torpedoe

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

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