Dad & the HMS Louvain Sinking

A MEMORABLE DAY

My father joined the Royal Navy on October 1, 1914.
His ship, the HMS Louvain was torpedoed on January 21, 1918 by the German Submarine UC 22.
The following is an excerpt from an article written about the sinking.
“At 7:40pm German time on January 20, 1918, UC 22 spotted a steamer with an escorting destroyer. UC 22's commanding officer, Oblt.z.S Carl Scherb

decided to maneuver to lay a minefield across the formation's path and then proceed with a bow torpedo attack. The first mine is laid at 8:00pm, the last at 8:10pm.
UC 22 immediately thereafter begins her torpedo attack and soon fires a single torpedo at 600 meter range. The torpedo hits the steamer (Louvain); UC 22 is rather near the escort and is soon being depth charged. UC 22 finally surfaces about an hour after the attack and sees the destroyer at the attack site but the steamer is gone. The minefield prevents the U-boat from getting back to the attack site.
Conditions were sea state 2 with clear skys and very good visability. Given the conditions and the presence of an escorting vessel, I would presume Louvain must have gone down very quickly for there to be such a heavy loss of life. (Bendert lists 224 dead).”

The picture shows Dad in his navy uniform, but was taken in a studio in Scotland.

For more on this story, read AN INTERESTING LIFE in “Other Stuff” shown on the left side of this page near the top.

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EMAIL TO deerthistle@sympatico.ca