# SOS De GBTT



## R651400 (Jun 18, 2005)

Not for any faint-hearted francophone,

http://www.f6ddr.fr/tk5mp_memoire.htm

Surfing to verify Dakar/FGA I came across the memoirs of radio amateur Tom/TK5MP (Corsica).
To my surprise is his personal account as a twenty year old R/O on duty at Cherbourg-radio c/s then FUC on the evening of 1st January 1949.
My translation reads. 
At 1900 I took up my watch and checked the tuning on my SFR.RU 93 receiver and tweaked the adjustment on my Junker morse-key. 
At 1920 using the D.1000 transmitter (with it's musical note) I gave CQ de FUC WX PSE UP 458 KCS. 
After sending the weather forecast I returned to 500 Kcs receiving TR's from ships EDWARD JANEWAY/WPPO and Italian Monte Stele/IBTT.
The Queen Mary/GBTT had already contacted FUC at 1830 indicating her passage to North America.
Although the evening was calm on the radio waves I had an inner feeling that something was going to happen. 
2155 and not believing my ears!!
Thundering through my loudspeaker was SOS SOS SOS de GBTT GBTT GBTT REQUIRE ASSISTANCE!!! 
The Queen Mary on leaving Cherbourg had encountered 100 km cross winds driving her 85000 tons ashore on a sandbank in the bay of St Anne and was stuck no more than 400 to 500 metres from the shore.
I'm ashamed to say I asked for a repeat! 
I immediately informed the authorities who put to sea the tugs CHERBOURGEOIS 4, MUSCLE, ROULE, MAMMOUTH including l’ABEILLE 4 from Le Havre,. 
500 kc/s by this time was a storm of acknowledgement from Niton/GNI, Ostende/OST, Scheveningen/PCH and others all looking for a slice of the salvage gold from Lloyds.
To give me complete control I asked my engineer to bring up two transmitters the 800W Lorenz on 499 kc/s and the 1Kw D100 on 501 kc/s giving modulation and bandwidth over the distress frequency.
By this time tug boats had left from Portsmouth in very heavy weather to assist but to no avail because Mamouth pulled Queen Mary clear.
nb... Considering the year 1949 with a possible catastrophe of Titanic proportions I've only found one small internet reference to this incident....


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Great find R65.... Cunard kept that one out of the history books!

Interesting to read that the coast radio stations may have got a shot at the salvage money - wonder if that was an official Lloyd's payment or a backhander from the salvage tugs? Did Tom mention any kickbacks? Maybe he just retired to Corsica and shut up!

Also interesting to hear that Cherbourg's callsign was FUC - an example of more innocent times? Pretty sure Cherbourg was only a VHF station in my day.

Thanks for posting.

John T


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## R651400 (Jun 18, 2005)

trotterdotpom said:


> Great find R65.... Cunard kept that one out of the history books!


Tks t.p

Maybe not Cunard but maybe the Atlee govt when everything was trying to poke thru WW2 doom and gloom.

This is the Pathetic News clip when GBTT returned to Soton for inspection and repairs.. No sound!

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=56380


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## Gulpers (Sep 8, 2005)

R651400,

Thanks for that intriguing post - as John T says, Cunard certainly kept that incident quiet. (Thumb)


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## R58484956 (Apr 19, 2004)

Many thanks Malcolm for that interesting news as already said Cunard kept that quiet, sailed with many QM men and it was never mentioned.


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## R651400 (Jun 18, 2005)

Thanks Brian.
It is actually on the Cunard site if one wants to dig deep enough but for sure this 20 year old lad with his foresight and expertise certainly saved the day for Cunard.


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## Stephen J. Card (Nov 5, 2006)

Suggested reading....

CAPTAIN OF THE QUEENS by Captain Harry Graattidge. Master of QUEEN MARY when she grounded in Cherbourg... pages 206 to 212

and

THE QUEENS AND I by Commodore Geoffrey Marr Sailing as Chief Officer when she grounded.... pages 78 to 84

Both gentlemen give excellent accounts of the grounding event. 

In the master's account he messaged Cerbourg port commandant: 

QUEEN MARY AGROUND IN CHERBOURG HARBOUR. PLEASE SEND TUGS AND ALL POSSIBLE ASSISTANCE. 

