20 December 1914 - Garmo, Valiant
The armed yacht Valiant, en route to Cromarty, struck a mine at 0900 hours off Filey. The explosion blew the propellors and rudder off, leaving the yacht helpless. She was towed by two trawlers into Scarborough. She was subsequently towed by the yacht Eileen to the Humber and then onto Isle of Wight for repairs.
About an hour after the Valiant had struck her mine, the Grimsby trawler Garmo, a converted minesweeper, detonated a mine a mile south of Cayton Bay. She sank quickly by the stern N by E of the Old Horse Rocks. Six crewmen died, including the captain, nine surviving crew members were rescued by the drifter Principle. The body of the captain was picked up and he was buried three days later at Manor Road Cemetery, Scarborough with full naval honours.
The armed yacht Valiant, en route to Cromarty, struck a mine at 0900 off Filey. The explosion blew the propellors and rudder off, leaving the yacht drifting helplessly in the middle of the minefield. Lieutenant W. G. Wood, R.N.R., came to her rescue, bringing HMT Restrivo, No. 48, across the minefield at low water. He secured a line to the Valiant and, along with another trawler, towed the stricken vessel into Scarborough. She was subsequently towed by the yacht Eileen to the Humber and then onto Isle of Wight for repairs.
About an hour after the Valiant had been mined, the Grimsby trawler Garmo, a converted minesweeper, detonated a mine a mile south of Cayton Bay. She sank quickly by the stern N by E of the Old Horse Rocks. Sub-Lieutenant W. L. Scott, R.N.R., from the drifter Principal, went alongside the Garmo in a dinghy to rescue a man at considerable risk, as the Garmo was standing nearly vertical at the time, with only the forecastle above water. She turned completely over and sank shortly after he left her. Five crewmen died instantly onboard the Garmo, the ten surviving crew members were taken aboard the HM drifter Principle. A wireless distress massage was sent, the Scarborough lifeboat and several cobles attended, but all the survivors had been picked up, they were later landed at Scarborough’s Lighthouse Pier. The wounded were taken to Scarborough Hospital, whilst those suffering from shock went to the Sea Bathing Infirmary.
The captain of the Garmo, Thaddeus Gilbert, was badly wounded in the explosion, unfortunately, he died the following day at Scarborough Hospital. He was buried on Wednesday 23 December 1914 at Manor Road Cemetery with full naval honours. His coffin was enshrouded in a Union Jack, being borne in a carriage drawn by his comrades from the Royal Naval Reserve. The Scarborough Pictorial reported that around fifty naval reservists engaged in mine sweeping marched behind the coffin, along with a company from the Yorkshire Hussars. The band of the Hussars ‘rendered an impressive funeral march’ and the Hussars also provided the firing party at the grave side. A number of relatives had made the journey from Cleethorpes to be present at the internment. The remainder of the crew have no known graves, they are remembered by name on the Chatham Naval Memorial in Kent. The impact the loss of the Garmo must have had in her home port of Grimsby is brought home starkly by the fact that the skipper lived with his wife Caroline in Phelps Street, Cleethorpes, whilst deck hand Walter Sparrow had a home in Montague Street, less than a minute’s walk away. It was reported at the time that, aside from the bombardment itself, the landing of wounded men from the minesweepers, and those from merchant vessels that had struck mines, brought home the reality of the war to the residents of Scarborough. The local ambulance service, aided by several ‘local gentlemen’ who loaned their motorcars, ferried the wounded from the beach and harbour to the hospital, it was said it would be ‘long be remembered’ at Scarborough.
Crewmen killed on HMT Garmo
Captain, Thaddeus Gilbert (61), Cleethorpes
Able Seaman, Thomas Berry (27), Bootle, Liverpool
Trimmer/Cook, John Hare
Able Seaman, Thomas Harris
Deck Hand, Walter Sparrow (33), Cleethorpes
Second Hand, James Thornton, Royal Naval Reserve
The wreck of the Garmo has been rediscovered and was described by Carl Racey of the Scarborough Sub Aqua Club in 2012:
A small steam trawler which is sat upright and quite intact from bow to engine area, but aft of this she disappears into the silt. The damage suggests she may pulled up or hit a mine around the stern. The port side is scoured out and it is possible to see the bottom of the stem post at the bow. On the starboard side the silty seabed is up to gunwale level. There is a small gun on a pedestal which has fallen over with the barrel uppermost. This is just in front of the boiler on the starboard side. The visibility here is very hit and miss and often very poor.
Lost:
Thaddeus Gilbert, captain, aged 61, Cleethorpes
Thomas Berry, able seaman, aged 27, Bootle
John Hare, trimmer, cook
Thomas Harris, able seaman
Walter Sparrow, deck hand, Grimsby
James Thornton, second hand, Royal Naval Reserve
