OTHONNA M24
Official No: 108439 Port Number and Year: 7th in Milford, 1899
Description: Steel side / beam trawler; steam screw; coal burner. Ketch rigged: foresail mainsail and mizzen.
Crew: 9 men (1899).
Registered at Milford: 19 Jun 1899
Built: J. Duthie & Sons, Aberdeen,1899. (Yard no. 200)
Tonnage: 180.25 gross 33.73 net. 1 Jan 1914: Amended by BoT survey to 71.19 net tonnage.
Length / breadth / depth (feet): 110.8 / 20.8 / 11.15
Engine: T-3Cyl. 61 rhp.; made by Whyte & Mair, Dundee
Owners:
19 Jun 1899: Cornelius Cecil Morley, Milfort, Portlaw, Co. Wexford. ( Joint
William Goff Davis Goff, "Glenville", Waterford, Co. Wexford. ( owners.
Manager: Frederick J. Sellick, 'Marine Villa', Murray Cres., Milford.
9 Mar 1903: Southern Steam Trawling Co., Ltd., 127 Quay, Waterford.
(Messrs. Sellick, Morley and Price, Milford Docks.)
Manager: Cornelius Cecil Morley, Docks, Milford.
Landed at Milford: 23 May 1900 - 8 Jan 1915
Skippers:
H. Smith cert. no. 3858, age 38, born Lincoln; signed on 14 may 1900
Jack Wm. Setterfield 3670, 29, Ramsgate; 3 Aug 1901; 24 Feb, 28 Jun, 7 Jul 1902; 7 Jan 1903
James Stanfield 5441, 38, Shefield; 10 Jan, 14 Apr 1902
J. Reynolds 01742, 43, Scarborough; 2 Jul 1903;17 Apr 1904; 11 Jan, 10 Jul 1905; 10 Jan, 5 Jul 1906
Wm. Francis Reynolds 7337, 26, Scarborough; 10 Jan 1908
T. E. Hooper 6628, 31, Hull; 20 Mar 1908
Henry Scott 0231, 57, London; 20 May, 10 Jul 1908
Henry Wm. Mansell 6376, 27, Ashford; 22 Jan 1909
Arthur Lamswood 4931, 34, Brixham; 23 Feb 1909
W. H. Blockwell 8327, 27, Gorleston; 8 Oct 1909; 4 Jan, 7 Jul, 19 Sep 1910; 9 Jan, 3 Jul 1911
Henry James 5909, 41, Brixham, 16 Nov 1909
Francis Folland 7982, 30, Plymouth; 27 Nov 1909
B. Foster 1608, 54, Greenwich; 23 Aug 1910
E. Bracher 9269, 35, Yarmouth; 1 Aug 1911
Fred W. Garton 8606, 27, - ; 7 Dec 1911; 4 Jan, 1 Jul 1912
J. L. Stroud 02471, 48, - ; 17 Dec 1912; 1 Jan, 1 Jul 1913; 1914
Notes:
Othonna is a S.African plant having smooth often fleshy leaves and heads of yellow flowers.
Jan 1915: Requisitioned by Admiralty and converted to a minesweeper (Admy.no. 940)
20 Apr 1917: Mined off Tod Head, Fife Ness, Scotland, by mine laid by UC41 (Kapitänleutnant Kurt Bernis). 9 crew members lost.
[See local newspaper reports below.]
Cert. Cancelled & Milford Registry Closed: 30 Jan 1919, "whilst on Admiralty service."
Accidents and Incidents:
Log book entries:
05.03.1902.
Chapel Bay, Milford Harbour.
Schooner "Reliance" sunk, collision.
Jack Setterfield. (Skipper)
[See below.]
21.04.1903.
Three miles from the Smalls.
Towed the steam trawler "Ceres", which had broken down, to Milford Haven.
Jack Setterfield. (Skipper).
11.02.1904.
Ran into the stern of the steam trawler "Carew Castle" . The "Carew Castle" stopped suddenly and did not go ahead when I told him.
J.H.Reynolds. (Skipper).
W.T.Reynolds. Second Hand. Witness.
07.01. 1904
Milford Docks.
Through engine not acting ran into "Reliance", the engine refusing to reverse .
John Screach. (Skipper).
Albert Courtney. (Third Hand). Witness.
29.05.1905.
220 miles W by N of St.Ann's.
Boiler leaky, cause unknown.
J.Reynolds. (Skipper).
26.09.1905.
30 miles NW by N from Bull Rock.
Intermediate shaft broken, cause unknown.
J.Reynolds. (Skipper).
06.05.1906.
When about 200 miles E by S of Milford Haven and bound for home under easy steam, about 7 knots, I suddenly struck some rocks which proved to be in the neighbourhood of the Bull, but owing to the very foggy weather it was impossible to obtain the exact position. I at once ordered the engines to be put astern, and on the vessel sliding into deep water I sounded the pump. Finding she made no water, I at once proceeded direct for Milford, arriving 4 p.m. on 7th of May, 1906.
J. Reynolds (Skipper).
[ See story in local newspaper below. ]
18.11. 1909.
Put into Queenstown, Ireland, with damaged machinery.
Henry James. (Skipper).
04.04.1911.
45 miles W by N from St.Ann's Head
E. Bracher, age 25, Mate; English, born Yarmouth, residing at Mi1ford.
Put wheel hard a starboard, vessel shipped a heavy sea, wheel spun man round breaking his left arm.
