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HMS Sybille
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| HMS Sybille |
Captain Dwason |
Medals to Captain Dawson |
And remounted |
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QSA with
engraved naming |
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2nd
Class twin screw cruiser of 3,400 tons and 7000-9000 HP.
Served January
1901. Commanded by Captain H P Williams. Wrecked
near Lambert's Bay, 16 January 1901
Article received from Mr Gabriel
Athiros, editor of "The Cape Odyssey"
At 10 o'clock on the evening of 17 January 1901, the sound of the recall
signal being fired from the HMS Doris, flagship of the Naval
Commander-in-Chief at Simon's Town, Rear-Admiral Sir R.H. Harris, brought
her crew hurrying back on board as she proceeded to put to sea. The hurried
activity was in response to a report that the cruiser, HMS Sybille was
aground on the rocks south of Lamberts Bay on the Cape west coast, and the
Doris was rushing to her assistance.
The HMS Sybille was a twin screw, second-class cruiser of 3400 tons, built
in 1890 by R. Stephenson of Newcastle-on-Tyne. Her 9496 horsepower triple
expansion engines could produce a top speed of 20 knots.
One of twenty-one Apollo class cruisers built, she was first commissioned at
Devonport on 8 January 1895 for the Mediterranean Station under Captain
Gerald W. Russell. There she served until returning to Devonport in 1898,
where she was paid off on 18 March of that year.
She remained out of commission until 3 October 1900 when she was
commissioned at Portsmouth to relieve the HMS Barossa at the Cape of Good
Hope Station, under the command Captain Hugh P. Williams.
After an uneventful voyage, the Sybille arrived in Simon's Town from England
on Saturday 12 January 1901, where she was coaled immediately and put to sea
again on Monday 14 January, bound for Lamberts Bay. Upon arrival the
captain, junior lieutenants and the naval brigade - about 50 men in all -
went ashore. This was because Lamberts Bay was used as a military base,
which necessitated the deployment of a detachment ashore. The Sybille was
left under the command of the first lieutenant, Mr H.H. Holland, and
navigating lieutenant, Mr H. Cayley.
Almost immediately, the weather, which was most unusual for January, showed
signs of deteriorating.
The north-wester which had prevailed on the voyage up the coast, freshened
to a gale, and faced with the fact that the anchorage at Lamberts Bay
offered very little protection to a vessel of the size of the Sybille, Lt.
Holland as the officer in command of the vessel decided it would be prudent
to put to sea. The anchor was accordingly raised and, at 10pm on the night
of 15 January, the Sybille steamed out of the bay into increasingly rough
seas, and heavy squalls. Sharing the anchorage that night were two other
vessels, the Royal Navy Torpedo Boat No. 60 and the transport City of
Cambridge (Transport No. 15), both of which opted to ride out the weather.
At about 2am the following morning, the weather having moderated somewhat,
the Sybille put about and proceeded to steam back to Lamberts Bay. It was
later found that unbeknownst to crew and the officer of the watch,
Sub-Lieutenant A.G.A Street, the rough weather and the southerly set of the
current had pushed the vessel some six miles south of what they believed
their position to be. At 4.30 on the morning of 16 January the Sybille
struck a reef near the farm at Steenboksfontein, about three miles, or five
kilometres south of Lamberts Bay. The order was immediately given the
reverse the engines in an attempt to get her off, but to no avail, and when
it became clear that the vessel was stuck fast and filling rapidly, the
watertight doors were shut, and preparations made to abandon ship.
Amid the heavy seas pounding the vessel, some of which were breaking above
her funnels, her company made a number of attempts to get a line ashore, but
without success. The outlook may have been grim indeed for the crew, who had
taken refuge in the rigging and on the fore-bridge, had the wreck not been
spotted by the HMS Tartar and the City of Cambridge, the latter having left
Lamberts Bay en route to Cape Town at 4am after an uncomfortable night. In
the meantime, Captain Williams had learned of the loss of his ship, and
within two and a half hours of the wreck had come out from Lamberts Bay in a
tug. With the greatest difficulty a line was attached to the Sybille, and
the two hundred and fifty odd members of the crew aboard were rescued
without mishap, although the sea conditions meant that the operation took
until 2pm that afternoon. The last man to leave the ship was Lt. Holland.
