Shipbucket

These just keep getting better

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There is no "I" in TEAM but there is a ME


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Current Worklist:
Redrawing my entire AU after a long absence from Shipbucket

Thanks for your feedback, guys! I greatly appreciate it!

Thanks to the enourmous Colombamike's database, I had some more spanish hulls . But I will reserve them for the last (and sad) chapter of the Spanish Civil War.

After the failure of the July coup d´etat, it was clear that Spain had not the weaponry or the resources for a prolongued war, so the resuply of the arsenals via the sea lanes of communications will be of paramount importance since the de facto division of Spain in 2 separate blocks. In one side, the rebel forces or Nationals, with the support of the mercantile fleets of Italy and Germany, and roughly 1/6 of the spanish mercantile tonnage, and by the other side the Republicans, with most of the spanish mercantile tonnage, including most of the basque fleet, and many of the ships with homeports in the Levantine and Catalonian coast.

But with the huge support of the very important gold reserves (the third in the world), the Republicans were able to hire many seafarers of many nacionalities, and making buisness with Republican Spain was a highly profitable matter: for example, J.A. Billmeir begun his company with 2 small coasters steamers, ended the war with 34 vessels, excluding the captured and sunk ones. Sometimes, specially if weapons were smuggled, the profit was so high, that it paid the ship itself. And with a rebel fleet, less numerous, but much more active than the republican naval forces, making an effective blocade of the republican harbours, many times the foreigner seafarers were cosidered heroes by the besieged spanish population there.


Here is shown SS Stanhope. Tracking the fate of the vessel is rather difficult because the owner bougth and sold many ships in a short period, sometimes putting the same name to several hulls. This was a common practice with many ships involved in trading with the spanish republic. For example, the ship depicted here was purchased in 1935 from Tyne-Tees SS Co. and renamed Stanhope, but in 1937 she was sold to Northern Coasters Ltd, Newcastle renamed Northern Firth. In paralel, SS Corwen, was purchased in 1937 from Cory Colliers Ltd and renamed Stanhope! SS Stanhope was involved, in Biscay bay waters during 1937 in several incidents between the rebel fleet and the RN, because the formers claimed an international sea boundary of 6 miles, but the laters only recognized the 3 miles limit, and in consequence, gave protection to the british vessels well until they were under cover of the range of the republican coast artillery. This vessel was a lucky one, because she survived not only the spanish civil war, but also WWII.

Not so fortunate was SS Stangrove, one of the smallest vessels of JA Billmeir´s fleet (but hired by CAMPSA Gentibus at a cost of 1000 sterling pounds a month) which was captured by the National Navy when the war was almost ended in February 6th 1939. Stangrove was towed to Palma and the final day of that month, she was wrecked during a gale. Raised once again in 1941 she was renamed Castilla de Oro and with different names and owners she sailed until being paid off in 1971.


Another vessel bought by Billmeir was a mercantile vessel with a warrior background. SS Queen of the Bay was a former minehunter, and was used in the Liverpool-Blackpool route, but in 1937 she was hired by the Asturies government, but the war in the North ended before she was able to reach republican waters. In a bold movement, Billmeir bought the vessel and sold it to the republican government, and the translation voyage from Britain to Cartagena was with a british crew and under the red ensing.


The republicans renamed her as Comandante Verdia, and fitted the vessel as a fast link between the Levantine coast and either France or Catalonia, but she was bombed in 1938 during an italian air raid prior to her first sortie and sunk in her moring. After the war she was raised in 1941 and was used as an auxiliary training vessel named Virgen de la Caridad.

Credits: I owe a lot to Colombamike´s previous advices, and to Novice's drawings (during many years, he was almost the sole artist involved with nice vintage civilian vessels). Thanks to both of them. Cheers.

Splendid work!

Thanks, B!

Two blocade runners:

SS Seven Seas Spray was among the first vessels to enter to the besieged city and Harbour of Bilbao, in the Basque Country. With a cargo of potatoes, she was an important relief to the city.


After a daring dash of 3 miles inside spanish territorial waters, without the protection of the Royal Navy, Seven Seas Spray entered to the Ría de Bilbao (the long estuary) flying the republican and basque flags, cheered by a huge crowd in both sides of the river.

In April 1937 she was owned by Good Hope Shipping Co from Cardiff, later in the same year she was sold to Veronica Shipping Co, of the same city. Unfortunately I was unable to find the house flag of both shipping companies, and the funnel sign is based in press news and black and white photographs, but I really don´t know if the shade is completely correct. My appologies.

The other vessels was mentioned in a previous entry: SS Yorkbrook was present in the battle off Cape Machicaco, not far from Bilbao, between the 8 inch gun cruiser Canarias (qv) and the armed trawlers Nabarra and Gipuzkoa (qv). Previously the cruiser had stopped and captured SS Yorkbrook, but with the trawlers at sight escorting the bigger cargo Galdames (qv), Canarias changed the target and went for a more attractive prize. In a subsequent cloudy weather, the basque-republican trawler Bizkaia found Yorkbrook and ordered to follow her wake and enter to the basque harbour of Bermeo.

