Maritime record MWX1574 - Bamse

Norwegian cargo vessel, under British flag, torpedoed by German submarine UB-80 (possibly U112), off Lyme Bay, 17 April 1918. (See description for further details).

The Bamse was torpedoed at 11.50pm between No.3 and No.4 holds by the German submarine UB-112. The vessel was abandoned at once and sank in three minutes, taking the chief and 2nd officers, as well as the 2nd engineer and the messroom steward, with her to the bottom. The crew thought they saw the submarine on the surface. The survivors were picked up by a drifter and landed at Torquay. The W/T code books and confidential papers sank with the vessel. (1)(5)

Torpedoed by German submarine UB-80 off Lyme Bucht [= Lyme Bay] under British flag. [appears in Norwegian section] (3) Source (3) gives the date of loss as 18-APR-1918. Source (5) gives THOMAS COATES as an alternate name for this vessel; this relates to the BAMSE (1114195) which was lost off the Manacles on 02-OCT-1918, as does the number of the attacking submarine. Most of the details of the construction of the vessel also appear to belong to that vessel, and are therefore not included here.

Construction: qdeck 54ft; bdeck 48ft; fcastle 25ft Built: 1875 (3) Propulsion: Screw driven, 2 cylinder compound engine Master: J A Wilson Crew: 17 Crew Lost: 4. Additional sources cited in United Kingdom Shipwreck Index.

<1> Larn, Richard, 1992, United Kingdom shipwreck index, Extracted 23 November 1992 (Index). SWX5030.

<2> 1990, Lloyds war losses, The First World War: Casualties to shipping through enemy causes 1914-1918, p212 (Index). SWX4540.

<3> Von Munching, L, 1968, Merchant shipping losses of Allied, neutral and central powers during and shortly after World War I, p75 (Monograph). SWX4751.

<4> 1988, British Vessels Lost at Sea 1914-18 and 1939-45, p87 (Monograph). SWX4538.

<5> Larn, R, and Larn, B, 1995, Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 1 : Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset Section 6, Dorset (AJ) Vol 1 (Monograph). SWX4541.

<6> Le Pard, G, 1995-2003, Dorset Coast Forum Maritime Archaeological Database, 969 (Digital archive). SWX8707.

<7> Cumming, E, The Dorset shipwreck and maritime incident directory, 12 (Monograph). SDO16406.

<9> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1144837 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<9> Tennant, A J, 1990, British Merchant Ships Sunk by U boats in the 1914-1918 War, 151 (Monograph). SWX4539.

Record last edited

Sep 4 2023 6:07PM