HMS Paxton
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name: | HMAV Lady Patricia |
| Builder: | Ardrossan Dockyard & Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., Ardrossan[1] |
| Yard number: | 268[1] |
| Launched: | 1916[1] |
| Refit: | March-30 April 1917 (Conversion to Q Ship)[2] |
| History | |
 United Kingdom | |
| Name: | HMS Paxton |
| Commissioned: | 1 May 1917[2] |
| Out of service: | 20 May 2017[1] |
| Fate: | Torpedoed by German submarine U-46 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 1372 grt[1] |
| Length: | 75.9 m[1] |
| Beam: | 11.6 m[1] |
| Propulsion: | Triple expansion steam engine built by John G. Kincaid & Company driving single screw, 162 n.h.p[1] |
| Armament: | One 4 inch gun, two 12 pounder guns[1] |
HMS Paxton was a First World War Royal Navy Q-Ship torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-46 on 20 May 1917 in the Atlantic Ocean 90 miles west of Great Skellig, Eire.[1] The ship was originally ordered as Lady Patricia for the British and Irish Steam Packet Company[1] but taken over on completion by the British Government as HMAV Lady Patricia.[2]
The ship was damaged by gunfire from the German submarine U-57 on 30 March 1917 in St George's Channel and six crew killed.[3][4] Shortly afterwards work started on converting her to an anti-submarine Q-ship, Q25, which was completed on 30 April 1917.[2] The ship was commissioned as HMS Paxton the following day and sunk less than three weeks later.
Sinking
At about 9:00 on 20 May 1917 the ship was heading west at about 8 knots when an unknown German submarine surfaced and shelled her with its deck gun, hitting the ship once. Paxton responded by firing back at the submarine with her stern 4 inch gun, thus revealing herself as a Q-Ship. The submarine dived to escape.[5]
Paxton continued on her westerly course, and the crew changed her disguise by painting the name of a Swedish ship on her sides.[5] At 19:15 on the same day U-46 torpedoed her,[1] disabling the engines.[5] Two men were killed, including the chief engineer,[5] but the ship remained afloat because she was loaded with lumber.[5] The submarine fired a second torpedo fifteen minutes later which broke the ship's back and it sank within about five minutes.[5] The surviving crew abandoned the ship on two boats and two rafts, but had not been able to send a distress radio message.[5] The submarine surfaced and took the captain, Commander George Hewett[6] and the second engineer,[5] Engineer Sub-Lieutenant James Wilfred Johnson[7] prisoner.
The boats and rafts stayed together overnight, but at 5 am one boat separated to make for Berehaven (now Castletownbere) for help.[5] The boat had no food or water onboard.[5] However it was spotted just after 9 pm, by an American destroyer, USS Wadsworth, which rescued the three officers and eight ratings on it but despite spending the following day searching the destroyer could not locate the other survivors.[5] On 26 May a further four crew were rescued from a raft by another ship,[2] and on 26[5] or 27 May[2] the second boat, containing the remaining survivors reached Killybegs.[5] Provisions and water had run out four days before the boat arrived, and two people had died en route.[5] In all 31 people were killed.[1][2]
Surgeon Sub-Lieutenat Annesley George Lennon Brown, RNVR was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in June 1919 for his gallantry and devotion to duty following the torpedoing.[8][9]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "HMAV Lady Patricia (Anchusa Q25 Paxton) (+1917)". wrecksite. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Richard Tallack". A Tale of one City. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
- ↑ "Lady Patricia". Uboat.net.
- ↑ Kindell, Don (2009). Royal Navy Roll of Honour - World War 1, Part 2 - by Date and Ship/Unit. p. 337. ISBN 1445205351.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 William N. Still, Jr. (1996). The Queenstown Patrol, 1917: The Diary of Commander Joseph Knefler Taussig, U.S. Navy (PDF). Naval War College Press. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
- ↑ "British Special Service or Q-Ships". World War I at Sea. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
- ↑ "Germany: Prisoners, including: Appeal for war loan sent to prisoners in Germany....". UK National Archives. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
- ↑ "Royal Navy Medals - Awards of the Distinguished Service Cross". Naval History .net. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
- ↑ "Supplement to the London Gazette, 11 June, 1919" (PDF). London Gazette. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
Coordinates: 51°42′N 13°13′W / 51.700°N 13.217°W