Mobeka

The Mobeka, a motor cargo vessel was launched from the yard of Flensburger Schiffsbau Gesellschaft of Flensburg, Germany on 20th May 1937. Her steel hull measured 426.5′ x 55.7′ x 25.0′  and her tonnage was 6111 gross tons, 3512 net tons. She was powered by a large 5 cylinder MAN diesel engine built at Flensburger’s Augsburg factory. She was built to the order of Cie Maritime Belge (CMB) and, on delivery, was employed on their West Africa routes until September 1940 when, following the fall of Belgium in WW2, she was transferred to the Ministry of War Transport and put under the management of Elder Dempster based in Liverpool.

The large convoy OS.17 departed Liverpool just after midday on 18th January 1942, bound for Freetown, Sierra Leone. Fifty six merchant ships with fourteen escort ships are recorded setting out in this convoy – Mobeka was one of them.  The weather was not ideal with fog and intermittent snow showers meaning that the ships in the convoy found it difficult to keep track of each other and to stay in formation. Their route would take them north through the Irish Sea to the North Channel and out into the Western Approaches before turning south into the Atlantic.

Visibility continued to hamper progress overnight and into the 19th January and, by 07.00 the following morning, many if the ships have not established their exact position, navigating by dead reckoning. Aboard the Mobeka, Captain Lauwereins was concerned as the wind increased from the south, pushing his ship further north. At 07.53 when a light is observed off their starboard side the lookout thinks it may have been a distress signal from one of the other ships so Captain Lauwereins orders speed reduced to slow ahead. As the vessel’s momentum reduces, the crew are alert, straining through the fog to see any sign of the ship. Suddenly around 8:05am the ship shudders to a halt caught on her starboard side, the Mobeka has run aground.  An attempt to reverse the vessel fails, it’s clear she has grounded and is caught on rocks, but at this stage they have no idea where they are.

Unbeknown to those aboard the Mobeka, the Coastguard and  RNLI were already working a casualty not a quarter of a mile east of their location. The Belgian trawler Anne Marie was ashore off the Coastguard look-out station in Carskey Bay, Southend and it was her distress flares that the crew of the Mobeka had seen.

Around 11.00, as the fog began to clear, the crew of the Mobeka saw steep cliffs appear off their starboard side. Captain Lauwereins was obviously concerned with their position, the continuing weather conditions and for the safety of his crew and passengers. Lines were secured ashore and the ship’s boats were launched but unfortunately only one made it ashore with six passengers and three crew aboard.  Two other boats were smashed to pieces as they were lowered to the water as, by now, the southerly wind had picked up and increased to a full gale. The remaining forty-four crew members stayed aboard the Mobeka until the lifeboat arrived to take them off safely.  Tragically five of the six crew aboard the grounded trawler Anne Marie were drowned that morning.

The exposed position of the Mobeka made salvage unlikely but the Liverpool and Glasgow Salvage Association was called to the scene.  On January 22nd they reported her back was broken and she was lying broadside to the shoreline and very exposed to the prevailing weather.  By the time the weather abated allowing them to board her for a detailed examination on the 26th, the hull was badly buckled and there was water in every compartment. 

Salvage of the cargo was deemed possible and this was started immediately – there was even still some hope that the ship could be saved.  Her cargo of 5800 tons of war supplies was partly recovered over following months. On the 9th February a diver was sent down for a further examination revealing extensive damage to the hull, keel and bilges.  She was declared a constructive total loss by Lloyd’s. 

The story of the gallant rescue and service provided by the RNLI crew is related in the document below, extracted from The Lifeboat Magazine from 1942.

It’s worth noting that another vessel from convoy OS.17 was lost off the west coast of Islay later on the 19th January 1942. The vessel was the SS Floristan, she too was full of war supplies, details of her loss can be found in this section.

The wreck of the Mobeka has been heavily salvaged over the years but there is still a substantial amount of wreckage lying in general depths less than 10 metres in position 55°17.964’N, 005°42.322’W (GPS).  Sections of hull and parts of the engine are still visible close to the shore and items from her cargo of military equipment also litter the seabed. However the site is more a ‘scrapyard’ and there are few recognisable sections of wreckage.

The wreck was worked by the ship breaking firm of W.H. Arnott Young of Dalmuir in the latter part of 1942. The work involved the removal of all the above water portions of the wreck, some images from their visit are included above. We would like to thank W. Sloan Smith for allowing us to reproduce pictures from his photographic collection which records the work of the ship breaking company – W.H. Arnott Young of Dalmuir and Troon.

We would also like to thank Lloyd’s Register Foundation – Heritage & Education Centre for allowing us to reproduce documents from their archive in this article.