Mary B Mitchell (schooner)
.jpg) |
|
| History | |
|---|---|
  
|
|
| Name: | Mary B Mitchell |
| Owner: | Jones, Preston, Lord Penrhyn, William Thomas, Royal Navy, Job Tyrrell, James Tyrrell |
| Port of registry: | Anglesey, Dublin |
| Builder: | Paul Rogers, Carrickfergus |
| Launched: | 1892 |
| Commissioned: | 1893 |
| In service: | 1893-1944 |
| Fate: | Wrecked 14 December 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 227 gross tons |
| Length: | 129' 7" |
| Beam: | 24' 4" |
| Depth: | 10' 8" |
| Propulsion: | sail + auxiliary motor |
| Armament: |
|
| Notes: | motor & armaments fitted 1916, disarmed 1919 |
The Mary B Mitchell was a British and later an Irish schooner, affectionately known as Mary B.. She was a pleasure craft, a war hero, a working schooner, a film star and a transporter of essential cargoes in dangerous waters.
Built in 1892 she carried slate from Wales. In 1912 she was acquired by Lord Penrhyn and converted into a luxury yacht and spent two years cruising the Mediterranean. She resumed carrying cargo; it was china clay on this occasion. In April 1916, she was requisitioned as a Q-ship she featured strongly in reports at the time, however no U-boats were actually damaged. In 1919 she joined the Arklow fleet and for the next dozen years she traded on the Irish Sea. In 1934 she appeared in a film. She featured in a number of films. Mary B. was then retired. At the outbreak of World War II, she was brought out of retirement. Mary B. brought vital food to Britain and vital coal to Ireland. She travelled to Lisbon to collect American cargoes. In December 1944, she was wrecked in a storm.
Mary B Mitchell was built by Paul Rogers in 1892 at Carrickfergus, as a three-masted topsail schooner. She started her career exporting slate from North Wales to Hamburg. She was owned by Lord Penrhyn and served for a period as a yacht, before being put to work as a coaster, transporting china clay from Cornwall.
In 1916 three Arklow schooners were requisitioned by the Admiralty to be used as Q-ships, they were: Cymric, Gaelic and Mary B Mitchell. Another Q-ship was the schooner Result which was built in 1893 in the same yard as Mary B Mitchell. Result is now with the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. They sailed the Southwest Approaches, masquerading as merchantmen, inviting attack by U-boats. Their guns were concealed, when a U-boat approached, a "panic party" would abandon the ship, while the gun crews waited for their target to come into range. The expectation was that the U-boat would approach the apparently abandoned ship and would be surprised and sunk when the guns were revealed and opened fire. Great successes were claimed and medals awarded.
...
Wikipedia