24 February 1915 - Deptford
The collier Deptford was carrying coal for the Royal Navy from Granton to Chatham. At 02.55 she struck a mine three miles off Scarborough. The explosion extinguished the ship’s lights, smashed mirrors and flung the crew from their bunks. The crew mustered on deck and launched the starboard lifeboat, the port one had been destroyed in the explosion. Getting the lifeboat away was a tricky operation as the ship was heavily listing and going down by the stern. Captain Joseph Cheyne, of South Shields, asked if everyone was in the boat and when he received an affirmative answer they dropped astern of their sinking ship. However, it was then realised that the carpenter Theodore Nicholson was missing. They attempted to return to the ship, but a combination of a heavy sea and an increasing wind made it impossible. They hailed the ship but received no reply. They lost sight of their ship before she sank. For several hours they burned flares to attract attention and were forced to continuously bail water from the lifeboat. As daylight began to break the mate of the London registered steamer Fulgent spotted their flares, they rescued the crew and landed them at South Shields. The ship’s carpenter, Thonel Nicholson, a married man from Leith who had two children, was lost presumed drowned.
Crewman killed on SS Deptford
Thonel Nicholson, carpenter, aged 42, Leith
