1 March 1915 - Sapphire
The next victim of the Kolberg’s mines was the fishing vessel Sapphire, H675. She was returning to her home port of Hull from a trip to the fishing grounds off Iceland when she was struck a mine off Filey Brigg around half past midnight on 1 March 1915. The Preston registered Admiralty vessel Gertie, sailing half a mile ahead of the Sapphire, reported seeing a large column of water shoot up alongside the Sapphire and fish from her hold were thrown into the air. Thankfully, it was a moonlit night which made the rescue a little easier. However, the heavy seas made launching the ship’s dinghy difficult, at the first attempt it was swamped, but the mate of the Gertie, William Bratt and able seaman J. Millington persevered and managed to get alongside the Sapphire. By this time the stricken trawler’s decks were awash and she was settling fast. Eleven of the crew were rescued, some of whom were suffering from injuries. One crew member, Alfred Greening, the spare hand, had been killed in the explosion. The Sapphire sank twenty minutes after striking the mine. The survivors were landed at Hull’s Riverside Quay later the same day. The injured crewmen being taken in taxi-cabs straight from the dockside to their homes. The Sapphire’s skipper, Mr Kennedy, told the Hull Daily Mail that since the outbreak of war he had made it his policy to sail within a measurable distance of another vessel, so that he could either assist or be assisted as the case maybe. It proved to be a wise decision and ultimately saved the vast majority of his crew.
The Kingston Steam Trawling Co., owner’s of the Sapphire, wrote to the owners of the Gertie, J.H. Monk’s (Preston) Ltd., offering their gratitude to Captain McCann and his crew for their actions in saving eleven lives from the Sapphire and enclosed a cheque for £25 to be distributed among the Gertie’s crew. They concluded: ‘lt is very gratifying to know that British merchant sailors, in common with our own fishermen, are ever ready to perform deeds of heroism and to run exceptional risks for the purpose of saving the lives of their fellow-seamen.”
Crewman killed on Sapphire
Alfred Greening, spare hand, aged 26, Hull
