SS Corduff

Sister ship to the SS cordene

Position ... 52 52 222 N / 001 40 01 E

Depth ... 36mtrs
Built ... 1923

Official number ... 147566

Tonnage ... 2345 grt / 1322 net

Dimensions ... 86 x 12.8 x 6.7 mtrs

Long raised quarter deck 164 feet / poop 20 feet / forecastle 26 feet

Engine ... Triple expansion.

Screw diameter ... 15 feet, x4 blades

Boilers ... x2 single ended, cylindrical, fire tube. Furnaces... x3 per boiler

Donkey boiler fitted ... No

Double bottom ... Yes

Speed ... 10 knots

Lost ... 8th March 1941

Cause of loss ... Torpedo (S-Boat) whilst in convoy FN-426

Builder ... Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd, Wallsend

Owner at time of loss ... Cory Colliers Ltd (WM. Cory & Sons) London.

Casualties ... 7

Convoys FN-426 and FS-429

On the night of the 7th March 1941 the German 1st MTB Flotilla consisting of S26 / S27 / S28 / S29 / S101/ S102/, along with the 3rd MTB Flotilla consisting of S31 / S57 / S59 / S60 / and S61, made a night time sortie on both convoys FN-426 and FS-429 off Yarmouth and Cromer . The attack saw five vessels lost from convoy FN-426 (listed below) and two vessels from Convoy FS-429, these being the Boulderpool (S61) and Kenton (S31).

Convoy FN- 426 was escorted by the destroyers Versatile and Berkeley along with the patrol sloop Sheldrake, the sheldrake narrowly missing being hit by one of the S Boats torpedoes.

Convoy FS-429 was escorted by the destroyer Pytchley and the patrol sloop Puffin.

The destroyers Worcester and Whitshed were dispatched to cover both convoys.

History ... On the 11th November 1940, some five months prior to being sunk by S28, the Corduff had a near escape whilst attached to the east coast South bound convoy FS-32 During the attack the Corduff was damaged but took no casualties.

Circumstances of loss.

Whilst attached to the north bound convoy FN-426, London to Hartlepool, the Corduff was torpedoed by the S Boat S28 of the 1st MTB Flotilla. During the attack on convoy FN-426, three other ships were sent to the bottom and one being beached, these being SS Norman Queen by S101 // SS Rye by S27 // Dotterel (beached) by S29 and SS Togston by S102. At the time of the attack, fourteen of the Corduff's crew abandoned ship via the ships lifeboat, in turn leaving aboard seven dead and two badly injured, the two injured men later being taken prisoner by the Germans. The fourteen crew members in the lifeboat were later picked up by the Cromer lifeboat H F Bailey (Cox'n Blogg)

Below ... S Boat (Schnellboot)

Casualties.

Edward Crutchley, Able Seaman // Thomas Wilkinson Crutchley, Able Seaman // John Davison, Fireman // William Hall, Fireman // George Helm, Fireman // George Heslop, Able Seaman // Thomas Hannah, Able Seaman.

UKHO

19/12/50 ... Wreck located at 52 52 18 N / 001 40 06 E / Least depth 12 fathoms = 21.8mtrs

24/1/83 ... wreck located at 52 52 20 N / 001 40 07 E / Least depth 21mtrs in a general depth of 34mtrs. Scour depth 2mtrs / Height 12.8mtrs approx. Apparently intact, 100 mtrs long approx. Needs to be wire swept.

24/09/90 ... Positively identified as the wreck of the Corduff from crockery stating the name of the owners, Cory Coal Co. The bell has been reportedly raised. There is a split across the ship seperating the stern slightly from the forward part.

1/12/93 ... Located in 52 52 204 N / 001 40 071 E. Swept clear at 21.8mtrs, foul at 22.1mtrs. Least depth 22.6mtrs in general depth of 34mtrs. Clearly defined intact wreck.

September 2015 ... Examined in 52 52 369 N / 001 40 017 E. Least depth 26.2mtrs, length 90mtrs, width 12mtrs, height 9mtrs. Intact and upright.

Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd, builders of the Corduff. In 1903 C. S. Swan and Hunter merged with Wigham Richardson in an effort to win the prestigious contract to build the Mauretania for Cunard. Their bid was successful, and the new company, Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson was born. Based in the Wallsend Shipyard, Tyne and Wear, the company was responsible for some of the greatest ships of the 20th century, most famously the RMS Mauretania which held the Blue Riband for the fastest Atlantic crossing, and the RMS Carpathia which rescued the survivors of the RMS Titanic. In 1966 Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson merged with the Smiths Dock Company to form Associated Shipbuilders, which later became the Swan Hunter Group.

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Below ... General arrangement of the Corduff's sister ship Cordene, this being the same build as that of the Corduff.

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Deighton's Patent Flue & Tube Company ... Makers of the Corduff's boiler furnaces.

Type ... Corrugated

Construction ... Steel

Diameter ... 44 inches

Tensile strength ... 26 - 30 tons

Longitudinal joint ... Welded

The design of the corrugated furnace is to be attributed to Samson Fox who in turn patented his design in 1877. Prior to the use of corrugated furnaces the surface of the furnace was plain in design. The benefits displayed in the corrugated design were that it offered a greater external heating surface via its corrugation, plus it offered far greater strength and resistance to the high external pressures put upon it from within the boiler, ie it was less susceptible to being crushed or forming flat spots on its surface that would then in turn make it more susceptible to being crushed under pressure. The use of corrugated furnaces allowed for safer usage of the high pressures required to run compounding engines.

Below ... Long Raised quarter deck as incorporated in the Corduff's build.

Below is a drawing of a vessel of the same design as that of the Corduff. Note the long raised quarter deck that runs from the stern to just forward of the bridge. The lower deck that runs from just forward of the bridge to the forecastle is the well deck.

Advantage of long raised quarter deck with engines midships.

With the engines located midships, this meant the prop shaft and in turn the shaft tunnel ran a great deal of length along the bottom of the ships hull to arrive at the stern. The disadvantage of this was that it took up a great deal of potential hold space astern of the engines. A solution to this was to raise the height of the deck above the area of the shaft tunnel, this in turn increasing the hold space available, this being known as a long raised quarter deck, the raised quarter deck would also include the bridge. Note ... From the drawing below it can be seen that the two holds astern of the funnel are higher than the two forward of the funnel. This in turn increasing the hold space that would have been reduced due to the accommodation of the shaft tunnel.

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Below, Double bottom cross section as incorporated in the Corduff .... A double bottom is a method of construction where the bottom of the ship has two separate layers of watertight hull floor. The outer layer forms the outer hull and the inner layer, ie the floor forms a watertight barrier should the outer hull be breached. Up until 2007, double bottomed vessels were allowed to utilise their DB's for fuel storage. In addition the DB can also be used for the storage of ballast water.

Below ... The house flag of Cory Colliers (W. M. Cory & Sons) London.

Cory Colliers Ltd (W. M. Cory & Sons) London, owners of the Corduff. The house flag of Cory Colliers Ltd, London. A red, rectangular flag with a white diamond in the centre. Cory Colliers were a branch of William Cory and Son. Originally in the coal trade, they became tug operators, taking over several other companies. In 1985 they were consolidated under the control of Cory Towage Limited, and the flag emblem was altered from a white diamond to a blue one edged white. They were taken over and absorbed by Bureau Wijsmuller in February 2000.

Below ... Newspaper article reporting on the launch of the Corduff. Shields Daily News, 7th November 1923

The Corduff today

Awaiting divers report .... (From UKHO reports in 2015, the wreck of the Corduff showed itself to be upright and intact).

CORDUFF SS