This page was last updated on 30 September 2021 Click here to  Print this page Biography finder A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z     Index of first names William Douglas               This page is a Stub - you can help improve it     William Douglas, of Kilkeel, County Down, was the skipper of fishing boat 'Jane Gordon' which was sunk by Germans on 30th May 1918, during WW1 The 'Jane Gordon' was a smack, 27grt, 26 miles WNW from Calf of Man, when she was captured by a submarine and then sunk by bombs. The Jane Gordon was one of 11 fishing vessels sunk in just one day by the German submarine UB-64 (Otto von Schrader): Cyprus (35 grt) Glad Tidings (15 grt) Honey Bee (34 grt) Jane Gordon (27 grt) Lloyd (35 grt) Marianne Mc Crum (30 grt) Never Can Tell (31 grt) Seabird (15 grt) Sparkling Wave (29 grt) St. Mary (29 grt) Mary Joseph (32 grt) As told to the BBC: On 17 May 1918 the Kilkeel fleet left the harbour to drift net for herring. As one of the boats was sailing to the fishing ground, a member of the crew noticed the compass was spinning. He drew the rest of the crew's attention to this, but nobody knew the cause of this strange phenomenon. The boats continued to the fishing ground. At daylight the next morning, on 18th May, a German submarine surfaced in the middle of the fleet, ordered the crews into the punts and told them to come along the side of the submarine. They were then ordered on to the deck. One of the German officers then proceeded to place a bomb on each boat. The subsequent explosions sank the five boats. The names of the boats were: Never Can Tell, Jane Gordon, Cypress, St Mary, and Lloyd. Some of the boats had no punt and the captain ordered them on to another fishing boat, the Moss Rose, and let them row for home. The mystery of the spinning compass was revealed. The owners received no compensation for the loss of their boats, although their local MP fought hard for them.   Any contributions will be gratefully accepted     Errors and Omissions The Forum What's new? We are looking for your help to improve the accuracy of The Douglas Archives. If you spot errors, or omissions, then please do let us know Contributions Many articles are stubs which would benefit from re-writing. Can you help? Copyright You are not authorized to add this page or any images from this page to Ancestry.com (or its subsidiaries) or other fee-paying sites without our express permission and then, if given, only by including our copyright and a URL link to the web site.   If you have met a brick wall with your research, then posting a notice in the Douglas Archives Forum may be the answer. Or, it may help you find the answer! You may also be able to help others answer their queries. Visit the Douglas Archives Forum.   2 Minute Survey To provide feedback on the website, please take a couple of minutes to complete our survey.   We try to keep everyone up to date with new entries, via our What's New section on the home page. We also use the Community Network to keep researchers abreast of developments in the Douglas Archives. Help with costs Maintaining the three sections of the site has its costs.  Any contribution the defray them is very welcome Donate   Newsletter If you would like to receive a very occasional newsletter - Sign up!

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Last modified: Monday, 25 March 2024