STORM AND COMPANY
Torpedoed!
The Sinking of the Beemah. Captain- Jacob
Storm (1870-1946) "the younger"
A copy of the report Jacob Storm had to supply to the Admiralty
on the sinking of his ship, Beemah, by torpedo.
On the 7th day of May 1917 personally came and appeared before me
George Buchanan, Notary Public, Jacob Storm the Younger, master
of the steamship Beemah of Whitby of which the owners were
Rowland and Marwoods Steamship Company Limited.
We sailed from Queen Alexander Dock, Cardiff, laden with coal
under sealed orders (the vessel having been chartered by the
Government) on the 25th April at 11am. The net register tonnage
of the vessel was 2929 tons net, gross 4750. The vessel was only
21/2 years old, and it was in excellent condition staunch and
sound and fully equipped for any voyage. The cargo was safely
stowed and did not exceed the carrying capacity of the ship.
We had a crew of 43 all told. After passing Lundy Island, I
opened the sealed orders and found that we were to proceed to
Monte Video via Dakar. I received official instructions at
Cardiff as to the courses to be steered and those instructions
were strictly followed, and involved a short delay at Mounts Bay.
We passed Bishop's Rock Light at about 11pm on the 26th April
steering to longitude 6' 30"W and then set a course for SW,
by 81/2S magnetic, and this was pursued with slight variations
until 2.30am on the 27th April when a torpedo struck the vessel
at the engine room on the starboard side, just under the
starboard lifeboat which was blown to pieces by the explosion
that followed. The engine room was wrecked and filled with water.
The dynamo, electric light and wireless were all rendered useless
and the vessel sank in 5 minutes in deep water. The second mate
was on watch and it was quite dark, with one apprentice with him
on the bridge and a man on the forecastle head, and the senior
gunner on the gun platform. None of these had seen anything until
the Second Mate saw the torpedo, or its wake, just before it
stuck.
I met the Second Mate as I ran to the bridge and he told me we
had been torpedoed and the vessel was going. After that we all
set to work and got the boats out on the water and all the crew
got in, except the Third Engineer, one fireman and one greaser,
and one firemen who were missing and probably killed by the
explosion. The First and Second Mate and all the crew behaved
well. It was not possible to signal in any way.
After the vessel had sunk we saw a German submarine and the
Commander asked questions of the men in the boats but not of
those in the boat where I was. He asked for the Captain and
someone said he had gone down with the ship. After that the
submarine submerged and we pulled towards Scilly Islands. At
9.30am we were picked up by HM Destroyer Creates and landed at St
Mary's about 1.30pm on the 27th April.
We all lost everything. Nothing was saved; not even the ships'
papers and secret orders which were all locked in the safe.
And the said Jacob Storm hereby gives notice of his intention of
protesting and causes this note or minute of all and singular (?)
the premises to be entered in this register.
Jacob Storm