Archaeological remains associated with the ETHEL are not confirmed at this location, but may be present in the vicinity. This entry is for the Documented Loss of the ETHEL on the 26th April 1918.
The wreck UKHO 9850 was originally identified by the UKHO as the ETHEL. However, research by Innes McCartney for the Echoes of the Deep Project has firmly demonstrated that UKHO 9850 is a U-Boat and not a sailing vessel (McCartney, 2022: 149).
Event and Historical Information:
The ETHEL was a wooden schooner built at Freckleton in 1876 (89gt, 75rt, call sign WKHQ, official number 73474). The schooner was registered at Preston and owned by Peter Kearson of Arklow. The intelligence reports gathered by the Admiralty noted that the vessel had left Cardiff on 24 April 1918 and was on passage to New Ross, Co Wexford with a cargo of 160 tons coal. The U 91 was sighted when the Tuskar Light was some 20 miles distant at 6am in the morning of the 26th April 1918. The submarine went alongside after ship was abandoned. The U 91 drew alongside ETHEL to attach detonators and then climbed aboard to search the ship for provisions. The unpublished, private diary of U 91's commander Alfred von Glasenapp tells us that to their delight, the submariners found meat, dried fish, ropes and oil cloth. Glasenapp also fulfilled a long-held ambition to capture a ship's bell. On departing the ship, the crew set fire to the detonators, which exploded and caused ETHEL to sink. The submarine next drew alongside the ship's lifeboat and Glasenapp informed the ETHEL's crew that they had taken the ship's dog on board - a small rough coated terrier. This is recorded in Glasenapp's diary as `the nicest catch?. The German crew promptly adopted the dog and renamed her 'Lotte'. She is described later in the diary as `a cute animal that is bringing joy to everyone and is getting used to submarine life very quickly.
The ETHEL was sunk at a position given as about midway between Bishops Lighthouse and Tuskar Rock, 19 miles north 3/4 degrees east of the Smalls.
Sources include:
ADM137/4015 Home Waters Ships Attacked April 16-20 1918, The National Archives, KewGoddard, T, 1983, Pembrokeshire Shipwrecks, pg110
McCartney, I., 2022. Echoes from the Deep. Leiden: Sidestone Press. https://www.sidestone.com/books/echoes-from-the-deep
Mercantile Navy List 1915, pg716
UKHO ID 9850: Contains public sector information, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, from UK Hydrographic Office.
see also: https://shop.rcahmw.gov.uk/collections/downloads/products/wales-and-the-u-boat-war-sinking-survival-and-a-dog-named-lotte
J. Whitewright, RCAHMW, November 2023