HMT Bedfordshire
Encyclopedia
HMT Bedfordshire was an armed anti-submarine trawler
Naval trawler
A naval trawler is a vessel built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes. Naval trawlers were widely used during the First and Second world wars. Fishing trawlers were particularly suited for many naval requirements because they were robust boats designed to work...
in the service of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. She was sunk by the Uboat U-558
German submarine U-558
The German submarine U-558 was a Type VIIC U-boat in the service of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. She sank 19 shipping and military vessels totalling nearly 100,000 tons before being sunk by bombers in July 1943....
on 11 May 1942 off the coast of Ocracoke Island on the Outer Banks
Outer Banks
The Outer Banks is a 200-mile long string of narrow barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina, beginning in the southeastern corner of Virginia Beach on the east coast of the United States....
of North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, with the loss of all hands.
Construction
Bedfordshire was a commercial fishing trawlerTrawling
Trawling is a method of fishing that involves pulling a fishing net through the water behind one or more boats. The net that is used for trawling is called a trawl....
built in 1935 by Smith's Dock Co. in Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...
, England and launched at Teesside
Teesside
Teesside is the name given to the conurbation in the north east of England made up of the towns of Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar, Billingham and surrounding settlements near the River Tees. It was also the name of a local government district between 1968 and 1974—the County Borough of...
. In 1939 she was sold to the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
. Converted for anti-submarine patrols, she was armed with a 4-inch gun, machine guns, and depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
s.
Service on the American coast
After GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
declared war on the United States on 11 December 1941, German U-boats quickly became a serious threat on the East Coast. The United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
was ill-prepared to defend against submarine warfare, and U-boats found it easy to pick off commercial shipping vessels, which traveled unescorted. The onslaught began in January 1942, when 35 Allied ships were sunk by U-boats off the American coast.
In March 1942, the Royal Navy sent 24 ships, including the Bedfordshire, to assist the United States Navy with anti-submarine patrols along the East Coast. U-boats continued to terrorize local shipping, and 45 ships were lost between February and April 1942, with US defenses only managing to sink one U-boat (U-85) during that period.
On 10 May, Bedfordshire and HMT Loman were dispatched from their base at Morehead City to search for a U-boat believed to be in the vicinity of Ocracoke Island. The ships were spotted by U-558
German submarine U-558
The German submarine U-558 was a Type VIIC U-boat in the service of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. She sank 19 shipping and military vessels totalling nearly 100,000 tons before being sunk by bombers in July 1943....
, under the command of Kapitänleutnant
Captain Lieutenant
Captain lieutenant or captain-lieutenant is a military rank, used in a number of different navies worldwide.It is generally equivalent to the Commonwealth or US rank of lieutenant, and has the NATO rank code of OF-2, though this can vary....
Günther Krech
Günther Krech
Günther Krech was a German U-boat commander in World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. As commander of he sank twenty ships, totalling 101,696 tons, and damaged two ships...
. Later in the evening, Krech, believing his sub had been detected, fired on Loman, but the British ship spotted the torpedoes and evaded them. At 05:40 on 11 May 1942, U-558 fired a torpedo at Bedfordshire, missed, and fired a second, which scored a direct hit and sank her immediately. All 37 men aboard were killed. One young marine crewman, Sam Nutt, 'survived' because he was arrested for a fight and missed boarding the ship in time for its last patrol.
Cape Finisterre
right|thumb|300px|Position of Cape Finisterre on the [[Iberian Peninsula]]Cape Finisterre is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain....
, resulting in the capture of Kapitänleutnant Krech. The Bedfordshire was attached to the US Navy, but her absence had not yet been noted when a Coast Guardsman discovered two bodies on the shores of Ocracoke Island on 14 May. They were identified as Sub-lieutenant Thomas Cunningham and telegraph operator Stanley Craig of the Bedfordshire. The remains of the two servicemen were buried in a small plot next to a cemetery in Ocracoke Village. The Royal Navy flag
White Ensign
The White Ensign or St George's Ensign is an ensign flown on British Royal Navy ships and shore establishments. It consists of a red St George's Cross on a white field with the Union Flag in the upper canton....
draped over Cunningham's coffin was one of several that he himself had given to a local man less than a month earlier for funeral ceremonies.
Shortly thereafter, two additional unidentified bodies from the ship washed ashore on Ocracoke Island. All four men were buried together on Ocracoke Island in what became known as the 'British Cemetery.' A third unknown seaman of the HMT Bedfordshire washed ashore in nearby Hatteras and was buried next to the body of Engineer Officer Michael Cairns of the British ship San Delfino, which was torpedoed and sunk on 9/4/1942. The two plots also became known as the "British Cemetery." In late May or early June, a fifth body, that of Seaman Alfred Dryden, washed ashore at Swan Quarter, NC. Dryden was buried in Oak Grove Baptist Cemetery at Creeds, Virginia, with three victims of HMT Kingston Ceylonite whose bodies washed ashore nearby.
The two "British cemeteries" on Ocracoke and Hatteras were leased in 1976 in perpetuity to the British government for as long as the interred men rest there. Formal custody is handled by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves, and places of commemoration, of Commonwealth of Nations military service members who died in the two World Wars...
and it provided the protocol headstones. Regular maintenance, however, is handled by the US Coast Guard and local residents as a gesture of gratitude and respect to the fallen men and an act of comity to the British government. A Royal Navy flag flies over the cemeteries, and a ceremony is held there each year on 11 May to honor the men of the Bedfordshire. Although a private church cemetery, the British Commonwealth War Graves Commission also provided headstones for the four British servicemen interred at the Oak Grove Baptist Church in Leeds, Virginia, including Alfred Dryden of the Bedfordshire.
The wreck of the Bedfordshire was located in 1980 at 34°10′N 76°41′W.