Recalling the ship’s steward who perished in third vessel sinking
100 years ago today a steamship sank off the Welsh coast, claiming the life of Tom Lewis, a young father of two who had survived two World War One U-boat sinkings only to lose his life in a peacetime collision. Here his grandson, also Tom Lewis, retells h
ON THE evening of September 19, 1920, a collision occurred in Barry Roads when the Pelton Steamship Company steamer SS Zelo struck the partly submerged wreck of the former German vessel SS Merkur, the latter having been involved in a collision with the Spanish steamer SS Castroalen on May 9 that year. Salvage operations were under way on the Merkur but had been halted due to fog.
The Zelo had arrived in the Bristol Channel at the end of a 660-mile voyage from Bilbao with a cargo of iron ore for Cardiff. At around 7.30pm in poor visibility the Zelo struck the fo’csle head of the partly submerged Merkur and, according to press reports, sank in 15 seconds, having been badly holed.
It was reported that there was no panic and the crew got clear just in time to see the Zelo dive forward and go down by the head. The pilot cutter Fancy picked up the crew of 26, landing them safely at the Pier Head, Barry Dock.
At a roll call it was then discovered that the steward, Tom Lewis, aged 28, was missing. He had last been seen preparing documents for arrival at Cardiff. Although some sailors thought he had actually been on the
Fancy, he was thought to have gone down with the Zelo.
His wife, Mary, had travelled down from South Shields to Newport to meet him and spend some time with their families in their home town, it being his first voyage into south Wales for several years.
On the morning of Monday, October 4, an unidentifiable body was found on Penarth Beach. A coroner’s inquest was held at Penarth. Evidence of identification based on his suit was given by his widow, Mary. The coroner returned a verdict of “Death by drowning”.
Over the next year or so there were a number of legal actions to determine responsibility for the collision and damages. Claims and counterclaims sought to establish whether the wreck of the Merkur had been adequately lit, who was technically responsible for it, plus other related matters. Mr Justice Hill, of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the High Court, stated that the wreck had been marked with a gas buoy showing a green flashing light and gave his opinion that visibility was such that it could have been seen in ample time to avoid the wreck.
In 1925 the Pelton Steamship Company brought a successful action against the North of England Protecting and Indemnity Association Limited regarding the insurance cover in the collision. Merkur was deemed to be a “vessel” capable of being repaired and navigated.
Tom Lewis was born in Newport in 1892 and in October 1914 he took a “pierhead jump” and joined the collier SS Porthcawl as a last-minute replacement for the messroom steward. He spent the next couple of months taking coal to France and Spain. He then joined SS Adamton (John Cory and Sons, Cardiff) operating under Admiralty Orders running coal to the Fleet at Scapa Flow.
In April 1916, on a return voyage in ballast from Scapa Flow, Adamton was stopped by gunfire from U22. The crew were ordered off and, having failed with a torpedo, the U-boat crew sank her using their deck gun. The Adamton crew made their way by open boat to the Hebridean Island of Tiree.
The Lewis family then moved to South Shields, from where Tom sailed on five ships for the South Metropolitan Gas Company running coal from Tyneside to Greenwich on the Thames, and was on board SS Pontypridd when she was mined by a U-boat off Aldeburgh.
In 1919 he joined the Pelton Steamship Company on Tyneside and became steward on the recently built SS Zelo. He had planned to leave the sea and set up a fish and chip shop in South Shields before fate intervened.
Of the seven ships on which Tom sailed, two went on for another 40 years, four were sunk by U-boats, two with him on board, and the last, Zelo, went down with him on board, having collided with the wreckage of a former German ship – the Merkur.
Salvage operations were abandoned and 100 years later the wrecksite in Barry Roads is still marked by the large red Merkur Buoy.