Ship ahoy!!

[dawnlea]

Sorry - more problems.
I've found out today that one of my relatives (Drew Stretch b c1846/7 in Liverpool, d c1903) worked as a steward. I think he may have been a ship steward working aboard the Cunard liner Ultonia as, apparently, he was aboard this ship and out to sea when he died. I think the ship was originally built for cargo and cattle transport but was modifed for the transportation of immigrants at some point but this may have been after my relatives death. How can I find out what position, if any, he held on this ship and where he was going and why? If he was so ill before the voyage, surely the captain wouldn't have let him board. The only other alternative is that is was a sudden death. Ooooooooh I love a good mystery!!! Anyone got any ideas. I've left a message on a Cunard Website to see if they might help but I'm still waiting for a reply. :'(

 

[admin]

Ultonia
(Built June 4 1898 - 8,845 gt - launched by Swan & Hunter at Newcastle) - 1917 torpedoed and sunk by U.53 in Atlantic.

ULTONIA 1898
8,845 gross ton ship, length 500ft x beam 57.4ft, one funnel, four masts, twin screw and a speed of 13 knots. Built by C.S. Swan & Hunter, Wallsend-on-Tyne (engines by Sir C. Furness, Westgarth & Co, Middlesborough) as a cargo steamer for the Cunard Steamship Co, she was launched on 4th Jun.1898. On 28th Oct.1898 she underwent trials and then sailed from the Tyne for Boston. Fitted with accommodation for 675-3rd class passengers in 1899, she started her first passenger voyage on 28th Feb.1899 when she left Liverpool for Queenstown (Cobh) and Boston. Her last voyage on this service started on 9th Feb.1904 and she was then rebuilt to 10,402 gross tons with accommodation for 120-2nd and 2,100-3rd class passengers.
On 29th Apr.1904 she started sailings from Trieste to Fiume, Naples and New York and commenced her last voyage on this route on 31st Oct.1911. Her first Southampton - Quebec - Montreal voyage started on 23rd Apr.1912, and her last on 5th Nov.1912. On 7th Dec.1912 she resumed New York - Trieste sailings and started her final voyage from Trieste to Fiume, Naples and New York on 28th Jun.1914. Between 1915-1916 she made several voyages between New York and St.Nazaire and on 27th Jun.1917 was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U.53 while 190 miles from Fastnet with the loss of one life. [North Atlantic Seaway by N.R.P.Bonsor, vol.1,p.155]

ULTONIA - Ship offical number:109478. Crew lists at Liverpool City Record Office
Heres a good site for more information on mariners:
www.mariners-l.co.uk/

Could also try:
National Maritime Museum
Maritime Information Centre
Romney Road
London, SE10 9NF
Telephone number: +44 (0) 20 8858 4422
Website: External website - link opens in a new window

all the best,
Dave

 

[dawnlea]

Thanks for that, Dave. ;D

So, at the time of Drew's death, it would appear that the Ultonia was a passenger service between Liverpool and Queenstown. The 1901 census has him with 'steward' for occupation so I am assuming that he was working on the Ultonia, not emigrating. But I'll get in touch with the Liverpool Records Office and see if they have crew lists for that year.