to stop - to wave flags to abandon ship.
The Captain's orders kept the Falaba moving,
Trying to keep astern - another flag signal read
Said 'stop or I fire.' passengers by now had
Seen the German presence, as the Chief Officer
And Captain agreed - any escape was impossible.
A third signal then said abandon ship immediately.
The engine room responded - then a enemy crew
Member of the German submarine, by megaphone
Said take to the boats, as they would sink the ship
Within five minutes - Captain Davis replied to say
This was being done, while a Marconi operator sent
A message of position - at 12.05 p.m. Falaba stopped.
There was a hundred yards between both crafts.
Passengers crew had all hurried to lower boats.
Among them the American, Leon Thrasher, stared at
The Germans; a neutral citizen caught up in Europe's.
War, he looked to his watch, 12:10 p.m. - screams
And shouts filled the air about, as a torpedo struck.
The strike was on the starboard side - the blast
Centring by the Marconi room and No.1 lifeboat -
The hit was fatal as the boat listed starboard.
Within 20 minutes of the U-28's Commander -
Baron Fostner's intentions to sink the 5000 ton
Falaba - task was done, with 242 people aboard.
Within eight minutes, the passenger ship sank -
Accounts of survivors swaying to the fact, how
The enemy crew and captain jeered and laughed,
As people in the water struggled to survive - many
To drown - Moving back short minutes, to review
The unfolding events and how facts came to light.
Between the signals to stop and actual halting,
The passengers had been assembled on deck -
Told to put on lifebelts, with the fourth officer being
Sent to ensure this done - while the crew, from
The engine room, were ordered on deck - followed
By the order all to 'Man the Boats,' down to water.
Some survivors were to say, that some lifeboats
Were evidently in a rotten condition - the larger ones;
1,2,3,4, as old as the ship - Yet another date states
1906 as age of the Falaba; in an opposing reports
Gave Falaba's construction date of 1913 - but lifeboats
No's 3 and 4 were filled both to save 80 people.
A following enquiry was yet to discuss the situation,
To determine Falaba's lifeboats current conditions -
As surviving passengers sought compensations.
The rushed events of hurried disorder on deck had
Led to one boat slipping, another dashed on the side,
While another one jammed - all due to lack of time.
The aftermath was reported, that out of 242
104 people were lost - 47 being the crew, with
57 being passengers - a concerted rescue
Had been carried out by boats in the area -
Trawlers came, as did the drifter Eileen Emma;
But only able to reach the position after sinking.
Captain Davis had floundered into the water,
With many of his crew - to include a stewardess
Louisa Tearle - This marker of eight months
Of war also saw the drowning of Leon Thrasher -
The first American victim of the european war -
His death noted in a memo from his President.
This memo of the U.S. government, was yet
To be sent to the German Government -
Giving out a caution over dangers of Germany's
Policy, on unrestricted submarine sea warfare.
The loss of Leon Thrasher was then to play a part,
In America's warning shot across German bows.
by Jamie Mann.
Source.,1915.
The story of the R.M.S. "Falaba." Merseyside Roll of Honour [online] Available at: http://www.merseysiderollofhonour.co.uk/obits/ships/falaba.htm [Accessed: 28 March 2015].
Source.,1915. First
American citizen killed during WWI. www.history.com [online] Available at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-american-citizen-killed-during-wwi [Accessed: 28 March 2015].
Source.,1915. SS
Falaba – Sunk 28 March 1915. www.history.com [online] Available at: http://www.mrscottstours.com/ss-falaba-sunk-28-march-1915/
[Accessed: 28
March 2015].
Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 28 March 2015).
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