# S.S. Pontypridd



## bagpipebert (Jan 11, 2017)

Sunk on June 11 1942. According to U-boat net, the master, Herbert Morden was landed by U 569, however, his daughter has a picture of him with the officers of U 94 (Ltzs Otto Ites) on the conning tower as they arrive in St Nazaire. Capt Morden was sent this picture and one of S.S. Pontypridd sinking by Otto Ites when they corresponded after the war. These pictures and the story were published in "Dunstable and District at War" ISBN 1-903747-79-1. At the time the book was compiled, his daughter believed he was returning from the Mediterranean but subsequent research has shown the ship was 200 miles east of Newfoundland when it was attacked first by U569 and then by U 94. U 94 was sunk off Haiti on its next voyage having been damaged by a Catalina flying boat and finished off by a destroyer. Otto Ites was among the survivors and taken prisoner.


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## audierne (Sep 20, 2008)

Roger Jordan, The World's Merchant Fleets, Chatham, 1999, page 507, says that Pontypridd was torpedoed 11.06.42 (convoy ONS 100) by U 569, then torpedoed again by U 94 and yet again by U 569 and sunk. (tough cookie, that) 2 Dead, 1 Pow, 45 survivors.
So it seems that U 569 made a prisoner.
Kenneth Wynn, U-boat operations of the second World War, volume 2, p.44, says that Pontypridd was seriously damaged by two torpedoes from U 569 in the afternoon of June 11, 1942, then hit again by U 94 "Three hours later", and finally sunk by U 569. (This supposes a minimum of 4 torpedoes to sink 4,458 tons)
No mention of any prisoners.
The same author, volume 1, page 74 mentions the attack by U 94 but does not mention any prisoners.
Hope this helps, in some way
Bon voyage,
regards,
G.


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## IAN M (Jan 17, 2009)

Extracted from my book Shipping Company Losses of the Second World War. 

DARTFORD (Captain S. Bulmer). Bound for Sydney, Cape Breton, from the Tyne and Oban, sailed in Convoy ON.100 which left Liverpool on 2 June, 1942. Torpedoed and sunk by U.124 (Kptlt. Johann Mohr) at 6.12am on the 12th, in position 49º19´N 41º33´W. Thirty died. Seventeen picked up by the rescue ship Gothland (Captain J.M. Hadden) and landed at Halifax on the 17th. 

Other ships sunk in Convoy ON.100
FFL Mimosa (French corvette) (Cdr. R.R. Birot). By U.124. Fifty-nine French, including Cdr. Birot, and 6 British died. Four French picked up by the destroyer HMCS Assiniboine (Cdr. J.H. Stubbs). 
Empire Clough (Captain Felix de Bastarrechea). (On her maiden voyage). By U.94 (Oblt. Otto Ites). Five died. Thirty-two picked up by the corvette HMS Dianthus (LtCdr. C.E. Bridgeman) and landed at St. John’s, NF. Twelve picked up by the Portuguese trawler Argus and landed at Greenland on the 26th. 
Ramsay (Captain B.F.R. Thomas). By U.94. Forty died. Eight picked up by the corvette HMS Vervain (Lt. H.P. Crail) and landed at St. John’s.
Pontypridd (Captain H.V.B. Morden). Torpedoed twice by U.569 (Kptlt. Hans-Peter Hinsch), and abandoned. Two died and Captain Morden taken prisoner. Torpedoed and sunk by U.94. Forty-five picked up by the corvette HMCS Chambly (Cdr. J.D. Prentice) and landed at St. John’s.


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## audierne (Sep 20, 2008)

Kenneth Wynne (op.cit.) says that U94 returned to Saint Nazaire on 23.6.42 and U569 returned to La Pallice on 28.6.42
Does the photograph of Capt. Bulmer show any background that could tell where it was taken?
J Rohwer, (Chronology of the war at sea, Greenhill Books, 1992) says on page 139:
"On June 11th, (...) U94 and U569 are held up by a straggler (4458 tons) which they sink in several approaches."
No mention of any prisoner taken by either boat.
Arnold Hague (The allied convoy system, Chatham, 2000 ?) does not mention the ship, which confirms the information that she was indeed a straggler.


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## Hugh MacLean (Nov 18, 2005)

The Real Cruel Sea (Woodman) and other sources suggest he was landed at La Pallice on 28.6.1942 which would be U-569. My sources confirm he was prisoner 706 and held at Milag Noord, Westertimke, Germany. However, I can find no primary records that confirm the submarine that took him as a PoW. Your photographic evidence however, would suggest it was U-94.

In the absence of any further evidence I would try to obtain the following file from The National Archives, Kew - *BT 373/255*. This is a PoW pouch with misc contents regarding PONTYPRIDD and as there was only one PoW there may be information in the file to confirm his movements when the ship was sunk.

As an aside Captain Morden has records in the Fourth Register of Seamen including a photo from 1919 and another from 1952. Seems he was sailing again as master in 1945.

Regards
Hugh


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## audierne (Sep 20, 2008)

Would it be possible to post a copy of the photograph?
Regards.


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## Hugh MacLean (Nov 18, 2005)

The first attachment is early in his career in 1919 aged 19, the second was taken in 1952.

Regards
Hugh


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## audierne (Sep 20, 2008)

I meant the picture in which he is on U94's conning tower.


