In connexion with this incident, the following resolution was passed by the Directors of the Cunard Company at a meeting of the Board in April, 1916. “That the Company place on record their high appreciation of the gallant and successful efforts made by the Captain, Officers, and crew of the Phrygia to save their vessel, and of the efficient preparations made beforehand by Captain Manley to deal with such an emergency, which contributed towards this result, and finally extend their heartiest congratulations to all concerned upon the splendid gunnery and seamanship which put the enemy submarine out of action.” Captain Manley and the Phrygia’s crew also received recognition from the Admiralty for their achievement.
“Father Neptune” cared little for the preying submarines
An armed cruiser’s rangefinder
It was on March 27th, 1917, at 8 o’clock in the evening, that the Thracia, Captain R. Nicholas, while on a voyage with ore from Bilbao to Ardrossan, was sunk at sight and without warning, leaving only one survivor. Disappearing in one minute, those on board were left with no possible chance of saving their lives, and it was only by a miracle that Cadet Douglas Duff, a boy of 16 years of age, was left to tell the tale. He succeeded in saving his life by clinging for sixteen hours to the keel of a capsized boat, during the early part of which time, he was seen and jeered at by the crew of the submarine. One of them indeed raised a rifle and aimed at him, whereupon he shouted, perhaps characteristically of the service to which he belonged “Shoot and be damned to you.” He was ultimately rescued by a French destroyer and landed at La Palais, Belle-ile-en-Mer. The body of the Chief Officer was also recovered, and it is touching to reflect that, as a mark of their respect and honour to the personnel of the British Mercantile Marine, a public funeral was accorded to him by the inhabitants of this little French seaport town.
Before her loss, however, the Thracia had performed, like all the vessels mentioned, most arduous and important duties, and one of her voyages, since it throws a sidelight upon the multifarious activities of the Company during the war, deserves special mention. She was then under the command of Captain Michael Doyle, and it was on the 27th of December 1914, that she left Liverpool for Archangel with stores for the Russian Government. All the way to the North Cape, she steamed in the teeth of heavy gales, and under stormy skies, and at this point, at this season of the year, entered a region where there was but one hour’s so-called daylight in the twenty-four. Entering the White Sea, on the night of the 7th of January, she ran the next day into an icefield, reaching out ahead of her as far as the eye could see. In the hope of breaking through to clear water, Captain Doyle, however, kept her going until, the ice becoming thicker and closer packed, it became impossible for the Thracia’s engines to drive her through.
The “Thracia” fast: Caught in the ice in the White Sea
After prolonged and arduous exertions, the Thracia was at last extracted from her dangerous position in the ice and brought back to the open water harbour at Alexandrovsk. From this port, accompanied by an ice-breaker, she again made an attempt to reach Archangel on January 24th, 1915. Heavy field-ice was once more encountered as soon as the White Sea had been entered, causing the utmost difficulty in steering, and reducing progress to the slowest limits. After covering, with much perseverance, a certain distance, huge floes of ice finally stopped the Thracia’s progress; the ice-breaker was also in difficulties, and therefore unable to render any assistance. For a considerable time the Thracia remained wedged in the drifting ice, and meanwhile a heavy north-east gale had packed the entrance to the White Sea. The action of this wind, however, presently opened the ice in the immediate neighbourhood of the vessel, and a certain amount of further progress towards the south became possible. Here, however, the ice was found to be once more heavily packed, while the north-east gale was choking the entrance with ever more and more drifting floes.