The wreck site of the GLENBY has been identified during research by Dr Innes McCartney (2022: 158) for the Echoes from the Deep project. McCartney concluded that the GLENBY is positionally and dimensionally consistent with UKHO 9880 (NPRN 518412). The record has been updated to reflect that research.
Event and Historical Information:
The GLENBY was a steel-hulled steamship built by Sir R Ropner & Sons, Stockton-Upon-Tees, in 1900. Technical and configuration specifications are given as 2196gt, 1404nt; 277ft 8in length x 39ft 5in breadth x 16ft 1in depth; 1 deck, 4 bulkheads, passenger deck 27ft, quarterdeck 32ft; screw propulsion powered by twin steam boilers linked to a triple expansion engine producing 188hp, made by Blair & Co Ltd., Stockton. At the time of loss, the vessel was owned by Sir R Ropner & Sons Ltd, and registered at West Hartlepool.
On 17 August 1915, the GLENBY was transporting a cargo of coal from Cardiff to Archangel under the command of Master W Crighton. It was sunk by gunfire 30 miles north of the Smalls by the German submarine U-38 under the command of Max Valentiner. The boatswain, C Neilson (age 21) and donkeyman, Ernest Hall, were killed. The GLENBY and KIRKBY (NPRN 274829), both owned by Ropner, were among 10 vessels sunk on 17 August by U-38.
The U-boat had begun its patrol in April in the North Sea, passing north around Scotland to then come south to cruise between southern Ireland and Ushant, France. This patrol accounted for 5 trawlers, 3 sailing vessels, and 22 merchant ships. Max Valentiner and U-38 go on to be among the five most successful commanders and German submarines of the Great War.
Sources include:
Goddard, T, 1983, Pembrokeshire Shipwrecks, p.102
Great War at Sea: The QUEEN sunk 17 August 1915, People's Collection Wales
HMSO, 1988, British Vessels Lost at Sea 1914-18 and 1939-45, p.9
Koerver, H J, (ed), 2012, German Submarine Warfare 1914-18 in the eyes of British Intelligence, p.175
Larn and Larn Shipwreck Database 2002
Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1 July - 30 September 1915, p.8 (i)
Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping 1 July 1915 - 30 June 1916, number 470 in G
McCartney, I., 2022. Echoes from the Deep. Leiden: Sidestone Press. https://www.sidestone.com/books/echoes-from-the-deep
Mercantile Navy List, 1910, p.203
Mercantile Navy List, 1915, p.234
U-Boat Project: Commemorating the War at Sea
UKHO ID 9880: Contains public sector information, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, from UK Hydrographic Office.
J. Whitewright, RCAHMW, November 2023.
This record was enhanced in 2020 with funding from Lloyd's Register Foundation as part of the project ‘Making the Link: Lloyd's Register and the National Monuments Record of Wales’. Visit Lloyd’s Register Foundation Heritage and Education Centre for more resources.