SMS Triumph was a Canadian motorized stern trawler that was captured by the Imperial German Navy U-boat U-156 in 1918. The Nova Scotia newspaper The Sydney Record called the German-crewed Triumph a "Hun Sea Wolf!"[3] Over the course of a few days it sank several fishing vessels before itself being scuttled on 25 August 1918.
 August 1918, American media coverage of the German raider Triumph
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Canada | |
| Name | Triumph |
| Owner | E. Kendall, Halifax[1] |
| Builder | Charlton & Doughty, Grimsby[1] |
| Launched | 1907[1] |
| In service | 1907 |
| Out of service | 1918 |
| Fate | Seized by SM U-156 on 20 August 1918 |
 German Empire | |
| Name | SMS Triumph |
| Acquired | 20 August 1918 |
| Commissioned | 20 August 1918 |
| Fate | Scuttled 25 August 1918 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 239 tons |
| Complement |
|
| Armament | 2 × rapid-fire three-pounder deck guns, 25 x explosive demolition bombs equipped with timers, 2 x crates of three-pounder shells, and assorted small arms for the German boarding party.[2] |
German raider
editUnder Captain Myrrhe the trawler left Portland, Maine on 17 August 1918 to fish the Middle Bank about 30 miles (48 km) south southeast of Canso, Nova Scotia.[4] On 20 August 1918 she had her nets out making it difficult to maneuver when the Imperial German Navy U-boat U-156 surfaced next to and captured the Canadian vessel.[5] It took only 25 minutes after the sub surfaced to seize the ship, arm it and man it with a 15-person German prize crew.[2]
The Canadian crew was made prisoner and forced into confinement aboard U-156. The Triumph's steward later recounted for the Kennebec Journal, "The Germans were so polite that it started getting on our nerves. They offered us brandy and cigarettes while they used our trawler to blow up fishing boats all around the Bay of Fundy."[6] The trawler then spent the next few days raiding off the Canadian coast sinking six ships in the Grand Banks area.[7] Triumph was a familiar sight on the coast so when it approached the fishing vessels they were not alarmed and did not try to run.[8][9]
The captain of Francis J. O'Hara Jr. told U.S. Navy officials that when Triumph initially told his ship to prepare to be boarded he thought it was a joke and ignored it. The perception was shattered when machine guns on Triumph fired in front of the American's bow.[10] The Canadian crew were eventually forced from U-156 onto another captured fishing vessel and ordered to return to land.[10]
Summary of raiding history
edit| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage[Note 1] | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 August 1918 | A. Piatt Andrew |  United States
|
141 | Sunk [2] |
| 20 August 1918 | Francis J. O'hara, Jr. | United States
|
117 | Sunk[2] |
| 20 August 1918 | Lucille M. Schnare |  Canada
|
121 | Sunk [2] |
| 20 August 1918 | Pasadena | Canada
|
119 | Sunk [2] |
| 21 August 1918 | Sylvania | United States
|
136 | Sunk [2] |
| 22 August 1918 | Notre Dame De La Garde |  France
|
147 | Sunk [10] |
References
editNotes
edit- ^ Merchant ship tonnages are in gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement.
Citations
edit- ^ a b c Helgason 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Gibson 1991, p. 2.
- ^ Hadley & Sarty 1991, p. 264.
- ^ Nenana Daily News, August 21, 1918, p. 1.
- ^ Hadley & Sarty 1991, p. 263.
- ^ Cummins 2008.
- ^ Boileau 2021.
- ^ Government of Canada 2020.
- ^ Halpern 1995, p. 433.
- ^ a b c Gibson 1991, p. 3.
Bibliography
edit- Boileau, John (October 15, 2021). "Canada and Antisubmarine Warfare in the First World War". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
- Cummins, Sharon (December 18, 2008). "Old News: U-boat sinks schooner off Cape Porpoise". seacoastonline.com. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
- Gibson, Charles Dana (1991). "Victim or participant? Allied Fishing Fleets and U-Boat attacks in World Wars I and II" (PDF). The Northern Mariner. 1 (4). Canadian Nautical Research Society/North American Society for Oceanic History: 1–18. doi:10.25071/2561-5467.817. ISSN 1183-112X. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
- Government of Canada (2020-12-04). "The Royal Canadian Navy and the First World War". Government of Canada. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
- Hadley, Michael L.; Sarty, Roger Flynn (1991). Tin-pots and Pirate Ships: Canadian Naval Forces and German Sea Raiders, 1880-1918. McGill–Queen's University Press. ISBN 9780773507784. - Total pages: 391
- Helgason, Guðmundur (2024). "Triumph". uboat.net. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
- Halpern, Paul G. (1995). A Naval History of World War I. UCL Press. ISBN 9781857284980. - Total pages: 591
- "Raider Menacing Eastern Fisheries". Nenana Daily News. Nenana, Alaska: Nenana Print. Co. August 21, 1918. pp. 1–4. OCLC 35898207. Retrieved August 16, 2024.