The steel steamship Greenawn was launched from the Footdee yard of Alexander Hall and Co Ltd on 6th February 1924. She measured 190.7′ x 29.1′ x 11.9′ and weighed 778 gross tons, 405 net tons. She was powered by a triple expansion steam engine by Alexander Hall delivering 140 net horse power. Built for her original owners E Johnson and Co Ltd of Goole she operated for them for two years until she was sold to her final owners, S and R Steamships ( Stone and Rolfe) on 30th June 1926. With the outbreak of World War Two she was pressed into Admiralty service mainly delivering cargoes up and down the east coast between Southend and Methil with one voyage across the North Sea to Norway in March 1940.
On 25th March 1941 she was loaded with a cargo of cement in bags at Southend and set off on a voyage to Invergordon. She was under the command of Captain Robert Innes who had a crew of eleven men on board. The vessel was last reported passing Montrose on the 3rd April but then disappeared with the loss of all hands. The cause of the loss is uncertain but the area was often subject to mine laying operations of the German U-boat fleet or patrols from German aircraft. German records do not reference an attack on the Greenawn. It is likely she became the victim of an attack by a German bomber. In fact, another vessel, the SS Cairnie, was lost close by to an air attack that same day making this also a possibility.
Plaque to those lost – Tower Hill Memorial, London
The actual location of the final loss was to remain unknown until found and dived by Rod MacDonald in 2006. The wreck is located in position 56° 47.997’N, 002° 08.829’W. She lies in 55 metres with a least depth of 46 metres oriented, 090/270 degrees. The wreck is reported to be sitting upright and fairly in tact, there is a large net caught on the focsle which hangs up around 8-10 metres. There is also clear blast damage between the rear deck house and the bridge on the starboard side. Here some of the cargo of cement lies on the seabed and hull plating has been forced out which suggests an internal explosion, with the source arriving from above.
