Penarth Dock, South Wales - the heritage and legacy

Volume Ten - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - Even more aspects - The Lloyd's Register at Penarth Dock . . .

s.s. 'Ella Sayer'

s.s. 'Ella Sayer' - The s.s. 'Ella Sayer' was a general cargo ship launched during August 1898 at the Willington Quay shipyard of the Tyne Iron Shipbuilding Company for Fisher Renwick & Company. 'Ella Sayer' was a 2,549 gross 1,618 net register tonnage vessel being 313.0 ft. length x 45.0 ft. breath x 20.8 ft. depth. This Admiralty chartered collier was sunk on 30th April 1918 by torpedo fired from UB.57 when c.15 nautical miles off the Royal Sovereign lighthouse whilst en-route from Penarth to Dunkerque with a cargo of coal. [102]




The s.s. 'Ella Sayer' pictured in 1907 showing Fire King and Fire Queen at work during the fire. 'Used for quality paper making, the majority of the cargo was despatched to the local Hendon and Ford paper mills. Unfortunately, esparto grass can self-heat, resulting in spontaneous combustion - a common cause of shipboard fires. Such was the case when the 2,549 gross ton cargo steamer 'Ella Sayer' arrived at Sunderland on March 5, 1907. The vessel arrived on the river and with it a cargo of the esparto grass from Tripoli in Libya. About 5 am on March 7, fire was reported to have broken out on board the Newcastle-registered vessel lying at East Quay, Hendon Dock, Sunderland . . . .' - text - Sunderland Echo [896] 11th June 2019. - photographs [102] [897] The lower image has been colourised.

Lest we forget. 1. Michael Agius, aged 34, Fireman, born Malta, commemorated Tower Hill Memorial. 2. Spero Gartaloupas, aged 44, Donkeyman, born Piraeus, Greece, commemorated Tower Hill Memorial. [882]