Unsung heros

Sir,

In these days of remembrance of the heroic events 80 years ago in the skies above southern England, we should also remember the sacrifice made at the same time by the merchant seamen bringing essential supplies across the Atlantic due to u-boat attack.

A case in point is the SS Baron Blythswood, a bulk carrier whose home port was Ardrossan. It was travelling in a convoy and was carrying a cargo of 5,450 tons of iron ore to Port Talbot.

At 4am on September 21, 1940 it was struck amid ships by a single torpedo from a u-boat (u-99) and within 40 seconds had disappeared below the waves.

The torpedo punctured the buoyant area between the cargo holds whose heavy contents quickly took it to the bottom. The complete crew of 35 was lost including the chief officer, William Simpson Ure, husband to Johana Ure of Largs and Arran, and the chief engineer, John Niven of Kilmarnock.

Two other ships were struck in the same

attack: the MV Invershannon and MV Elmbank. These ships did not sink but were crippled and the crews took to the lifeboats. Later in the day the u-boat returned to sink the floating hulks.

On the way the u-99 came across a survivor standing on a raft, dressed only in underwear and holding an oar with a white garment flying from it. He was picked up and revived over a few hours. As the u-boat crew were wearing boiler suits and spoke only English to him, he mistakenly believed he had been rescued by the Royal Navy. He spoke disparagingly about the u-boat that had sunk his ship. He was the sole survivor of the Baron Blythswood.

After sinking the disabled ships, the u-boat came alongside the three lifeboats from the Invershannon. The rescued man was transferred to one of these. This was the point when he realised who his rescuers were. The u-boat commander gave the lifeboats supplies and a course to follow to get to the Irish coast some 600 miles distant.

Two of the lifeboats did make it to safety but due to a storm the third, containing 16 men, was lost. The rescued man from the Baron Blythswood was on this boat and his identity has never been determined,

Yours,

Ian A Brown Blairgowie