The wreck site of the TARBETNESS has been identified during research by Dr Innes McCartney (2022: 114) for the Echoes from the Deep project. McCartney concluded that the TARBETNESS is positionally, dimensionally, and archivally consistent with UKHO 6985 (NPRN 518369). The record has been updated to reflect that research.
Event and Historical Information:
The TARBETNESS was a steel-hulled steamship built as the KINGTOR in 1940 by Irvings Shipbuilding Co, West Hartlepool. Technical and configuration specifications are given as 3098gt, 1936nt; 330ft 6in length x 48ft breadth x 21ft 6in depth; screw propulsion powered by twin boilers linked to a triple expansion engine producing 281hp; machinery by Blair & Co, Stockton. At the time of loss on 7 March 1918, the vessel was owned by the Fargrove Steam Navigation Company Ltd and had set sail from Manchester under the command of master L. Holt.
The TARBETNESS was torpedoed by the German submarine U-110 and sank without loss of life on 7 March 1918. The various positions given for the loss in 1918 include 53 10N 04 35W (convoy operations); 24 miles southwest of South Stack at 52 55N 04 58 30W by the crew (2nd officer and boson); 52 55N 04 59W; 53N 05 10W by HMS P55; 12 miles south of Caernarfon bay lightship by the master and at the Board of Trade enquiry; and 20 miles southwest of South Stack by the third mate.
Sources include:
Gater, D, 1992, Historic Shipwrecks of Wales, p.132
HMSO, 1988, British Vessels Lost at Sea 1914-18 and 1939-45, p.83
Larn and Larn Shipwreck Database 2002
Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1 January - 31 March 1918, p.11 (i)
McCartney, I., 2022. Echoes from the Deep. Leiden: Sidestone Press. https://www.sidestone.com/books/echoes-from-the-deep
U-Boat Project: Commemorating the War at Sea
UKHO ID 6985: 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.
