Irish Ships and Shipping
LOSS OF THE STEAMERS
S.S. FORMBY
and S.S. CONNINGBEG
Dec.1917
These two ships were known locally
known as the “ Pedlars”
because of their excellent timekeeping and were
owned by the Clyde Shipping Company of Glasgow. They operated on that company’s
liner trade between Waterford and
The
S.S. CONNINGBEG was launched by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company in 1903 as the
S.S. CLODAGH for the Waterford Steamship Company and was registered in that
port. She became the
S.S. CONNINGBEG in 1912 when purchased by the Clyde
Shipping Company and was then registered in
The S.S. FORMBY was launched in
On Monday the17th December the S.S.
CONNINGBEG sailed from
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Memorial at Waterford Quays. |
Very little wreckage was ever found,
and only one body,
that of the S.S. FORMBY stewardess was washed
ashore. A bottle containing message which read “We will never reach the Hook”(
the lighthouse at the entrance to
The lives lost on the
S.S. FORMBY totalled 39 ( 37 crew and 2 passengers) 32 crew members and the 2
passengers came from the counties of
CHARLES MINARDS -MASTER , ARCHIBALD GILLIES -1ST
MATE , JAMES RANKIN -2ND
MATE , MAURICE BUTLER -CARPENTER
JOHN MOIR 1ST ENGINEER , WILLIAM LUMLEY -2ND ENGINEER , JOHN LEMMON -3RD ENGINEER
WILLIAM FORTUNE -SEAMAN , EDWARD BURKE -SEAMAN, THOMAS KEATING -SEAMAN , JOHN
HURLEY -SEAMAN
THOMAS COFFEY
-SEAMAN, JAMES
CLAWSON- SEAMAN , JOHN BURNS -SEAMAN , PATRICK DOYLE -SEAMAN
THOMAS CONDON -FIREMAN , WALTER HENNEBRY -FIREMAN , JOHN WALSH -FIREMAN, PATRICK
COOKE- FIREMAN
GEORGE CARPENDALE- FIREMAN , WILLIAM CONNOLLY -FIREMAN, RICHARD MURPHY -FIREMAN,
JOHN KIELY -FIREMAN, MAURICE HENNEBRY -DONKEYMAN , EDWARD HENNESSY -WINCHMAN
GEORGE SINCLAIR -STEWARD , JAMES MORRISSEY -COOK , ANNIE O’CALLAGHAN -STEWARDESS
CHRISTOPHER CONNOR -GUNNER , DANIEL COUTTS -GUNNER, JOHN HAYES -CATTLEMAN
MARTIN EUSTACE -CATTLEMAN , JAMES MANNING -CATTLEMAN ,JOHN MCGRATH
-CATTLEMAN
DAN
O’CONNELL -CATTLEMAN , JOHN O’BRIEN -CATTLEMAN, JERMIAH O’SULLIVAN -CATTLEMAN
MICHAEL O’BRIEN -PASSENGER, JAMES WHITE PASSENGER.
Thomas
Coffey and his wife Mary
Thomas
Coffey died when the
SS. Formby was sunk by the German Uboat, U62 off the
coast of Wicklow,
Ireland on December 16, 1917. Photo
and Info from Shaun McGuire
The lives lost on the
S.S. CONNINGBEG totalled
44 (40 crew members and4 passengers) 34 crew
members came from
JOSEPH LUMLEY -MASTER, DONALD LIVINGSTONE -1st MATE, NEIL MCMULLAN -2ND MATE, PATRICK HENNESSY -CARPENTER
WILLIAM H. JOHNSON -1ST ENGINEER, ANDREW O’ BEIRNE -2ND ENGINEER, JOHN CHESTNUTT -3RD ENGINEER ,
MICHAEL BARRY -SEAMAN, STEPHEN WHITTY -SEAMAN,WILLIAM CAHILL -SEAMAN, PATRICK WALSH -SEAMAN,
THOMAS GRIFFEN -SEAMAN, NICHOLAS HUGHES -SEAMAN,
LAURENCE COMERFORD -SEAMAN, MICHAEL PHELAN -SEAMAN,JOHN M
CCARTHY-FIREMAN, MICHAEL MCCARTHY -FIREMAN, RICHARD KEHOE -FIREMAN, EDWARD HUNT- FIREMAN,DANIEL CLEARY -FIREMAN, WILLIAM DOWER -FIREMAN, JAMES WALL -FIREMAN, PATRICK WALL -FIREMAN, PATRICK CULLEN -FIREMAN,
JAMES KEANE -FIREMAN, THOMAS WIXTED- DONKEY MAN, JOHN SULLIVAN -WINCHMAN, HUGH TREACY -STEWARD, WILLIAM BARNES -COOK,
ELIZABETH PHELAN -STEWARDESS, JOHN CHAPPELL -GUNNER, FRANCIS BISACRE -GUNNER, PATRICK BROWNE -CATTLEMAN,
EDWARD MEYLER -CATTLEMAN, THOMAS MEANEY -CATTLEMAN, KIERAN GRANT -CATTLEMAN, WALTER CULLEN- CATTLEMAN,
THOMAS PENDER -CATTLEMAN, THOMAS DOBBYN -CATTLEMAN, PATRICK QUINLAN -CATTLEMAN, DENNIS M
CCARTHY -PASSENGER,JOSEPH BROSNAN -PASSENGER, MICHAEL CROTTY -PASSENGER, JAMES PHELAN PASSENGER.
This page is a Memorial to the brave men and women of both ships and in particular to my Grandfather John (Jack) Burns.
I would welcome any response with further information particularly from the Waterford area. Some wonderful tales were told. My favourite being that the Captain of the U-Boat paid a visit to Waterford after W.W.2 and being in need of a hair cut and shave paid a visit to a local barber only to find when being shaved with a cut throat razor that the Father of the Barber was one of his victims. On parting they shook hands, so the story goes.
© Patrick J O’Gorman. 2008