W. H. Blockwell. (Skipper).
__________________________
From The Dundee Courier & Argus of Monday 19th December 1898; pg. 6; Issue 14190.
A new steam trawler, built at Aberdeen for Milford owners, was brought to Dundee on Saturday to be fitted with engines and boilers. The vessel is named the Othonna.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From The Pembrokeshire Herald and General Advertiser of Friday 3rd January 1902:
The "Othonna," one of Messrs. Morley, Sellick & Price's boats, has put into Liverpool in order to land John Setterfield, the skipper, of Milford, who is in a dangerous state of health, suffering from a bad throat with serious complications. The vessel has since gone to sea with the mate in charge. A good catch of fish was landed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From The Pembrokeshire Herald and General Advertiser of Friday 7th March 1902:
COLLISION NEAR MILFORD.— It is reported that on Wednesday night the schooner Reliance, of and for Wexford, from Cardiff with coals, was in collision with the steam trawler Orhonna [sic]. The former sank in Angle Bay.
From The Pembrokeshire Herald and General Advertiser of Friday 14th April 1902:
THE WRECK IN ANGLE BAY. — Further particulars have now been received of the wreck of the schooner Reliance in Angle Bay, briefly reported in the Herald last week. In an interview, Capt. Thomas Hutchinson, of the Reliance, stated that he arrived in Angle Bay, on Wednesday morning, wind-bound, from Cardiff to Wexford, laden with coal. At 10 o'clock on Wednesday night, whilst lying at anchor, the watchman observed the light of a fishing trawler, which turned out afterwards to be the Othonna, of Milford, approaching. The watchman shouted "Danger!" and endeavoured to arrest the attention of the crew of the trawler, but no heed was taken. The latter ran into the schooner with terrible force. There was no time to launch the boat, and the crew of the Reliance had only just time to step on board the trawler before she completely disappeared.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GRIMSBY STEAM FISHING VESSELS MUTUAL INSURANCE & PROTECTING CO. LTD.
APRIL 20TH 1902
J. Setterfield, late skipper of the steam trawler “Othonna” of Milford Haven, not to sail as Master before June 28th and not as Mate before May 28th.
[From a document in Grimsby Central Library, kindly supplied by Bill Blow.
]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From the Milford Haven Weekly News & County Times of Thursday 10th May 1906:
On Sunday last, the steam trawler "Othonna", owned by the Western Trawling Co., while homeward bound, narrowly escaped foundering, as she struck a rock supposed to be the Bull, the weather at the time being very foggy.
After the reverse of the engines the vessel slid off, and on sounding the pumps, the skipper found she made no water, believing only a few rivets were loosened. The ship is at present being surveyed in the Milford Dry Dock.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From the Haverfordwest and Milford Haven Telegraph of Wednesday 6th January 1915:
MORE TRAWLERS FOR MINE-SWEEPING.
MILFORD'S CONTRIBUTION FIFTY VESSELS.
No sooner has the port ones more come to the front as a leading fishing centre than a feeling of disappointment has been created by the removal of more trawlers for mine-sweeping and Admiralty purposes. Whilst this will be a serious set-back commercially, the owners evidently interpret the familiar words, "Your King and Country need you" as a call to them in the matter of the trawlers in the same sense as to recruits for the army. At any rate we understand that all the remaining vessels owned by Messrs. Sellick, Morley & Price are being got ready as speedily as possible. This firm will then have given up the whole of their fleet to the service of the country and from the port altogether something like 50 steamers will be in commission, with over 400 men. Several of the Grimsby trawlers now at this port have also been commandeered. The names of Messrs. Sellick's boats now preparing are Lobelia, Kalmia, Magnolia, Othonna, Petunia, Rosa, Tacsonia, Avonmouth, Lynmouth, Portsmouth and Weymouth. From the point of view of the trade it is hoped that no more inroads will he made on the port which will be ruined unless more vessels come from the East coast, an improbable contingency just now. One of Mr. Birt's vessel, the Louise, has returned to undergo repairs, whilst three other mine-sweepers from Plymouth have been on the slipway here under repairs. It is possible that others may be sent to Milford for that purpose, and will afford employment in the engineering trade.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From the West Wales Guardian of Friday 27th April 1917:
PATROL BOAT DISASTERS
Milford Losses
Several Milford trawlers who were engaged on patrol work have met with disaster. [ First part of article deals with the loss of a Scottish trawler, the LOCH EYE, which was based with the RNR at Milford, and blown up in a mine explosion. ] ... As far as is known only one local man was amongst the lost, viz., Chief Engineer Thomas Anderson of Pill. ... Anderson leaves a widow and young family.
Other news was received to the effect that the steam trawlers Lobelia and Othonna, both stationed at other bases, had been lost in similar circumstances and that the death roll is a heavy one, and includes a number of Milford men, a full list of which we are unable to give. Some of them, it is feared, are Skipper Joseph Pratt, a well-known Milford trawler skipper, John Marvelly, one of the oldest chief engineers of the port, who was about 60 years of age and leaves a large grown-up family, J. Lynch and Sid Stratford on the Lobelia, Chief Engineer T. Davies (Neyland) and Byers, cook, on the Othonna and there may be others. It is easy to imagine the feelings of anxious relatives and friends in the present period of suspense, and it is hoped that even now better and reassuring news may be forthcoming.
Back to Trawlers 1888-1914