Tyne and Wear HER(12681): Tynemouth, mouth of River Tyne, British Officer - Details
12681
N Tyneside
Tynemouth, mouth of River Tyne, British Officer
Tynemouth
NZ36NE
Maritime Craft
Transport Vessel
Tanker
Modern
C20
Wreckage
Remains of 1940 wreck in the form of the stern section of a British tanker which was en route from Sheerness for Tynemouth when she struck a mine and foundered at the entrance to the river Tyne in 1940. Built of steel, she was propelled by steam.
Orientation: E/W
Oral history account from Mr Arthur Lloyd, gunner stationed at Tynemouth Castle during World War II:
'Before the OSLOFJORD, I think it was the day before, a large tanker called the BRITISH OFFICER struck a mine...It was all in mist and fog. They got it in the entrance of the Tyne between the two lights and it sunk and so they had to take the OSLOFJORD round and beach it. It lay there for months. Eventually with the winter storms it broke up.'
Owner: British Tanker Co. Ltd.
Built: 1922
Builder: Palmers Co. Ltd.
Where Built: Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Propulsion: Screw driven, 2 x steam turbines, 1 shaft
HP: 654
Boilers: 3
Crew: 47
Machinery: 2 decks; 17 bulkheads; poop deck 113ft; below deck 32ft; forecastle 50ft
3615
6878
NZ36156878
Archaeological Research Services Ltd, 2009, North East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment; NMR Monument 908748; Shoreline Management Plan 1.2; Hydrographic Office wreck index; Dave Shaw and Barry Winfield 1988 Dive north east : a Diver guide, Page 55; The Comprehensive Guide to Shipwrecks of the North East Coast, Vol 2 1918-2000, page(s) 158-159; Richard and Bridget Larn 1997 Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 3. The east coast of England : Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, County Durham, Northumberland; Section 6, County Durham (CF); 1989 Lloyd's war losses: the Second World War 3 September-14 August 1945, Volumes I and II Page(s)165;
1988 British vessels lost at sea 1914-18 and 1939-45, Page(s)14