Maritime record MWX2321 - Albert C Field

English cargo vessel, sunk by aerial torpedo whilst carrying ammunition for D-Day landings, 18 June 1944. Boilers are highest part of wreck, which is unrecognisable due to explosions as craft went down. Cargo of shell cases litter seabed.

The Albert C Field was attacked by torpedo-carrying German aircraft whilst carrying 2500 tons of ammunition for the Normandy Beach D- Day landings and 1300 bags of US mail. (2) No-one seems to have dived this wreck; but that is perhaps not surprising as her cargo consisted of 2500 tons of ammunition...This is one to keep well clear of. (3)

She was built in 1923 by the Furness SB Co. Ltd in Haverton Hill-on-Sea. Propulsion: screw driven, 3 cylinder triple expansion engine. Crew: 23. Crew Lost: 4. Passengers: 10. Machinery: MacColl and.Pollock, Sunderland. Construction: f.castle 34ft. Machinery aft Boilers: 1. Horsepower: 111. Owner: Upper Lakes and St Lawrence Trading Co. Ltd. Armament: armed, details unknown. Additional sources cited in United Kingdom Shipwreck Index: LR 1945 6 (1)

The highest parts of the Wreck are the boilers. As she is totally unrecognisable, due to the ammunition which exploded when she went down. Her cargo of spent shell cases lie flattered and twisted, littering the seabed like a thick green carpet. Source: Weymouth and Portland BSAC (3)

Tonnage gross

Position 50 28.24N 1 45.37W taken from (15)

Attacked by torpedo-carrying German aircraft whilst carrying 2500 tons of ammunition for the Normandy Beach D-Day landings and 1300 bags of US mail. (2)

Position of loss stated as 11 miles SSE of Anvil Point; registration place stated as St. Catherine's. (2)

No-one seems to have dived this wreck; but that is perhaps not surprising as her cargo consisted of 2500 tons of ammunition…This is one to keep well clear of. (3)

18-JUN-1944: ALBERT C FIELD, British, on Admiralty service, Penarth for Normandy beaches with 2500 tons ammunition and 1300 bags of US mail. Sunk by aircraft in 50 28.30N 001 45.00W, with the loss of 4 crew. (4)

18-JUN-1944: Inclusion in this list implies British nationality. Sunk by aircraft in position 50 28N 001 46W. (5)

Voyage details stated as Southampton for Normandy; nationality stated as Canadian, being registered in St. Catherine's; place of loss stated as off St. Catherine's Point.

Torpedoed and sunk by German aircraft whilst part of a Normandy D-Day beach-head convoy, this Canadian steamship was carrying 2500 tons of ammunition which exploded, causing the vessel to sink within three minutes. Four crew were killed, but all 10 of the DEMS gunners escaped alive. (7)

18-JUN-1944: Off the Dorset coast, the cargo ship ALBERT C FIELD, 1764 tons (Upper Lakes and St. Lawrence Transportation Co.), South Wales to the Normandy beaches, was sunk by German aircraft. (8)

ALBERT C FIELD; British, 1764 tons. In convoy EBC 14 with 2500 tons of ammunition from Barry for the Seine when she was sunk by aircraft torpedo. (9)

ALBERT C FIELD, British, 1764 tons. Torpedoed by aircraft in position 50 28N 001 46W. (10)

The company was incorporated as the Upper Lakes and St. Lawrence Transportation Co. in the 1930s (later shortened to Upper Lakes Shipping). In 1939 Upper Lakes Shipping contributed 10 of its "canallers" to the war effort, losing 6 to enemy action. (12)

Eyewitness account from I J Freedman, 2006:

"I was Third Engineer on the ALBERT C FIELD when it was torpedoed. I joined the ship in Barry on the 20th May, so I was not on it too long. The ship was sunk shortly after I had come off watch. I was asleep and wakened by the explosion, and when I put my feet on the deck it was wet, and the next thing I knew was that I was in the water and saw the ship going down. I was hailed by other crew in the water and was pulled onto a raft where we were soon picked up by a Royal Navy Flower Class trawler, and landed in Portsmouth the following morning. I only discovered the names of the lost crew many years later when I visited the Merchant Navy Memorial on Tower Hill. The ship's master, J R Bramley, was one of the missing." (13)