An hour later...he says in the narration "I remember saying to McLean (Staff Cptain) I don't think there is any more I can do tonight. Will you call me at seven?"

Marr says in his account that an hour before high water next morning as they were making the tugs fast the vessel floated free... they weighed anchor and steamed out of the port with the tugs escorting.

Both accounts are mostly the same one view of the event from the Master on the bridge and the other from the Chief Officer on the focs'le. Marr's account give a chart of the harbour wuth a more detailed explanation of the event.

Unfortunately far too much to copy down here....

Stephen


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## Gulpers (Sep 8, 2005)

Thanks for that Stephen - the incident wasn't too dramatic then! (Bounce)


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## Stephen J. Card (Nov 5, 2006)

Gulpers said:


> Thanks for that Stephen - the incident wasn't too dramatic then! (Bounce)


I almost forgot...

a third account of the incident to be found in:

QUEEN'S COMPANY by Commodore Donald MacLean who was Staff Captain. His account if the event is just two pages but as he says... he was at his harbour station on the after docking bridge with the First Officer when she grounded.

I'll bet the incident was definitely 'dramatic' but I think the Cunard gentlemen take these things in their stride... most of them coming from The Blue Funnel Line or from Stornoway fishing vessels!

Did you know that Mark Twain once wrote: "The Cunard people would not take Noah himself until they had worked him through all the lower grades and tried him for ten years.It takes them about fifteen years to manufacture a Captain, but when they have him manufactured to suit at last they have full confidence in him."

I once asked Captain Alan Bennell on QE2 if he was going to write a book about his career with Cunard and what was he going to name it.... as in Captain of the Queens, Queen's Company, I Captained the Big Ships, The Queens and I... etc etc. Alan replied, "I think I'll call it "The Wasted Years." !!!!!!!

Happy Yew Year!!!

Stephen


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## Stephen J. Card (Nov 5, 2006)

trotterdotpom said:


> Great find R65.... Cunard kept that one out of the history books!
> 
> Interesting to read that the coast radio stations may have got a shot at the salvage money - wonder if that was an official Lloyd's payment or a backhander from the salvage tugs?
> 
> ...



John, 

I doubt the tugs got a single franc betweeen them. There was no Open Form and in the event the tugs did little bit stand by.... probaly the crew got a bit of overtime.... well it was 1st January.(Pint)

Reading the accounts in the books I mentioned... the real heroes of the night were Chief Officer Marr and the deck crew who spent the whole night night over the side cutting away the PLUTO cables that had snagged the ship and caused the grounding in the first place!

Stephen


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

Why did the R/O send an SOS and not an XXX?


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## sparkie2182 (May 12, 2007)

Would have been my question too.


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Troppo said:


> Why did the R/O send an SOS and not an XXX?


He probably did what he was told. I wouldn't send an SOS unless under Master's instructions! From further reading, it sounds like they could have communicated by megaphone anyway.

John T


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## R651400 (Jun 18, 2005)

trotterdotpom said:


> I wouldn't send an SOS unless under Master's instructions!


...and I don't think a GBTT compliment of nearly a dozen IMR R/O's with a very senior chief would either.
I found Tom's account flawed on two counts. The actual message as Troppo pointed out has the priority of XXX without even a position and secondly I think the auto alarm procedure was certainly in force in 1949..
What did make it authentic according to Tom was all the tfc was conducted on 500 kc/s which I doubt would be used for an ordinary priority msg from the QM master to the Cherbourg port commandant as in #7.


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## Stephen J. Card (Nov 5, 2006)

Why would the master have an SOS sent out then five minutes later tell his staff captain that he was going to bed and to make him in the morning?

Had there been that kind of immediate danger they would have recalled the Cherbourg tenders and started an evacuation of all passengers.

In the master's account he states that he sent a message to Cherbourg port commandant requesting tugs and all assistance. An SOS would not have made any sense.

Stephen


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## PeterY (Jun 24, 2008)

Sounds like a storm in a tea cup to me!!!!!


