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World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great 1914 1918 first battalion regiment
Sub/Lt.(E) Henry James Harris
Royal Navy HMS Mechanician
from:Wilson Street, Dingle, Liverpool
(d.20th Jan 1918)
My great uncle, Henry James Harris, was one of the crew who served & lost his life with the the sinking of the "SS. Mechanician". He was Sub Lieutenant Eng.
He was one of 4 Harris brothers, 3 of whom served in WW1, only my grandfather and one other great uncle, who was seriously wounded in France, survived the war. In all of the extended family of cousins 18 Harris boys went off to war and only 2 came home. Four of the brothers and cousins, who together joined the Liverpool Pals Regiments, all died in the opening hours of the Battle of the Somme on 1st July 1916. None of their bodies were ever found or identified.
From my research I have found a lot of general information about the "SS Mechanician" a merchant ship, built at Belfast by Workman, Clarke & Co in 1900 for Charente Steamship Co., Ltd. (T. & J. Harrison), Liverpool. Although I am unable to get any detailed information such as crew lists, plans, sailing history etc. She was taken over by the Royal Navy in April 1917, being commissioned 20 June of that year, for use as a 'Commissioned armed escort ship', fitted with 2 x 6 in and 2 x 4 in guns, her role being to escort convoys.
My great uncle was serving as a "Sub lieutenant Eng" from his rank & the fact that he was an engineer I would assume that he was probably stationed in the engine or boiler room when the ship was torpedoed. Under the command of Captain James Nicholson, I understand she was en-route to Plymouth from the Thames estuary when she was attacked at 02.50. She was hit by two torpedoes, thirty minutes apart, the first exploding against number six hold which caused the stokehold to flood; the second hit the boiler room. Sadly, all my great great grandmother and her family got to remember their children by were empty graves in a number of Liverpool cemeteries.
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