SS Hauxley

SS HAUXLEY (Possibly)

Link to a photograph of the Hauxley

Position ... WGS 84 , 53 01 282 N / 001 31 267 E

Type ... Cargo, Plumb bow, counter stern, x4 holds, machinery midships

Built ... 1925

Construction ... Steel

Tonnage ... GRT 1595

Dimensions ... 245.6 x 39.4 x 19.1 feet (forecastle 24 feet)

Builder ... Furness Shipbuilding Company Ltd

Yard no ... 96

Engine ... 3 cylinder triple expansion.

Cylinder sizes ... 17.5 , 29 , 48 x 33 inch stroke / Power 163nhp

Engine builder ... George Clark Ltd, Sunderland

Boiler builder ... George Clark Ltd, Sunderland

Boilers ... x2 single ended Scotch type, x4 corrugated furnaces = x2 per boiler, working pressure 180 psi (construction steel)

Screw ... x 4 blades, diameter 12 feet 9 inches

Lost ... 18/10/1940

Cause ... Torpedo attack

Depth ... 30mtrs

Furness Shipbuilding Co Ltd, builders of the Hauxley

The yard was part of the Furness, Withy and Co shipbuilding empire based at Haverton Hill, Hartlepool, otherwise referred to as the Furness yard.

During WWI the Furness Yard was built as an emergency shipyard to cope with the repair requirements of World War I. In 1918 the yard started to construct vessels, the first keel being laid in March 1918 whilst the yard was still under construction. Over the yards period of operation it built many vessel types, these including colliers, sailing vessels, whalers, tramp steamers,tankers, bulk carriers and super tankers. In 1968 the yard was merged with the Swan Hunter Shipbuilding consortium. In 1977 the yard was nationalised and in 1979 the yard closed down. Of note ... The Furness Shipbulding Co Ltd also built the English Trader, this being a very popular dive off the Norfolk coast.

English Trader

George Clark Ltd. builders of the Hauxley's engine. Southwick Engine Works, Crown Road, Southwick, Sunderland

1848 George Clark founded his business at Monkwearmouth.

Mainly engaged in manufacturing pumping and winding engines for collieries and ironworks and marine engines.

1864 The founder's son, George Clark (1843-1901), took over the direction of the company from his father due to his illness

Increasing business led to the company moving premises twice - the second move was to the Southwick Engine Works which were erected in 1872

1885 January 15th. George Clark senior died.

1914 Directory: Listed as Mechanical Engineers

1938 Private company - became part of Richardsons, Westgarth and Co

1961 Marine engineers, manufacturing "Clark-Sulzer" diesel engines. 1,300 employees.

Later George Clark and N. E. M. Ltd

Ownership and history

Built as the Hauxley in 1925.

1925 - 1931 ... Broomhill Collieries, Newcastle - Upon - Tyne

1931 - 1940 ... Broomhill Steamships Ltd, Newcastle - Upon - Tyne

Collision on the Tyne

On the 26th August 1929 the steamship Hauxley was in collision with the SS Mokta one mile east of the mouth of the River Tyne. Badly holed the Hauxley was beached on Herd Sands in order to save her from sinking. The Hauxley was later repaired and returned to service. The Mokta of 3502 Grt built in 1912 by W. Gray of Hartlepool made her way back to the Tyne after sustaining bow damage in the collision.

Below, Double bottom cross section as incorporated in the Hauxley .... A double bottom is a method of construction where the bottom of the ship has two separate layers of watertight hull floor. The outer layer forms the outer hull and the inner layer, ie the floor forms a watertight barrier should the outer hull be breached. Up until 2007, double bottomed vessels were allowed to utilise their DB's for fuel storage. In addition the DB can also be used for the storage of ballast water.

Left ... Single ended multi tubular cylindrical boiler, more commonly known as a Scotch type boiler. The Hauxley was fitted with two Scotch type boilers complete with two corrugated furnaces per boiler.

Corrugated Furnace.

