The Sinking of the steam drifter "Reclaim"

 



 As published recently in The Lowestoft Journal

 By Mark Boggis, Senior reporter

 

It was a tragedy at sea that saw a steam drifter sunk following a collision with a vessel more than 200 times its size.

The 40-ton herring drifter 'Reclaim' was heading to Kessingland when it was run down by a steamer.













The collision happened on November 19, 1937, in what was reported at the time as "a thick fog."

Reports from the time said the 9,300-ton steamer Hurunui, travelling from Australia, struck LT227 Reclaim midship and "she didn't stand a chance" after completely turning over she "went down almost immediately."

With nine of the 10 crew members aboard the herring boat Reclaim not surviving, they will be remembered during a special ceremony this Saturday.

A new memorial plaque will be unveiled on the South Pier in Lowestoft this weekend to mark the 85th anniversary of the loss of Reclaim.

Commissioned by Lowestoft Town Council, the memorial plaque will be unveiled in a special ceremony at 10.30am on Saturday, November 19.

A town council spokesman said: "In the morning of Friday, November 19, 1937, having just left the harbour on its way to the fishing grounds, the steam drifter Reclaim was run down and sunk in a squall by the steamer Hurunui, just a few miles offshore.

"In total, nine crew members lost their lives during this tragedy – two from Lowestoft, one from Beccles and six from Kessingland – with only one surviving crew member, the cook Samuel Mortishire, from Lowestoft.

"Each of these lives, plus the life of the owner of the Reclaim, Robert Utting of Kessingland, are commemorated by name on this memorial."

Speaking ahead of the memorial plaque unveiling, Lowestoft town councillor Andy Pearce said: "Lowestoft is justifiably proud of its long association with the sea, including its fishing history and heritage.

"There are people in Lowestoft today who spent much of their working lives at sea, or working in one of the onshore industries linked to fishing.

"There are others of us who have parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents and other family members whose lives were closely intertwined with the fishing industry.

"But it could be a hard and dangerous life: down the years many boats were lost, and their crews with them, and in many cases those men have no grave but the sea.

"But they are not forgotten: local people today still remember and pay tribute to family and friends who lost their lives at sea, and we try to add our own contribution with memorials like this one.

“The Reclaim was from an earlier generation of boats and crews, and her sinking occurred less than two years before the outbreak of the Second World War which was to claim many more local lives: but her loss would have left its mark on the families, friends, and communities of those men who went down with her.

"Those who skippered and crewed the Lowestoft fishing boats did not just come from Lowestoft - many came from the surrounding parishes and villages.

"On the Reclaim alone, there were men from Lowestoft, Kessingland, and Beccles."

Mr Pearce added: "For Kessingland, the Reclaim tragedy represented the worst peacetime loss of life at sea in almost 50 years - some of the families still live in the village and Kessingland will also be holding its own memorial service on a separate date to be confirmed.

"It is important that we remember those fishermen who lost their lives as real people, not just as names and statistics, but as real people with their own stories and families and friends who were left to mourn and remember them.

"For those who lost their lives on the Reclaim, that is what we will try to do in the ceremony on November 19."

Lowestoft Town Council thanked Associated British Ports and the Lowestoft South Pier Management Committee for allowing the memorial to be placed on the Pier.

Thanks also went to LaserUs and Darren Breeze Woodturning for designing, making, and installing the memorial plaque, with thanks also to the Port of Lowestoft Research Society for use of the photograph of the Reclaim.

 

Saturday 19 November 2022 will mark the 85th anniversary of the loss of the steam drifter "Reclaim". A service to commemorate the crew of the "Reclaim" will be held on the Lowestoft South Pier at 10.30am on Saturday 19th, during which a commemorative plaque will be unveiled.

The "Reclaim" was run down by the 9,000 ton steamer "Hurunui" in what contemporary reports described as a haze or squall, a few miles off Lowestoft, not long after she had set off from Lowestoft for the fishing grounds. Of her 10 crew, 9 were lost in the tragedy: including 6 men from Kessingland. The skipper, Collins Foyster, was the son-in-law of owner Robert Utting; his was the only body to be recovered and he is buried in Kessingland churchyard. For Kessingland, the loss of the "Reclaim" was the worst peacetime loss of life at sea in almost 50 years.

Of the other 3 men who died, 2 were from Lowestoft (the youngest aged only 17) and the third, Charles Plummer, was from Beccles. In a particularly poignant footnote, Plummer was also the nephew of Katie Crawford, who had been killed in a Zeppelin raid in 1915 and was the only person to have been killed in an air raid on Lowestoft during the First World War; she was buried in Kessingland, where her family were living at the time of her death. The sole survivor of the "Reclaim" tragedy was the cook, Samuel Mortishire, from Lowestoft.

Owner Robert Utting died in 1940, and Samuel Mortishire died in 1945. The "Hurunui" herself was torpedoed and sunk by a U-boat in October 1940, during the Battle of the Atlantic: most of her 75 crew survived and were rescued, but two were lost.

I know that it is very short notice, but I hope very much that some local people (including those who spent their working lives at sea or who have other connections to the fishing industry, and those involved in commemorating local history and heritage) might be able to make the service on Saturday to honour the men from Lowestoft, Kessingland, and Beccles who lost their lives on the "Reclaim":

FROM LOWESTOFT:

Alexander John William Nunn (1914-1937)

Marcus Aubrey Meadows (1920-1937)

Samuel George Mortishire (1890-1945) - sole survivor

FROM KESSINGLAND:

Collins John Foyster (1898-1937) married to Rose Emma Utting, daughter of Robert Utting, owner.  Robert was the great grandson of Sherrard Welch.

Bernard William Foyster (1889-1937) brother of Collins John Foyster.

George Durrant Catchpole (1907-1937) grandson of Sarah Ann Utting, whose nephew, William Cutter married Gladys Irene Adams who was the granddaughter of William Adams 1846.  Also great grandson of Robert Catchpole 1810.

George Robert Doddington (1907-1937) great grandson of Robert Catchpole 1810.

Reginald Ernest Welsh (1913-1937)  grandson of James Welsh and Kerenhappuch "Happy" Blowers

Robert William Blowers (1913-1937) great grandson of Mark Blowers, who was the grandfather of  Kerenhappuch "Happy" Blowers (cousin of Happy Blowers)

Owner Robert Utting (1867-1940) - father-in-law of the skipper Collins Foyster

FROM BECCLES:

Charles Edward Ernest Plummer (1914-1937) - lived on Lighthouse Score, Lowestoft, at the time of the 1921 census, but was living in Beccles at the time of his death. Nephew of Katie Crawford.

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