Maritime record MWX1993 - Barmston (Martha Sauber)

Ex. MARTHA SAUBER; ex. BARMSTOM. Position of loss stated as Tar Rocks; no further details of the loss given. (1)(3)

Built in 1888 by S P Austin and Sons, Sunderland , the Barmston was screw driven and powered by a three-cylinder triple expansion engine. She was owned by Akties Barmston and her Master was A Andersen. She had a crew of twenty.

Construction: pdeck 27ft; qdeck 68ft; bdeck 48ft; fcastle 31ft Machinery: G Clark, Sunderland. Additional sources cited in United Kingdom Shipwreck Index: LR 1917 18 No 201(B).

Position 50 32.74N 2 27.30W taken from (8)

Wreck site and archaeological remains:

Located in 50 32.74N; 002 27.30W. Today the wreck lies 20 yards or so to the south of the wreck of the JAMES FENNELL. She consists mostly of a mass of flattened steel plates, although her keel, propeller shaft and forward end (standing 4m high) are quite readily identified. (5)

Wreck event and documentary evidence:

21-MAR-1918: BARMSTON, 1451 tons, beached near Portland Point. (4)

Dimensions: 249.8 x 35.5 x 16 feet, 1451 tons gross, 863 net.

Built as BARMSTON for the Marquess of Londonderry (S J Ditchfield); sold on to Sauber Gebr., Hamburg, in 1897, when she was renamed MARTHA SAUBER; in 1910 she was sold to D/S A/S Barmston (O A T Skjelbreds Rederi), Kristiansand, reverting back to her original name.

21-MAR-1918: stranded on the west side of Portland near Blacknor, en route from Swansea for Rouen, and became a wreck. (5)

BARMSTON, 1465 tons, renamed MARTHA SAUBER in 1897, and reverted back to BARMSTON in 1909.

21-MAR-1918: Wrecked on the west side of Portland near Blacknor. (6)

Identified as a collier from her original owner, who was one of the largest colliery owners in the North-East, and her cargo when lost. (7)

NB: The spelling BARMSTOM in (3) appears as a result of a misreading of source (4), in which the final "N" is unclear as a result of a build-up of ink on the typing key.

NB: Not included in the www.skipet.no/1918.pdf list.

Built: 1888 (1)(3)(5)(6)
Builder: S P Austin and Sons (1)(3); S P Austin & Sons Ltd. (5); Austin (6)
Where Built: Sunderland (1)(3)(5); Wear Dock (6)
HP: 171 (1)(3); 150 (5)
Boilers: 2 (1)(3)
Construction: poop-deck 27ft; quarter-deck 68ft; bridge-deck 48ft; forecastle 31ft (1)(3)
Propulsion: Screw-driven, 3-cylinder triple-expansion engine (1)(3)(5)
Machinery: G Clark, Sunderland (1)(3)
Official Number: 95274 (6)
Master: A Andersen (1)(3); G A Haaversen (5)
Crew: 20 (1)(3)
Owner: Akties Barmston (1)(3); D/S A/S Barmston (O A T Skjelbreds Rederi), Kristiansand (5)

Date of Loss Qualifier: Actual date of loss

Additional sources cited in Shipwreck Index of the British Isles: LR.1917-18 No.201(B)

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

<2> Board of Trade, 1920, Parliamentary papers 1920, Board of Trade Casualty Returns., p29 (Monograph). SWX5968.

<3> 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.

<4> Von Munching, L, 1968, Merchant shipping losses of Allied, neutral and central powers during and shortly after World War I (Monograph). SWX4751.

<5> http://www.sjohistorie.no, Accessed and translated from the Norwegian on 16-APR-2008 (Digital archive). SDO20596.

<6> Miramar Ship Index www.miramarshipindex.org.nz, Accessed 29-NOV-2017 (Digital archive). SDO20161.

<7> Cant, S, Oral: Serena Cant, compiler's comments, SC, 16-APR-2008 (Verbal communication). SDO20515.

<8> Hinchcliffe, J and V, 1999, Dive Dorset: a diver guide (3rd Edition), Mo 124 page 102 (Monograph). SWX1.

<9> Le Pard, G, 1995-2003, Dorset Coast Forum Maritime Archaeological Database, 038 (Digital archive). SWX8707.

<10> Cumming, E, The Dorset shipwreck and maritime incident directory, 12 (Monograph). SDO16406.

<11> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1614851 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 22 2024 7:15PM