Designed by Samual Fox in the mid 1870's. Patent ref GB1097 of 1877. Prior to the introduction of the corrugated furnace, furnaces fitted in Scotch type boilers were what were known as plain furnaces, ie not corrugated. Due to the high pressures required to run the newly introduced experimental triple expansion engines of the time the crushing effect of the pressure within the boiler upon a plain furnace could prove catastophic and could very well result in boiler explosions. The result of Fox's work in to solving this problem was the invention of the corrugated furnace. Due to its corrugated design it offered much greater strength against the crushing pressures of the boiler and in turn the corrugation increased the heating surface of the furnace.

UKHO

Listed by the UKHO as possibly being the wreck of the SS Hauxley. A UKHO report for 1991 states that a bell was recovered from the site. It was heavily corroded and upon it was a partial name ....strow. The Hauxley retained her name from build to the time of her loss, so in turn a bell with a partial name upon it and showing itself to have no relationship as to the Hauxley would in turn put a very big question mark along side the possible identity of the wreck at the above position as being the Hauxley if in fact the UKHO report is correct?? The UKHO site survey dimensions are consistent with the dimensions of the Hauxley. After researching losses in the area, no vessel as to date (2022) has come to light that would hold the letters ....strow in its name?

Left ... basic workings of a triple expansion engine as fitted in the Hauxley. Red, steam from the boilers enters the high pressure cylinder (Hp), yellow, steam from the Hp cylinder enters the intermediate pressure cylinder (Ip), blue, steam from the Ip cylinder enters the low pressure cylinder (Lp) from here the low pressure steam leaves the engine and is fed into a surface condenser. In the condenser, the steam is cooled and returned to its liquid state as it meets the cold water tubes within the condenser. From here the water is fed back into the boiler for re-use. To the left of each con rod can be seen the valve gear, this opening and shutting the cylinder valves. The type of valve gear most favoured at the time was the Stephensons valve gear, as featured in the diagram (note the eccentrics on the crank)

Circumstances of loss

Attached to convoy FN-311 en route from London to Warkworth in the ballast. On the 17th October 1940 the Hauxley was torpedoed by the German MTB S-18. The Hauxley was taken in tow with the hope of saving her, sadly the damage sustained during the torpedo attack proved fatal and in turn the Hauxley went to the bottom on the following day. During the attack there was one fatality, this being AS William Cook Mossman. Of note ... The twin brother of William was to lose his life the following year when serving on the SS Togston (Robert Stephen Mossman). The site of the Togston is located 20 miles east of Sea Palling.

S-18 was a high speed German motor torpedo boat, at a length of 33mtrs and powered by 3 Daimler Benz marine diesel engines, she was capable of speeds up to 44 knots. Her armament consisted of 2 x 21 inch torpedo tubes with 4 torpedoes carried, 3 x 20mm cannons, 1 x twin and 1 x single along with a single 37mm flak cannon. The S in S boat stands for schnell, this meaning fast in German, the name given to these craft was Schnellboot (Fast boat). The S- 81 was rebuilt in 1943 and in turn converted to a high speed tug and renamed Herold. The S-81 / Herold was destroyed after a bombing attack by Allied aircraft on the 5th May 1945 inbetween the Danish islands of Laaland and Oere.

The Hauxley (Possibly) (2022)

Dived in 2022 with very limited visibility (2mtrs max and pitch black). On a sounder the wreck comes comes up at you like a block of flats showing itself to have a height of 6-7mtrs or so throughout much of its length. Prior to diving the site it was believed through UKHO reports that the wreck was upright and intact. On diving the site the wreck showed itself to have broken up and either has collapsed to port or starboard in places? Stern over to one side, large prop in view plus rudder. One boiler located. Due to the bad conditions very little was able to be ascertained as to engine and boiler details or any other relevant data that would help in identifying the site. Of note ... In bad vis this site should be dived with extreme caution as the risk of ending up inside the wreck is to be considered very high.