Jane Williamson

Official Number 58191

The Jane Williamson was a wooden brig launched on the 17th March 1870 from the shipyard of H & J Williamson at Whitehaven. She was initially commanded by Capt.T.Karron in foreign trade, then was sold by her builders to owners in Belfast, from where she spent the rest of her career in the coasting trade.

The Jane Williamson was lost on the 10th September 1917 when she was attacked and sunk by a German submarine 20 miles NNE of St.Ives. The vessel, which was registered at Belfast, had been travelling from Liverpool to Cherbourg with a coal cargo. She was attacked at 4 pm, and the six crew abandoned the vessel, which was then rigged as a brigantine, in their small boat. After the vessel had been sunk by gunnery, the submarine then launched a murderous attack on the survivors. The master and three other crew were killed, and the mate was wounded. Only the ship's boy escaped unharmed, and the two survivors were rescued by a trawler crew and landed at Penzance.

Sources :

1. "Shipbuilding in Whitehaven - A Checklist" by Harry Fancy, Whitehaven Museum (1984)
2. Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1871-2: Jane Williamson, brig, FYM 1870, 188 tons, owned by Williamson, registered at Whitehaven, master Capt.T.Karran, voyage Whitehaven - West Indies.
   
3. There is a painting of the Jane Williamson at the Castletown Maritime Museum, Isle of Man, along with other Whitehaven vessels owned by J.Karron, including the Sumatra.
4. Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1883-4: Jane Williamson, wooden brig, owned by S.Keith, registered at Belfast, master Capt.J.H.Newman.
5. Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1889-90: Jane Williamson, wooden brig, official no.58191, signal letters JWTD, 197 gross tons, owned by R.Kearon, registered at Belfast, master Capt.G.Kinch.
6. Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1898-9: Jane Williamson, same details as 1889, except the vessel is described as a brigantine.
   
7. Wreck info from "Shipwreck Index of the British Isles" Vol. 1 (1995) by Richard & Bridget Larn, pub. Lloyds Register, 2000, ISBN 0 900528 88 5.
   
8. See Naval History Net (citing from "British Vessels Lost at Sea 1914-1918" published by HMSO, 1919) - states 4 lives lost.