SS Yorkbrook was owned by Charles Sturbin, of London, but was sailing not under the red ensing but under estonian flag. She was hired by the republican government for the transportation of 460 tonnes of weapons from finnish arsenals: 4000 Arisaka rifles, 400 Suomi SMG (but I am not sure about the fate of these excellent smg: there was no record about the use of Suomi by the republican army or even by basque forces, nor by nationalist/francoist forces), 15,000 hand grenades, 12 77 mm Krupp FK-96 nA with 24,000 rounds of ammo, and no less than 42 japanese Type 31 mountain guns (obsolete pieces, without built in oleo-pneumatic recoill mechanism) and 25,000 rounds. An important reinforcement for a front without land conection with the main body of republican territories.


Late in 1937, Yorkbrook was sold to Angel, sons & Co. from Cardiff. Still engaged in the trade with the Spanish republic, she was at Barcelona during an italian air raid in 1938 and was bombed and sunk. After the war, she was raised and renamed Castillo Monteagudo.

The main source for the color of the hull was the oil over canvas by C.David Cobb, 1977 about the battle of cape Machichaco. The shipping company had several funnel signs and unfotunatelly in the painting this is not entirely clear, but the house flag I think that is correct. Cheers.

Great work. Not so long ago I read the P. M. Heatons "Spanish Civil War Blockade Runners" and it's great to see the ships mentioned there depicted in SB!

Very nice additions.

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Hood's Worklist
English Electric Canberra FD
Interwar RN Capital Ships
Super-Darings
Never-Were British Aircraft

Oh, thanks guys for your feedback! Yes, B! Is amazing when you find a picture of one ship that you previously read in an old book (those old books with so few pictures!), specially if you are tracking the ancestry of that ship (shipyard, sister ships, previous owners), until you find (or someone -Colombamike in my case! - sent you) the proper picture, photograph or side plans. The historic research of some vessels was for me almost as intresting as trying to find a rather unconventional solution for an strange clinical case) .

Now, a forgotten hero: SS Foynes was an obscure little cargo vessel sunk in Valencia during the italian air raids of 1937. But before being a cargo ship, she was a successfull warrior: as HMS Privet she was a Q-ship with 3 U-Boote kills during WWI (U85, UC29, U34). Built by Goole Shipbuilders in 1916 as Island Queen, she was sized by the Navy and renamed Q19 and later, as Privet. But was also known as Alcala, the former name of Island Queen and Swesher. After the end of the war was sold to London and Channel Island Steamship Co. Later, she was sold again to the Irish (Eire) Limerick Steamship Co. and renamed Foynes for the routes between London, Liverpool, Cardiff, Limerick and Galway. With the Spanish Civil War, the owner was involved in the profitable republican trade, but under the british red ensign.


During one of the first dawn attacks, 5 SM-81 from Majorca bombed the harbour of Valencia in June 27th 1937, sinking SS Foynes at her mooring. After the end of the civil war, Foynes was raised and confiscated, being renamed as Castillo Riaza and sailed first under the Spanish government agency Gerencia de Buques Incautados, and later by the also state owned company, Empresa Nacional Elcano, until being paid off in 1966. Cheers.

Good morning:

Two french vessels:

SS Laurent Schiaffino was a rather big ship for her era with nearly 5000 tons, built as SS Sargasso by J Readhead and Sons in 1908, she survied the Great War and in 1920 was sold to Charente Steamships Co of Liverpool and renamed Scientist. Five years later was sold to the french company from Algiers Societe Algerienne de Navegation pour l'Afrique du Nord Charles Schiaffino & Cie and renamed Laurent Schiaffino, during the SCW, SS Laurent Schiaffino was engaged in at least two trips between the French Midi and the Spanish Levant. Later in 1937 she was sold to a british shipping company heavily involved in the trade with the republican Spain, African & Continental, and renamed African Trader. With the new owners she was lucky enough to survive the war, despite being involved in the dangerous routes between british harbours, Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Spanish ports. In 1939 she was sold to E. Szabados from Venice, Italy and renamed Paolo, and was finaly sunk in 1943.

Here SS Laurent Schiaffino is depicted in french waters, previous to her first sortie to Barcelona.

The only foreign warship sunk during the SCW was the french Chasseur C91.

This little warship was built in America as a submarine chaser of the SC-1 class during WWI and sold to the Marine Nationale in 1918, but she arrived too late to see war actions. During the SCW, she was bombed and sunk in Fornells, Minorca, in October 1937 by a german seaplane Heinkel 59. Cheers.

Excellent additions!

Great work and very interesting bits of information!