The only casualty was a nineteen-year-old ordinary seaman, W.H. Jones, who
sustained fatal internal injuries when he was swept across the deck by the
heavy seas and crushed against one of the vessel's 4.7-inch guns. He was
later buried ashore, and his grave can be seen in a small cemetery in
Lamberts Bay. The rescued crew, most of whom had escaped with nothing more
than the clothes they wore, were taken aboard the City of Cambridge, which
had remained near the wreck to render assistance while the Tartar had gone
on to Saldanha Bay to raise the alarm. From there the crew were taken to
Lamberts Bay.
The Doris arrived at the site of the wreck late on the afternoon of 17
January, after leaving Simon's Town at 4.30am that morning. The seas were
found to be too rough for her to get close to the Sybille, so she proceeded
to Lamberts Bay from where the following day Rear-Admiral Harris disembarked
and rode to the wreck on horseback. It was soon abundantly clear to Harris
that the Sybille was beyond hope of salvage, and that she would be come a
total wreck. He found her lying on an even keel, but broadside on to the
seas and completely awash, the water in her hull rising and falling with the
tides. In the two days since running aground she had been pushed two to
three hundred metres closer to the shore by the force of the sea, and her
bottom had been torn to pieces on the reef.
However, it looked likely that her two 6-inch and six 4.7-inch guns could be
salvaged; along with the torpedoes she was carrying. Her Maxim guns, rifles,
and pistols, and the money, which was on board, were salvaged the day she
ran aground and taken back to Lamberts Bay. In the days following Admiral
Harris' visit, many of her fittings, including her anchors and cables, her
torpedoes and stores, and all but one of her heavy guns were salvaged. Under
the leadership of Lt. Holland a working party undertook the mammoth task of
transferring the guns, some of which weighed more than seven tons, from the
wreck into lighters, after which they were towed to Lamberts Bay. All of
this material was placed aboard the City of Cambridge and later dispatched
to Cape Town.
As one would expect, the loss of
one of it's vessels was viewed as a very serious matter indeed by the Royal
Navy, and was the subject of a Court Martial held aboard the HMS Monarch,
the port guard ship, in Simon's Town on 26 February 1901. Facing the court,
which included Captain Williams as prosecutor, were Lt. Holland, Lt. Cayley,
Sub-Lt. Street, and Chief Gunner Tapper. Although the evidence led clearly
showed the exemplary fashion in which the disaster was managed after the
fact, the crew rescued and the vessel salvaged, the court found evidence
that there had been serious lapses in navigation and the handling of the
vessel after she left Lamberts Bay on the night of 15 January. There was
evidence that despite the rough seas and prevailing gale, no attempt had
been made to calculate the vessel's position, and no thought given to the
likelihood that a current may have been running. As it turned out, the
captain of the City of Cambridge, in evidence to the court, reported that he
had noted a strong southerly current of 3-4 knots running at the time of the
wrecking. The sentences handed down to the four men were remarkably light,
and although they were all dismissed from the Sybille, and three of them
forfeited some seniority, they all escaped with severe reprimands but no
worse. Of the four, only Lt. Cayley resigned his commission as a result of
the Court Martial, the remaining three continuing in the service of the
Royal Navy.
Example awards:
Dawson, Captain William.
William Dawson was born at New Brompton, Kent in January 1876 and
was appointed probationary Engineer in the Royal Navy in July 1896.
Advanced to Assistant Engineer in July 1897.
