Caldew

iBase ID

260359

Vessel name

Caldew

Fishing number

FD347

Type of vessel

ST

Official number

128769

Previous names

Maristo

Subsequent names

Year constructed

1914

Constructed by

Smith's Dock Co Ltd

Constructed at

Middlesbrough

Gross tons

257

Length

130 ft

Beam

Depth

Engines

Construction notes

Owner/Manager

Boston DSF

Previous owner

Wyre Steam Trawling Co

Subsequent owner

Date scrapped

Place scrapped

Date sunk

27/09/1939

Place sunk

Faroe Islands

Casualties

20/06/1922 - Richard Leadbetter; 03/05/1928 - Robert Genners; 14/3/1938 - Emmanuel Clark

General notes

Previously named MARISTO and registered at Milford Haven (M14). Served with the Royal Navy as a minesweeper from 1914-1919. 1919 To Fleetwood registration for Wyre Steam Trawling Co Ltd (FD347). Renamed CALDEW for Boston Deep Sea Fisheries Ltd. On 6th April 1935 the Caldew collided with the steam trawler Ospray II in the Sound of Jura. Ospray II sank following the collision, but her eleven crewmen were rescued. A Board of Trade Inquiry into the collision later found that the skipper of the Caldew, Edward Harris was to blame for not keeping a proper look-out forward after 7.35am. The skipper of the Ospray II was also blamed for not keeping a proper look-out after 7.40am. The two skippers had their certificates of competency suspended for twelve months. On September 27th 1939, Caldew was sunk by gunfire off the Faroes by a u-boat, less than four weeks after war was declared. The crewmen were taken off the vessel and the eleven men aboard the Caldew appear to have been the first allied seamen taken prisoner by the Germans. Most of the crew were in captivity for the whole of the war, first in Stalag X13 and then at Milag. However, Thomas Kane, George Brooks and Frederick Rowe were exchanged for German prisoners in Lisbon in 1943. A cat on board the Caldew also became famous after the sinking of the vessel. He remained on board a Swedish ship when the crew were taken prisoner. The cat was then saved by two Australian women, who found a new home for him. The cat appeared in several newspaper articles at the time. The crewmen on board the Caldew at this time were Thomas Joseph Kane, A.E Cooke, C. Ellis, F. Payne, F.C. Rowe, H. Pearson, J.Schutterlin, A. Mulholland, G.W. Triffitt, H.N. Ashwell and G. Brooks.