The steel steamship Martha was launched from the West Hartlepool yard of William Gray and Co Ltd (Yard No 535) on 1st April 1897. She measured 232.0′ x 34.0′ x 16.6′ and her tonnage was 1182 gross tons, 724 net tons. She was powered by a triple expansion steam engine by the Central Marine Engineering Works Ltd delivering 127 nominal horse power. She was ordered by A/S D/S Heimdal (M Carl) of Copenhagen and delivered to them later that year for operations on the Baltic and North routes.
SS Martha at anchor
Lloyd’s register 1915
On 15th May 1915 she was en route from Arzew (Algeria) to Leith with a cargo of esparto grass under the command of Captain Jens Christiansen with a crew of sixteen seamen. She had endured a long hazardous journey past the U-boat hunting grounds off the west coast of Ireland and Scotland and then east round the north of Scotland before heading south on the last leg of the trip round Rattray Head and down the east coast to the Forth and her destination. Meanwhile the German U-boat U-23 was patrolling the Scottish east coast. She had set out from Emden on 10th May and crossed the North Sea to reach her hunting ground off Whitby two days later. Her commander , Hans Schultheß, began his search for ships to attack. He headed steadily north, but after two unsuccessful attempts on vessels off the English east coast, he reached the area off Aberdeen early on 15th May just as Martha reached the area from the north.
U-23 KTB English translation
At 10am Schultheß spotted a steamer on a SSW course and at 10:35 he fired a single torpedo from close range which hit Martha near her second cargo hold. Following the explosion two lifeboats were successfully launched and the crew disembarked to be picked up by a small steamship which had raced to the scene. Martha was sinking quickly by the bow and, despite the attempts of a tug from Aberdeen to take her in tow, she sank 40 minutes after the torpedo impact. Schultheß in U-23, who had stayed close by observing the situation in case a 2nd torpedo was required to sink Martha, then proceeded with his patrol and was to sink four more vessels (trawlers Chrysolite, Crimond and Lucerne and steamship Minerva) before heading home to Emden. The crew of Martha were picked up safely with no casualties and taken to Aberdeen.
Birmingham Daily Mail
The wreck of Martha lies in position 57° 07.655’N, 01° 59.282’W and is inside the limits of the new Aberdeen South Harbour and, as such, off limits to divers. In years before these limitations were in place the wreck was dived by Buchan Divers who report the mainly in tact wreck of a large steamship sitting upright on the seabed. The wreck was well known to release bales of grass at regular intervals and locally named the ‘Grass Wreck’ While nothing was found on the wreck to verify her identity, the position, consistent with the details of the sinking in the KTB of U-23, and the cargo of grass bales confirm this is indeed Martha. She lies in 53 metres with a least depth clearance of 47 metres.
We would like to acknowledge the assistance of Buchan Divers – www.buchandivers.com in the preparation of this article.
