Wharton, Joseph Dennis (Oral history)

British cadet served with Merchant Navy aboard SS Clan Macfadyen in Irish Sea, 9/1939; served aboard SS Clan Stuart in GB coastal waters, 1940 including sinking after collision off Start Point, 10/3/1940; officer served aboard SS Buteshire in North and South Atlantic and Indian Ocean, 1941-1942; served aboard SS Empire Mersey in North Atlantic, 7/1942-10/1942 including sinking, 14/10/1942; officer served aboard rescue tugs RFA Bustler and RFA Aimwell in North and South Atlantic and Indian Ocean, 1943-1945

REEL 1 Background in Blackpool, GB, 1920-1937: family; education. Aspects of period as cadet with Merchant Navy, 1937-1939: joining Clan Line, 1937; conditions of service for cadets; character of his service; medical problems amongst Lascars; carrying horses aboard SS Clan Stuart; use of Hindustani crewmen aboard ship. Aspect as period as cadet with Merchant Navy aboard SS Clan Macfadyen in Irish Sea, 9/1939: sight of German ship SS Edmund Hugo Stiennes in Irish Sea, 2/9/1939; fitting of armaments to ship; strike by Lascar merchant seamen for danger money. Recollections of period as cadet with Merchant Navy aboard SS Clan Stuart Steamers Ltd in GB coastal waters and North Sea, 1940: joining ship in Liverpool, GB, 1/1940; sight of floating mines in Scheldt Estuary; degaussing ship; collision with SS Orlock Head and sinking of ship off Start Point, near Plymouth, 10/3/1940; rescue by French trawler Notre Dame de Montlignon. REEL 2 Continues: routine trips in SS Clan Alpine after sinking of SS Clan Stuart, 10/3/1940. Recollections of period as officer with Merchant Navy aboard SS Buteshire in North and South Atlantic and Indian Ocean, 1941-1942: joining ship, early 1941; damage to ship after fire in jute cargo at Buenos Aires, Argentina; differences in attitude towards Second World War in Argentinian Navy and Army, 1941; character British residents' Order of the Bellows; coaling in Saint Lucia; torpedoing by German submarine U-161 at Port Castries, Saint Lucia, 10/3/1941; joining convoy at Halifax, Canada; return to River Clyde, 9/1941; rejoining ship, 10/1941; difference in reputation between Clan Line and Lever Brothers; New Year celebrations, 31/12/1941; character of ship's master. REEL 3 Continues: effect of ramming whale off Durban, South Africa; arrival in Trincomalee, Ceylon. Recollections of period as third officer aboard SS Empire Mersey in North Atlantic, 7/1942-10/1942 including sinking, 14/10/1942: background to joining ship, 7/1942; history of ship when she was named SS Ramon di Larringa; fitting of flight deck to ship; voyage from Southampton, GB to Boston, United States of America; American crewman arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); losses to return Convoy, SC 104; submarine danger in 'The Pit' off Halifax, Canada; sinking of ship by submarine U-618, 14/10/1942; clothing worn on entering sea. REEL 4 Continues: physical condition on being rescued from sea; American seamen wearing rescue suits; German submarine which watched rescue; use of High Frequency Direction Finder (HF/DF) radar to detect submarines; survivors' leave in Blackpool; attitude towards German submarine crews. Recollections of period as officer aboard rescue tugs RFA Bustler and RFA Aimwell in Atlantic and Indian Ocean, 1943-1945: background to joining Royal Navy and rescue tugs; lack of recognition for rescue ships; joining RFA Bustler; salvage money received for rescue of HMS Begum in North Atlantic, 3/1943; joining RFA Aimwell at Greenock, GB, 1943; burials of sea; voyage from Mediterranean to Ceylon; arrival at Trincomalee, Ceylon. REEL 5 Continues: work of ship at Trincomalee, Ceylon; ashore at Massawa, Eritrea; towing dry dock to Cochin, India; hearing news of sinking of SS Khedive Ismail, 12/2/1944; VJ Day in Trincomalee, Ceylon, 15/8/1945. Aspects of voyage aboard HMT Monarch of Bermuda from Ceylon to GB 1945: problems with Royal Air Force personnel and Italian ex-prisoners of war; reaction on arrival in Southampton, GB.