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## audierne (Sep 20, 2008)

Sorry about the last message, it seems a bit curt. The second part of the message does not seem to have been recorded. What I am getting at is the possibility of background details giving an indication as to which port and therefore which U-boat.
regards,
g.


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## Hugh MacLean (Nov 18, 2005)

Yes, I thought your post was curt too. If you look at my reply I was offering advice, advice that included the fact that there was a photo of Captain Morden [available from records]. Your post, straight after mine, asked: "Would it be possible to post a copy of the photograph?" which I assumed - what else was I to think - that you wanted the captain's photo.

Anyway, the information you require will have to come from the o/p bagpipebert.

Regards
Hugh


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## bagpipebert (Jan 11, 2017)

audierne said:


> Sorry about the last message, it seems a bit curt. The second part of the message does not seem to have been recorded. What I am getting at is the possibility of background details giving an indication as to which port and therefore which U-boat.
> regards,
> g.


Captain Herbert Morden and Otto Ites corresponded after the war. Otto sent a press cutting to Herbert together with a photo of the Pontypridd with a broken back. We believe the press cutting was from a news-sheet for the Axis navies as the caption was in both German and Italian. The cutting shows Otto and some of his crew on the conning tower of U-94 together with Herbert wearing a trilby.
The caption states:- "A hat among the caps on the U-boat tower."
"The captain of a sunken English freighter, who was taken aboard by the U-boat, experiences the welcome given to the commander, Knights Cross holder, Ober-Lt zur See Ites and his crew on their return from a successful mission against the enemy." Herbert's daughter is a close friend of my wife and myself and says her father said he was only on Otto's U-boat. Hence he arrived in France aboard U-94 on its return from its mission with Wolfpack "Hecht" The pictures were published in "Dunstable and District at War" together with a photo of Herbert and the story. At the time of compilation we believed he was returning from the Med. when he was sunk but since then research on U-boat.net showed he was a straggler from ONS-100. I will check the copyright position and if possible, post the pictures. Regards, Bagpipebert


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## bagpipebert (Jan 11, 2017)

*S.s. Pontypridd*

I am posting a number of attachments to this do***ent, and will post a second do***ent with five more to complete the set:-

1.	A photograph taken from a German newspaper showing Capt. Morden (wearing a Trilby) on the tower of U-94 with Ober- Lt z S Otto Ites and some of his crew arriving in France. The cutting is pasted on a post card to Frau Ites which was post-marked 04/08/42. This was sent to Capt. Morden after the war by Otto Ites.
2.	A photograph of the end of the S.S. Pontypridd taken from U-94, again sent to Capt. Morden by Otto Ites.
3.	Page 1 of a letter from Otto to Capt. Morden in 1948 when he was training in Bonn as a dentist. He starts writing about his studies and then about the sister of his chief engineer Müller aboard U-94. She was living in Angola.
4.	Page 2 is where he asked whether Capt. Morden had learned that Müller was born in South Africa whilst talking to him in the submarine. Otto writes that Müller and his brother were both killed in action. Müller aboard U-94 and his younger brother aboard the “Scharnhorst” in 1944. Otto runs out of paper and concludes his letter by writing along the right hand edge and then inverted along the top. His signature is on the left top corner.
5.	Front of the envelope. (the stamps were “collected” by Capt. Morden’s daughter).

bagpipebert


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## bagpipebert (Jan 11, 2017)

*S.s. Pontypridd (2)*

The second part of my post:-

6.	Reverse of the envelope showing Otto Ites home address. He also indicates that the contents are in English for the censor.
7.	A letter from a stranger to Mrs. Morden telling her of her husband’s capture and his broadcast message. Until then she only knew he was not among the survivors from the Pontypridd.
8.	First page of a letter from a fellow prisoner to Mrs. Morden on his return to the U.K.
9.	Second page of that letter.
10.	Pre-war photograph of Captain Morden.

I believe that the photograph of Capt. Morden on the conning tower of U-94 along with Ober-Lt z S Ites and other members of his crew show that he arrived in France aboard this U-boat and not U-569 as reported elsewhere. Confirmation of this is in the letter to him from Otto Ites in which he asked whether he learned that the chief engineer of U-94 was born in South Africa whilst he (Capt. M) was on “our submarine”.

bagpipebert


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## bagpipebert (Jan 11, 2017)

audierne said:


> Sorry about the last message, it seems a bit curt. The second part of the message does not seem to have been recorded. What I am getting at is the possibility of background details giving an indication as to which port and therefore which U-boat.
> regards,
> g.


Have posted the picture you wished to see and also some correspondence from Otto Ites and Herbert Morden. These were supplied by Herbert's daughter who has been a friend of my wife since 1940!


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## shaunaconboy (Oct 12, 2011)

Hello All !

Just found this site ( Feb 2018 ) My Father Edward Conboy was a Royal Navy Gunner on the Pontypridd. He told me that he was in the lifeboat from which the captain was picked up from after it was torpedoed !
So interesting .
Thanks Shaun Conboy


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## bagpipebert (Jan 11, 2017)

Very interested in your reply! We have told Capt. Morden's daughter who appreciated the news. Incidentally, her aunt, Beryl Morden, was secretary to the Earl of Suffolk and Berkshire and accompanied him as he commandeered a freighter to bring Heavy Water; industrial diamonds and French scientists from Bordeaux to Falmouth at the time of the French collapse. She died when she was with the Earl as he was disarming a German bomb in 1942.


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