The wreck site of the THORNFIELD has been identified during research by Dr Innes McCartney (2022: 157) for the Echoes from the Deep project. McCartney concluded that the THORNFIELD is positionally, dimensionally, and archivally consistent with UKHO 9877 (NPRN 506528), and the record has been updated to reflect that research.

Event and Historical Information:
The THORNFIELD was a steel-hulled steamship built by Ramage & Ferguson Ltd, Leith, in 1913 (yard number 236). Technical and configuration specifications are given as 488gt, 197nt; 160ft long x 26ft 1in breadth x 9ft 8in depth; machinery aft; 1 deck, weather deck, 4 bulkhead, quarterdeck 92ft, boat deck 7ft, forecastle 26ft; screw propulsion powered by a single boiler linked to a compound engine producing 56hp, official number 132062. The steamship was owned by the Zillah Shipping and Carrying Company Ltd and was registered at Liverpool (58 in 1913).

The THORNFIELD was on passage from London to Peel under the command of master T S Williamson on 17 August 1915. It was carrying a cargo noted as wooden huts. The steamship was captured by the German submarine U38 under the command of Max Valentiner. The crew were forced to abandon ship, after which the THORNFIELD was sunk by gunfire. The THORNFIELD was amongst 10 vessels sunk on 17 August by U38. 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 U38 would go on to be amongst the five most successful commanders and German submarines of the Great War.

Sources include:

Cambria Daily Leader, 19 August 1915, p.1
Goddard, T, 1983, Pembrokeshire Shipwrecks, p.102
The War on Shipping. Another Wilson Liner Sunk, People's Collection Wales
HMSO, 1988, British Vessels Lost at Sea 1914-8 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.9 (i)
Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, 1 July 1915 - 30 June 1916, number 669 in T

McCartney, I., 2022. Echoes from the Deep. Leiden: Sidestone Press. https://www.sidestone.com/books/echoes-from-the-deep
Newcastle Journal, 20 August 1915, p.6
Thornfield, uboat.net
U-Boat Project: Commemorating the War at Sea

Great War at Sea: The QUEEN Sunk 17 August 1915, People's Collection Wales

J. Whitewright, RCAHMW, April 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.