The SS English Trader was a British merchant ship wrecked off the coast of Norfolk, England in October 1941. After falling behind a convoy during the Second World War of which she was a part, the ship ran aground on the Hammond's Knoll sandbank and began to break up during a gale. Several rescue attempts by lifeboats failed, but a further attempt the following day by the Cromer Lifeboat rescued 44 of the crew, three having already been lost.
Construction
The ship was built in 1934 at the shipyards of the Furness Ship Building Company Ltd at Haverton-Hill-on-Tees for the Arctees Shipping Company Ltd where she was then called Arctees. She was designed by Sir Joseph Isherwood and had his revolutionary "Arcform" hull design to improve fuel consumption. Fifty ships were built to that design between 1933 and 1954. In 1936, she was sold to the Trader Navigation Company Ltd as its first tramp vessel and renamed English Trader. All of the company's later vessels had the same "Trader" suffix.
Service
The first three years of the vessel's life were uneventful. On 23 January 1937, the English Trader was in the waters of the Devon coast. While entering Dartmouth Harbour she was run aground close to Dartmouth Castle at the entrance to the haven.
Attempts were made to re-float her by four tugs and a Royal Navy destroyer without success. She was badly holed and some of the holds were filling with debris and so, after ten days of being stuck fast, drastic measures were taken to save the ship. This involved cutting the ship in two at her bow section which was eventually scrapped. The process took nineteen days after which the undamaged after part was pulled stern-first into Dartmouth Harbour. Later she was moved to Southampton. A contract was given to the Middle Docks & Engineering Company of South Shields to repair her. She was rebuilt from the boiler room forward in only 100 days.
Second World War
From the start of the Second World War the English Trader carried thousands of tons of cargo to and from the British Isles. For two years she crossed the seas avoiding U-boats, mines and aircraft attacks. In October 1941, she was berthed in London Docks where a cargo of sugar from Cuba was being unloaded. By 23 October, she had discharged her cargo and was taking aboard a mixed cargo bound for Mombasa, Kenya. The cargo contained a variety of export goods including farm tractors and other agricultural implements, umbrellas, pocket watches, whisky, Andrews Liver Salts, dresses and kitchenware. Stamped on the cases was "BRITAIN DELIVERS THE GOODS", in defiance of Germany's aggressive war against Britain.
Convoy EC90
Before her next voyage, a virtually new crew had been signed on – of the crew of 47, only eight men had been on the previous voyage. This eight included Captain Grimstone and his three deck officers, the mate John Elliot, William Hickson the gun layer, two other gunners and the ship steward. On 24 October, in the early afternoon the English Trader left the Thames. By late afternoon she had reached Southend on Sea. Here the Thames estuary was wide enough for convoys to form up in relative safety. Convoy EC90 was made up of 20 ocean-going freighters, two or three coastal steamers and two Royal Navy destroyers, one of which was the ageing . Convoy EC90 set off on its voyage in single file to start with, proceeding at a steady . For the English Trader this was close to her maximum speed with a crew who knew how to get the best from her, which the new crew did not. The convoy's route took it up the east coast of England and around the top of Scotland and down into the Atlantic Ocean. The English Channel was far too hazardous for shipping convoys at this stage of the war. By 3 pm, the English Traders troubles had begun. She had been running sluggishly, which had been noticed by the crew members from previous voyages. She was now a least a behind the bulk of the convoy and HMS Vesper was enquiring for the reasons for the poor speed of the ship. The speculation from the more experienced crew members was that the English Traders coal-fired boilers, which were forced draught fed, required the booster fans to be precisely set. It was agreed that the ill-experienced new crew and the new chief engineer were unable to accomplish this. The captain was told by the commodore aboard the Vesper that if she could not regain her position in the convoy by nightfall she should make for harbour at one of the east coast ports.