He served in HMS Sybille from Oct 1900 until she was wrecked in
Lambert’s Bay on 16 January 1901, thereby becoming the only Royal
Navy ship to be lost during the Boer War. However, unlike four of
his fellow officers who were severely reprimanded at the subsequent
court martial held onboard HMS Monarch at Simonstown, Dawson was
actually commended by his captain for removing and saving the
Sybille’s gun-bedplates-he had in fact been asleep when the ship
struck the reef, but immediately went below and ordered the
watertight doors to be shut in the port and starboard engine rooms.
Commendably prompt, as these actions were, he still considered it
dangerous for the engine room staff to remain because of the ship’s
severe list to starboard and the resultant risk of the engines being
lifted off their beds, in addition to which, there was a growing
risk of steam escaping from fractured pipes. The subsequent order
for the engine room staff to make for the upper deck was most
likely, therefore, prompted by his swift and accurate report of such
dangers to his senior – and may well have been responsible for
avoiding loss of life.
By the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, he was serving in
the rank of Engineer Commander as the 1st Assistant to the Chief
Engineer at Hong Kong Dockyard, where he had been employed since
August 1911. In August 1915, however he returned to sea with an
appointment in the cruiser HMS Blonde, in which he was commended for
his services when she had to be re-floated in August 1916. Then in
January 1918, he removed to the Thunderer, in which battleship he
remained employed until July 1919, when he returned to Hong Kong to
resume his pre-war duties at 1st Assistant at the Dockyard.
Placed on the retired list in the rank of Engineer Captain at his
own request in January 1923, Dawson settled in Budleigh Salterton,
Devon, where he died in July 1948.
QSA (0) (Asst. Eng, RN HMS Sybille), 1914-15 Star (Eng Commr,
RN), BWM, VM (Eng Commr,RN)
Dobbie, William Albert
William Albert Dobbie was born in Birmingham in October 1875 and
entered the Royal Navy as an Acting Engine Room Artificer 4th Class
in October 1898. He subsequently served in H.M.S. Sybille from
October 1900 until she was wrecked in Lambert’s Bay on 16 January
1901, thereby becoming the only Royal Navy ship to be lost during
the Boer War. Awarded his LS & GC Medal in November 1913, Dobbie was
serving ashore at the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, but he
returned to sea in the following year with an appointment as Chief
Engine Room Artificer 1st Class in the Barham, the flagship of the
Fifth Battle Squadron. He was subsequently present at Jutland, when
that ship was heavily engaged with Hipper’s battle cruisers, scoring
hits on the Lutzow, Derfflinger and Seydlitz, but was herself badly
mauled in the process, several hits causing her serious casualties,
among them four officers and 22 ratings killed. For his own part,
Dobbie was ‘commended for good services in action’ on the same
occasion (his service record refers) and subsequently awarded his
Russian decoration. He remained in the Barham until May 1919 and was
pensioned ashore in November 1920. Sold with copied service papers.
QSA (0) (E.R.A., H.M.S. Sybille), 1914-15 Star (269503 C.E.R.A.,
R.N.), BWM, VM (269503 C.E.R.A. 1, R.N.), RN LS&GC GV (269503
C.E.R.A. 2 Cl., H.M.S. Victory), Russia, St George Medal for
Bravery, 4th Class, the reverse officially numbered ‘1272524’.
DNW Sep 08 £1,300.
Roe, Frank Edward Mervyn
Frank Edward Mervyn Roe was born in Salisbury on 21 January 1876.
