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9th February 2017, 07:54 PM
#1
Elders & Fyffes during war time
hi all
Anyone remember my uncle, Ernie Ryles he was a chief steward/purser with Fyffes during ww11 the family tale goes that he was torpedoed twice but i can only find one ship I think he was on and that was the SS Tetela and she was hit by an E Boat but survived
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9th February 2017, 08:28 PM
#2
Re: Elders & Fyffes during war time
Just trivia info here!
S.S Tetela, a small refrigerated cargo ship; which, before the war, used to carry bananas. She had accommodation for twelve passengers; and, because of this, she was occasionally selected to be Commodore ship of the convoy. Each convoy had a Commodore, the highest rank in the Royal Navy Reserve, and each Commodore had a small staff. A convoy would consist of forty to eighty merchant ships - even more sometimes.
The Captain of the Tetela was Billy Liston, a portly man approaching retirement. There were three Navigating Officers, three Radio Officers and five Engineer Officers. Then there were the stewards and cooks, the deckhands, and - in the engine room - the donkeymen and greasers. In all, there were some forty to fifty crew members, including a refrigerated engineer, the bo'sun and the carpenter. Geoffrey shared a cabin with another apprentice, the son of a captain in the same company.
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9th February 2017, 08:33 PM
#3
Re: Elders & Fyffes during war time
SS Tetela United Kingdom World War II: The cargo ship was torpedoed and damaged in the North Sea (54°04′N 1°35′E) by S-52 ( Kriegsmarine). She was taken in tow and beached on the Haile Sand Flat. Refloated the next day and taken to Hull, Yorkshire.[2][
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9th February 2017, 09:50 PM
#4
Re: Elders & Fyffes during war time
I sailed on the TETELA, and took her to the ship breakers in Ghent, Belgium, on 4 August 1959. she was built in 1926
One of the ones sunk was MATINA
Name Matina
Type: Steam merchant
Tonnage 5,389 tons
Completed 1929 - Cammell Laird & Co Ltd, Birkenhead
Owner Elders & Fyffes Ltd, London
Homeport Liverpool
Date of attack 29 Oct 1940 Nationality: British
Fate Sunk by U-31 (Wilfried Prellberg)
Position 57° 30'N, 16° 31'W - Grid AL 3880
Complement 71 (71 dead - no survivors)
Convoy
Route Port Antonio, Jamaica - Garston
Cargo 1500 tons of bananas
History Completed in March 1929
Notes on event
At 04.32 hours on 26 Oct 1940 the unescorted Matina (Master David Alexander Jack) was hit in the stern by one torpedo from U-28 (Kuhnke) about 100 miles west of Rockall, after the ship had been missed by a first torpedo at 21.50 hours the day before. The U-boat then surfaced and fired 28 rounds with her deck gun, achieved 15 hits and left the vessel in a sinking condition.
At 22.00 hours on 29 October, U-31 reported the sinking of a drifting wreck by a coup de grâce, this must have been the Matina. The first U-boat had observed that some survivors abandoned ship in lifeboats, but they were never seen again. The master, 67 crew members, two gunners and one passenger were lost.
Last edited by Captain Kong; 9th February 2017 at 09:56 PM.
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9th February 2017, 11:04 PM
#5
Re: Elders & Fyffes during war time
The Company lost fifteen ships.
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9th February 2017, 11:09 PM
#6
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11th February 2017, 01:43 PM
#7
Re: Elders & Fyffes during war time
Russ,
Was your uncle Ernest Sinclair Ryles b. 1906, South Shields?
If so he has 4 cards in the Fourth Register of Seamen. I can send them on if you wish to pass me your email address via a private message.
One of his CR1 cards shows a photo FROM 1952. His first ship in 1923 was DAYTON later sold to Greece as EKATONTARCHOS DRACOULIS torpedoed and sunk in 1940.
He also served in BARRANCA [can't read the date]. Also shown is the ship which looks like SALSBURY in October 1945 but is shown as not registered so this ship may have had a name change. Best obtain his CRS 10 from Kew if you want his full service record. It should be held at The National Archives Kew in piece BT 382/1574 Best obtained by visit to Kew or via a researcher though as difficult and expensive to obtain online.
Regards
Hugh
"If Blood was the price
We had to pay for our freedom
Then the Merchant Ship Sailors
Paid it in full”
www.sscityofcairo.co.uk
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11th February 2017, 01:55 PM
#8
Re: Elders & Fyffes during war time
Originally Posted by
Chris Allman
My Grandad Albert Gordon Goodwin .
Hello Chris,
Your grandfather has records in the Fourth Register of Seamen. If you don't already have them and you wish to pass me your email address by private message I will send them on.
He appears to have had a lucky escape as I have him with a card stamped MATINA, June 1940, Garston - he must have just signed off MATINA. He is shown as being on T124X Agreement from 18.11.1940.
The cards range from 1920 - 1940 including photo.
Regards
Hugh
"If Blood was the price
We had to pay for our freedom
Then the Merchant Ship Sailors
Paid it in full”
www.sscityofcairo.co.uk
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11th February 2017, 02:24 PM
#9
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11th February 2017, 03:48 PM
#10
Re: Elders & Fyffes during war time
#6,Chris, this was all I could locate in FMP:
Record set British Royal Naval Reserve 1899-1930
Piece number 38
Series ADM240
First name(s) Albert Gordon
Last name Goodwin
Year 1916
Birth year -
Rank Engineer Lieutenant (Temporary)
Seniority year 1916
Seniority date 25 October 1916
Archive The National Archives
Description Admiralty: Royal Naval Reserve: Officers' Service Records
Covering date 1862-1960
Document number 211
chris.jpg
The details on a family tree on Ancestry I have sent by pm.
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