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| 5/10/25 4:40am | [ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, [8], 9, 10 ] |
| Subject: Re: Athelsultan | |
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Author: ALUN (CHRISTMAS) |
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Date Posted: 24/12/07 2:00am In reply to: A.EVANS 's message, "Re: Athelsultan" on 24/12/07 1:42am Captain Joe Earl has been good to write a few poems for Tregenna, I am in e.mail contact and can pass on messages. I WOULD LIKE TO THINK THAT AT CHRISTMAS, JOE WOULD NOT MIND ALUN'S SMALL ALTERATION TO HIS POEM, BUT EXPRESS THE COURTESY OF ASKING PERMISSION FIRST. Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas and a special tribute to Captains and Crews lost at Christmas Time: “Her name was “Daybreak”. The S.S. DAYBREAK Nineteen seventeen it was – during perilous days, The freighter S.S. Daybreak loaded deep with maize, Steamed along on Christmas Eve near the Southern Rock, Off the coast of County Down abeam of Strangford Lough, No notice or forewarning, a torpedo found its mark, It came and blew the nose right off – plunging all in dark The vessel’s screw rotating during its descent, Her boilers then exploding as underneath they went. U – Boat Eighty Seven had loosed her lethal load, To meet this helpless target on a winter’s ocean road, One and twenty brave men - the total of her crew, Murdered in the Irish Sea by folk they never knew, It was seen by witnesses or perhaps we’d never know, What occurred to brave men dragged down far below, Entombed there now forever, thirty fathoms deep, Akin to unsung mariners in Davy Jones’s keep. Joe EARL The late John Bailie of Newcastle townland was the boat contractor attending the South Rock Lightship for 42 years before retiring in 1955. Part of his contract was that if the crew were short-handed he would remain on board. He described the loss of the steamer Daybreak on 24 December 1917, one mile east of the lightship- 'I remember being on the South Rock as a temporary, 2s/6d a day and feed yourself. On Christmas Eve 1917 about midday the Daybreak loaded with maize was torpedoed and 21 were lost. Her nose was cut clean off. It happened so quick her propeller was going round in the air as she sank. You talk about explosions, boilers bursting one after another.' Perhaps other contributors to Brian's site may wish to both tribute and recall other losses at Christmas time. Although we remember all. Lest We Forget. Christmas Blessings to all and thanks to Joe. Keith@Tregenna [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
| Subject | Author | Date |
| Re: Athelsultan | Billy McGee | 24/12/07 12:11pm |