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## R651400 (Jun 18, 2005)

#15..I don't think anyone is disagreeing with you!
The account in your book is the Master's and mine a simple translation of what the Cherbourg-radio R/O put on his internet memoirs. 
One thing that would appear to put the ball squarely in the QM captains's court is according to Tom the QM called in at 1830 presumably with the usual TR to say leaving Cherbourg bnd Soton or wherever. The aground and require assistance message was sent at 2155. 
Since we've now established St Anne's bay is still within Cherbourg breakwater and presumably not too far from where QM was docked this is a period of approx three hours. 
If this timing is accurate does your book give any idea what went on during those three hours?


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

I reckon the coast station R/O meant XXX....

Translation problem, perhaps?


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## R651400 (Jun 18, 2005)

I say negative.......
and if what you say is an indictment on any R/O who cannot differentiate between XXX and SOS then first port of call.
Yourself possibly??


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## Stephen J. Card (Nov 5, 2006)

R651400 said:


> #15..I don't think anyone is disagreeing with you!
> The account in your book is the Master's and mine a simple translation of what the Cherbourg-radio R/O put on his internet memoirs.
> One thing that would appear to put the ball squarely in the QM captains's court is according to Tom the QM called in at 1830 presumably with the usual TR to say leaving Cherbourg bnd Soton or wherever. The aground and require assistance message was sent at 2155.
> Since we've now established St Anne's bay is still within Cherbourg breakwater and presumably not too far from where QM was docked this is a period of approx three hours.
> If this timing is accurate does your book give any idea what went on during those three hours?




Sure does. Makes good reading too! The following mostly from Chief Officer Geoffrey Marr' book. ( I sailed with him twice when he was Commodore in the QUEEN ELIZABETH in 1968.)



"The vessel made a rough cross-Channel passage. I was on the bridge with Captain Grattidge and the Cherbourg pilot who had boarded in Southmpton. Discussing the forecast for after 1800 I got the feeling that Captain was not happy about entering the harbour, but was worried about 300 embarking passengers coming down by train from Paris. The pilot was quite optimistic that with the wind from the south they would get maximum protection from the land. The decision was taken to go in. Until we got within about seven miles from the French coast the waves were breaking over the forecastle head, but by the time we had closed to about three miles of the breakwaterwe were able to get our men up tto clear away anchors and lift the derricks. On entering harbour there was a good lee and there was no problem putting two anchors down, getting five tenders alongside and completing was seemed a fairly routine embarkation. (The call to Cherbourg radio at 1830 probably related to their arrival or perhapss an estimated departure time.) 

Stations were called and Stand-By rung at 1953hrs. Soon after commenced heaving away both anchors. Wing blowing from the WSW and increasing. At 2005 port anchor aweigh, port inner engine dead slow ahead then slow ahead. Starboard anchor still out but started to drag. Pilot ordered full astern both engines intending to ease the strain on the cable and avoid any risk of going ashore on the eastern side of the harbour. Attempts to turn the ship round failed and she continued drag the starboard anchor to leeward.

They blew whistles to call for tugs to assist but none came as they were not steamed up. Finally got starboard anchor up but as they could not get her bows around the pilot ordered it dropped again. 

At this point Grattidge too over from the pilot.

Soon after another attempt was made to turn but on lifting the starboard anchor they found it fouled with three heavy wires... part of wartime PLUTO (PipeLine Under The Ocean). 

With engines going astern the MARY dragged her anchor and the cables right round the hrbour... her stern coming up into the eye of the wind. Eventually the ship was in a good position to go ahead and steam out of the harbour, the PLUTO cables starting to tear away from the bottom. With the engines going ahead she still had a bit of sternway but before the could get her going ahead she grounded aft just before 2100hrs. The port anchor was let go to steaady the bow aand to await the next morning's High Water.

During the night they made all preparations for refloating including pumping overboard some 3,000 tons of FW and ballast water and transfering some fuel oil. Sounding taken all round. Tugs arrived but in the end were not required. The vessel floated free some 90 minutes before HW. Raising the port anchor they found it had fouled with some of the cables that had been cleared from the starboard anchor. The vessel returned to Southampton for inspection, some 60 tons of cement being used to stop small leaks. After three days the vessel resumed passage to New York.