John Robert Bramley, British, resident of South Shields, master of the SS ALBERT C FIELD of St. Catherine's, Ontario, is commemorated on the Mercantile Marine memorial, Tower Hill. (14)

Built: 1923 (1)(2)(7)(9)(10)
Builder: Furness SB Co. Ltd. (1)(2)(7)(10)
Where Built: Haverton Hill-on-Tees (1)(2)(7)(10)
Propulsion: Screw-driven, 3-cylinder triple-expansion engine (1)(2)
Machinery: MacColl & Pollock, Sunderland (1)(2)
Construction: forecastle 34ft; machinery aft (1)(2)
Boilers: 1 (1)(2)
HP: 111 (1)(2)(7)
Armament: armed, details unknown (1)(2)
Official Number: 147767 (11) [British sequence]
Master: J R Bramley (13)(14)
Crew: 23 (1)(2)(4)(7); 23 + 10 gunners (4)
Crew Lost: 4 (1)(2)(4)(7)
Passengers: 10 (1)(2)(7) [gunners]
Owner: Upper Lakes and St. Lawrence Trading Co. Ltd. (1)(2)(7); Upper Lakes and St. Lawrence Transportation Co. Ltd. (8); Eastern SS Co. (11)

Date of Loss Qualifier: Actual date of loss

Additional sources cited in Shipwreck Index of the British Isles:
LR 1945-6 (A); LR 1943-4 No.18988(A)

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

<2> 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.

<3> Hinchcliffe, J and V, 1984, Dive Dorset: a diver guide (1st Edition), p168 (Monograph). SWX1714.

<4> 1989, Lloyds war losses: the Second World War 3 September-14 August 1945, p757 (Index). SWX4997.

<5> 1988, British Vessels Lost at Sea 1914-18 and 1939-45, p52 (Monograph). SWX4538.

<6> Hocking, Charles, 1990, Dictionary of Disasters at Sea during the Age of Steam, p19 (Monograph). SWX4536.

<7> Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 2 : Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Sussex, Kent (Mainland), Kent (Downs), Goodwin Sands, Thames Section 2, Isle of Wight (BB) (Monograph). SWX4988.

<8> Young, John M, 1989, Britain's sea war : a diary of ship losses, 1939-1945, 221 (Monograph). SDO20525.

<9> http://www.convoyweb.org.uk, accessed on 17-OCT-2008 (Digital archive). SDO20647.

<10> Miramar Ship Index www.miramarshipindex.org.nz, 322154 > accessed on 17-OCT-2008 (Digital archive). SDO20161.

<11> Miramar Ship Index www.miramarshipindex.org.nz, 1147767 > accessed on 17-OCT-2008 (Digital archive). SDO20161.

<12> http://www.upperlakes.com/history, accessed on 17-OCT-2008 (Digital archive). SDO20648.

<13> Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org, /wiki/Albert_C._Field > accessed on 17-OCT-2008 (Digital archive). SDO13659.

<14> https://www.cwgc.org, casualty=2795790 > accessed on 17-OCT-2008 (Digital archive). SDO20543.

<15> Receiver of Wreck, Droit of the Receiver of Wreck 257/00 (Unpublished document). SWX95.

<16> McKee, E, 1983, Working boats of Britain : their shape and purpose (Monograph). SWX6758.

<17> Le Pard, G, 1995-2003, Dorset Coast Forum Maritime Archaeological Database, 75 (Digital archive). SWX8707.

<18> Wendes, D, 2006, South Coast Shipwrecks off East Dorset & Wight 1870 - 1979 (Monograph). SDO10496.

<19> Cumming, E, The Dorset shipwreck and maritime incident directory, 5 (Monograph). SDO16406.

<20> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1150287 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 3 2024 1:55PM