MARIE LLEWELLYN
Shipbuildervessel built by
John Lewis & Sons
(Aberdeen, Scotland, 1907 - 1976)
Date1920
Object NameCARGO VESSEL
MediumSTEEL
ClassificationsShip
Dimensionslength 234 7/12' x breadth 35 5/12' x depth 18 7/12'
Gross Tonnage: 1464 ton
Gross Tonnage: 1464 ton
Object numberABDSHIP000035
Keywords
Yard Number: 86
Official Number: 143526
Subsequent Names: KELLWYN (1937).
Fate: Torpedoed and sunk by U-79 350 miles west-northwest of Cape Finisterre, 27 July 1941.
Propulsion: Steam
Description: Cargo vessel with raised quarter deck.
Owners:
1920-25: Llewellyn Shipping Company
1925-28: Federated Coal and Shipping Company, Cardiff
1928-37: Cardigan Shipping Co., Cardiff
1937: Dillwyn SS Co. Ltd, Swansea.
General History:
30/11/1920: Builder's certificate issued.
06/12/1920: Trial trip, average speed 12 knots.
December 1925: Sold by Llewellyn Shipping Company to Federated Coal and Shipping Company, Cardiff with MADGE LLEWELLYN, JOYCE LLEWELLYN and MAUD LLEWELLYN for £80,000 in total.
July 1928: This vessel, with the MADGE LLEWELLYN and MAUD LLEWELLYN was sold by the Federated Coal & Shipping Co. to Cardigan Shipping Co., Cardiff for a total of £69,600.
MARIE LLEWELLYN during The Spanish Civil War:
On 17 July 1936 Francisco Franco led a coup against the Republican Government. The Spanish Civil War had begun. MARIE LLEWELLYN was a 1400 ton steamer built by John Lewis & Sons. Launched in 1920 the cargo ship was owned by a Cardiff shipping company, she was captained by David "Potato" Jones (he was called Potato to differentiate him from two other Jones also running the blockade: "Ham-and-Egg" and "Corn-Cob" all names derived from the cargoes their vessels carried). Although he was advised not to sail for Bilbao by Commander Caslon of HMS BLANCHE flamboyant Potato Jones decided that the adventure and the profits to be made outweighed the risks so he sailed from the French port Saint-Jean-de-Luz. MARIE LLEWELLYN might well have been soundly built in the Aberdeen tradition but modern she was not. Unlike the trawlers the merchant steamer carried no radio meaning that if she had been intercepted by Nationalists there was little chance of the Royal Navy coming to her assistance. Nevertheless with 1000 tons of potatoes she made for Bilbao, looking to carry back to Wales much needed iron ore for the country's steel industry. It was not to be and after much bluster, with the ship's whereabouts being uncertain (Aberdeen Press & Journal headline was "Where is 'Potato' Jones?") MARIE LLEWELLYN was reported as making for Alicante. The bold captain was praised as a hero but this was not universal. Member of Parliament Robert Bernays described him as a "grand figure" but rather than a hero Jones was a "sailor of fortune" who should not be given the protection of the Royal Navy.
Details of sinking:
Between 00.21 and 00.24 hours on 27 Jul, 1941, U-79 (commander Wolfgang Kaufmann) fired a spread of four torpedoes and the stern torpedo at the convoy OG-69 about 350 miles west-northwest of Cape Finisterre and had to dive because a destroyer was closing in, so Kaufmann only saw a column of fire and heard several detonations. He reported three ships sunk and two others probably damaged. In fact, only the KELLWYN (Master Alexander McLean) was hit and sunk, the later explosions must have been depth charges from the escorts. The master, ten crew members and three gunners were lost. Nine crew members were picked up by the British armed trawler HMS ST. NECTAN (LtCdr H.B. Phillips, RNR) and landed at Gibraltar on 1 August. (details from uboat.net)
Note: Engine number 157, boilers no. 117 & 118.