Hope this throws some more light on the incident.

Stephen


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## R651400 (Jun 18, 2005)

Thanks Stephen... Much more than a storm in a tea cup!!


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## Gulpers (Sep 8, 2005)

Gulpers said:


> Thanks for that Stephen - the incident wasn't too dramatic then! (Bounce)


Fascinating Stephen.
Thanks again for taking the time to type these extracts.
I take back my earlier comment - that incident would have been dramatic enough for most of our likings, however everything seems to have been handled in a calm, controlled manner. (Thumb)


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## Stephen J. Card (Nov 5, 2006)

Gulpers said:


> Fascinating Stephen.
> Thanks again for taking the time to type these extracts.
> I take back my earlier comment - that incident would have been dramatic enough for most of our likings, however everything seems to have been handled in a calm, controlled manner. (Thumb)




Hmmm....

Spoke today to my good friend Russell Southern, ex Blue Flue, ex First Officer Queen Mary in the early 60s and he started on about how Cunard snapped up Blue Funnel officers because of the high quality of their training etc etc but most of all what gave him... and others the edge was their Liverpool Tickets which were somehow superior to those with Glasgow tickets. ********! 

We shall discuss later this afternoon over a G&T!

Stephen


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## Gulpers (Sep 8, 2005)

Stephen J. Card said:


> Hmmm....
> 
> Spoke today to my good friend Russell Southern, ex Blue Flue, ex First Officer Queen Mary in the early 60s and he started on about how Cunard snapped up Blue Funnel officers because of the high quality of their training etc etc but most of all what gave him... and others the edge was their Liverpool Tickets which were somehow superior to those with Glasgow tickets. ********!
> 
> ...


Ha, ha, ha - definitely "Bollards!". (Jester)
Enjoy your G&Ts (Pint)


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## Union Jack (Jul 22, 2009)

*... he started on about how Cunard snapped up Blue Funnel officers because of the high quality of their training etc etc but most of all what gave him... and others the edge was their Liverpool Tickets which were somehow superior to those with Glasgow tickets. ********! *

And there was I thinking that it was his time with the *Grey* Funnel Line!(Thumb)

Jack


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

R651400 said:


> I say negative.......
> and if what you say is an indictment on any R/O who cannot differentiate between XXX and SOS then first port of call.
> Yourself possibly??



Let me quote from the last post quoting the C/O's recollections:

_With the engines going ahead she still had a bit of sternway but before the could get her going ahead she grounded aft just before 2100hrs. The port anchor was let go to steady the bow aand to await the next morning's High Water.
_

Does not sound like a DISTRESS situation to me - "Threatened by grave and imminent danger and requiring immediate assistance"...?

Boats being swung out, passengers mustered?

Nope...

If the old man had ordered an SOS, surely that would have been mentioned? Instead, he turned in....

And as I can't see the Chief R/O taking it on himself to send an SOS, we have to assume that the coast station R/O was paraphrasing in his account.

This is even more evident from the actual text of the message in the original post: no QTH, no A/A signal.....


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## Stephen J. Card (Nov 5, 2006)

Union Jack said:


> *... he started on about how Cunard snapped up Blue Funnel officers because of the high quality of their training etc etc but most of all what gave him... and others the edge was their Liverpool Tickets which were somehow superior to those with Glasgow tickets. ********! *
> 
> And there was I thinking that it was his time with the *Grey* Funnel Line!(Thumb)
> 
> Jack




Russell did do time with Grey Funnel... up to the rank of Commander RNR.... like a most of the Cunard gentlemen I think. I knw he served in HMS BERMUDA and also HMS TROUBRIDGE. I think he also served the captain's girlfriend on one ship but that is another story.

Going back to nostalgia yesterday afternoon... he dragged out all his old discharge books, identity papers and ration cards etc plys his Blue Funnel Indentures on linen. Great Stuff. His discharge book makes good reading... SCYTHIA, MEDIA, SYLVANIA, FRANCONIA, QUENS MARY, QUEEN ELIZABETH, CARONIA... MAURETANIA.... paid off in Inverkeithing at the breakers. 

Stephen


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