Memorial Details
Memorial
Display Submariners 1939-45 Astley Arms
Reference
S9.04
Place
SEATONSLUICE
Original Location
Astley Arms Hotel
Which war
1939-45
Memorial Description
Display of memorabilia of several submarines, including framed photographs, potted histories and poems dedicated to Blyth Submariners.
Inscription
on Friday 7th January 2004
by
The Royal Navy Submarine Museum
in memory of ? ‘Tug’ Wilson and the crew of
H.M. Submarine Seahorse
Names
None
Notes
1. During 1939-45 submariners based at Blyth used the Astley Arms as their local pub. One evening they entered a raffle and then went to sea, when their submarine was sunk. The raffle prize which they won was a bottle of whisky which the landlady kept for years, because she couldn’t believe that the men were lost
2. “Several years ago the bottle was lost during a refurbishment, but recently one of our previous managers decided to do some research and contacted the distillery that made the original. As a consequence we now have a permanent display with an exact replica of the whisky, plus photographs and original press cuttings”.
3. There is a frame telling the story of H.M.S. Seahorse from official records. It reads:
“Completed in 1933 for service with 5th Flotilla, Portsmouth. / 1934 6th Flotilla. 1936 1st Flotilla then 2nd Flotilla. / 22 Sep. 1938 damaged in collision with HMS Foxhound. / Lt. D.S. Massey Dawson: / September 1939 attacked by German a/c in the North Sea and later by / a R.A.F. Anson. / November 1939 6th Flotilla patrolling from Blyth. / 26th December 1939: / Sailed from Rosyth for patrol off the east coast of Denmark. Four days / later moved to the entrance of the Elbe. She did not return on her due / date of 9th January 1940. It was first thought that she had been mined / but German records, examined after the war, suggest she was the / victim of the German First Minesweeper Flotilla which reported a / sustained depth charge attack on an unidentified submarine. / 7th January 1940. Approximate position 54.19N, 7.30OE, 39 crew lost.”
4. H.M.S. Starfish 9 January 1940
Sunk south west of Heligoland by German minesweeper trawlers
HMS Starfish sailed from Blyth for patrol on 5th January1940. Nothing of note occurred until the 9th when the submarine sighted a German destroyer and decided to attack. The submarine dived and made her tubes ready. A communication problem caused the first attack to fail and as the submarine returned to periscope depth to carry out another attack she was rocked by an explosion. Further depth charge attacks forced Starfish to settle on the bottom and wait for the enemy to move on. At 1815 Starfish returned to the surface. All confidential documents were destroyed and the submarine scuttled. The ship's company were picked up by the waiting ships and taken as prisoners of war.
2. “Several years ago the bottle was lost during a refurbishment, but recently one of our previous managers decided to do some research and contacted the distillery that made the original. As a consequence we now have a permanent display with an exact replica of the whisky, plus photographs and original press cuttings”.
3. There is a frame telling the story of H.M.S. Seahorse from official records. It reads:
“Completed in 1933 for service with 5th Flotilla, Portsmouth. / 1934 6th Flotilla. 1936 1st Flotilla then 2nd Flotilla. / 22 Sep. 1938 damaged in collision with HMS Foxhound. / Lt. D.S. Massey Dawson: / September 1939 attacked by German a/c in the North Sea and later by / a R.A.F. Anson. / November 1939 6th Flotilla patrolling from Blyth. / 26th December 1939: / Sailed from Rosyth for patrol off the east coast of Denmark. Four days / later moved to the entrance of the Elbe. She did not return on her due / date of 9th January 1940. It was first thought that she had been mined / but German records, examined after the war, suggest she was the / victim of the German First Minesweeper Flotilla which reported a / sustained depth charge attack on an unidentified submarine. / 7th January 1940. Approximate position 54.19N, 7.30OE, 39 crew lost.”
4. H.M.S. Starfish 9 January 1940
Sunk south west of Heligoland by German minesweeper trawlers
HMS Starfish sailed from Blyth for patrol on 5th January1940. Nothing of note occurred until the 9th when the submarine sighted a German destroyer and decided to attack. The submarine dived and made her tubes ready. A communication problem caused the first attack to fail and as the submarine returned to periscope depth to carry out another attack she was rocked by an explosion. Further depth charge attacks forced Starfish to settle on the bottom and wait for the enemy to move on. At 1815 Starfish returned to the surface. All confidential documents were destroyed and the submarine scuttled. The ship's company were picked up by the waiting ships and taken as prisoners of war.
Newspaper cuttings, photos or archival material
Photos: Tony Harding
Research acknowledgements
Anne Hogg; Tony Harding
Research In Progress
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Display Submariners 1939-45 Astley Arms (S9.04)
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Parish Notes
Every Name A Story
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