He entered the Royal Navy as a Cadet in July 1890 and was appointed
a Sub Lieutenant/Acting Lieutenant in September 1895 and Lieutenant
in December 1898. At the time of his promotion he was serving on the
Harrier and it was reported that he was ‘a Navigator of the highest
class’. Later, serving on the Pelorus, August-October 1900, he was
reported as being a ‘Good Navigator, untrustworthy pilot, too slow
to act as executive officer’. Worse still on his next ship, the
Monarch, ‘Given to drinking a good deal of wine but not been seen
otherwise than sober. Slow in thought & action’. His papers show a
hiatus in his service record between October 1900 and February 1905
but he is confirmed as a Lieutenant aboard the 2nd class cruiser
Sybille for his QSA. The Captain was ashore at the time - some
reports had it that he and other Officers were attending a party -
and four Officers were subsequently found guilty at a court-martial
for her loss. The crew abandoned the Sybille after she struck a reef
during the night and were taken off in five boats, a process that
took ten hours, one man being lost. Interestingly, in light of the
above events, Roe was ‘retired under the provisions of Order of
Council of 30 December 1884’ in late 1902. Nevertheless his service
record resumes with service on the Hermione ‘for passage home during
February/March 1905. He then served on the battleship Canopus,
December 1905-December 1906. On 10 December 1906 he was tried by
Court Martial ‘for negligent performance of duty’ for which he was
reprimanded and dismissed from the ship. Serving on Europa,
January-February 1907 and Hyacinth, February-June 1907, his naval
career lurched to an end when he was again tried by Court Martial
‘for drinking intoxicating liquors to excess’, for which he was
deprived of one years seniority and dismissed from the ship. On 24
July 1907 as a result of his misconduct he was placed on the Retired
List.
Opting for the Army on the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914,
Roe attested service with the Rifle Brigade and was promoted to
Corporal in October 1914. On 23 November 1914 he entered the
France/Flanders theatre of war with the 1st Battalion Rifle Brigade.
His brave actions on 18 December 1914 were rewarded with the award
of the Distinguished Conduct Medal (London Gazette 1 April 1915),
the citation for which reads, ‘For gallant conduct on 18th December,
1914, in voluntarily going to reconnoitre the enemy’s trenches and
remaining out for a period of three hours in a position of danger’.
On 4 February 1915, near Ploegsteert Wood, he received a shrapnel
wound to his arm and was invalided home. Commissioned an officer in
the 5th (Reserve) Battalion Rifle Brigade on 7 February, he returned
to France in May 1915 and in July was advanced to Captain. On 9 July
he was wounded a second time while engaged in erecting wire
entanglements in front of the trenches and was again evacuated to
England. For his services he was mentioned in despatches (London
Gazette 1 January 1916). Returning to France for the third time in
March 1916, Captain Roe, 12th Battalion Rifle Brigade was mortally
wounded on 6 June 1916 and died the next day at No.10 Casualty
Clearing Station. He was buried in the Lijssenthoek Military
Cemetery. Sold with copied Royal Navy service paper, Army service
papers and other research.
QSA (0). (Lieut. F. E. M. Roe, R.N., H.M.S. Sybille) engraved
naming. DNW Jun 08 £410
Christopher, Charles
Charles Christopher was born near Dorchester in October 1879 and
enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry in April 1898. Posted to
the Portsmouth Division, he served as a Private in HMS Sybille from
October 1900 until she was wrecked in Lambert’s Bay.
In September 1914, Christopher joined the R.M. Brigade, with whom he
served in the Antwerp operations, and in April-July 1915 he served
in a similar capacity in the Dardanelles. In fact he remained
employed in the Mediterranean theatre of war until being recalled
for service in France from May 1916 to the end of hostilities, in
which period he was advanced to Sergeant (Acting Warrant Officer 2).
He was demobilised in August 1919 and died in July 1951.
QSA (1) CC (Pte R.M.L.I., H.M.S. Sybille), 1914 Star, with clasp
(PO. 9660 Pte., R.M. Brigade), BWM, VM (Act. W.O. 2, R.M.L.I.), RN
LS&GC (PO. 9660 Private, R.M.L.I.). DNW Mar 07 £630
Nolan, J
QSA (2) Belmont, South Africa 1902 (J. Nolan, Pte., R.M.L.I.,
H.M.S. Sybille). Entitled to a no clasp Medal. DNW Sep
02 £110.
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