April 23, 2013

A-Z 2013 the letter T

I've been looking into my family tree. I have found some rather very interesting things about my ancestor's. Most interesting is that I have so many that I didn't know I even had.

As I have mentioned on this blog many times I am a granddaughter of  immigrants. My fathers mother came to this country from Cork Ireland in 1914 on a ship called The Laconia which sailed into Boston. In my searches into our family history I have found my grandmother name on the ships manifest and the date she applied for and gained citizenship here in the US. All of that is very interesting to me as her granddaughter and I have saved the documents for all my family to see.

What I found to be fascinating and exciting is the ship she came over on. This ship is has a deep and interesting history.

One that is incredibly tragic.

My "T" word tragic- tragedy.

The RMS Laconia was built in 1911 and was originally a passenger ship. Eventually however due to the breakout of WWI  the ship was converted to an armed merchant cruiser in late 1914. She patrolled the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean  and then later went back to patrolling the South Atlantic.

This is the ship my grandmother sailed on
The RMS Laconia 1911


In Feb 1917 The Laconia was sunk by a German U-50.

They rebuilt the RMS Laconia and the new ship was launched in May of 1922. On September 8 1925 the Laconia collided with a British schooner off the coast of Massachusetts.

On September 24 1934 The Laconia rammed into the side of a US freighter in the fog.She was out of commission for a time undergoing repairs.

In 1939 again The Laconia was converted into a merchant ship. In 1940 the British fitted her with guns so that she could escort convoys.

In Sept 1942 WWII The Laconia was in the area of the Ascension Islands when it was torpedoed by a German U-Boat. The Laconia at the time was carrying 463 officers and crew, 80 civilians, 286 British Army soldiers, 1,793 Italian POW's, and 103 Polish soldiers (guards). Most of the life boats were destroyed in the explosion.

As the ship went down the U-boat surfaced and started to help rescue the survivors many of which were POW's . It's important to understand that they were flying Red Cross Flags (universal sign for humanitarian operation)

The next morning a B-24 sighted the rescue operation and notified Ascension Island. The commanding officer unaware that it was a Red Cross sanctioned operation ordered the bomber to attack, which he did. Many of the survivors were on the deck of the sub when the attack commenced and the sub captain ordered the sub to dive.

Roughly half the people died and half survived, the numbers aren't exact. An Admiral in the German command issued and order later dubbed The Laconia Order saying that German ships were henceforth never permitted to pick up survivors.

I don't know about you but I found the history of the ship to be incredibly tragic!










Don't miss my next blog post. 

Follow me on Google friend connect or 
if you'd like you can subscribe and receive
my posts by email.

Both are located on the left sidebar.   
And don't forget to visit my friends 
who are participating in the A-Z Blogging Challenge



17 comments:

  1. How incredibly interesting. I find this stuff fascinating. I wonder if Laconia, NH was named after the ship?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Whoa...my grandpa was on a u-boat. The stories he had about the oceans just makes you sick.
    Such a tragedy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a difficult time in history kim. I agree however it was a tragedy for sure!

      Delete
  3. Very interesting. I absolutely love reading immigrant stories. Thanks for sharing this and for the photo. It all adds us to an amazing story.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I never realized there was such a rich an tragic story attached to her ship until I started looking into the family history. What amazing things those searches uncover!

      Delete
  4. My Dad tended to not tell his WW2 stories since he was an Italian officer in the war. People in the USA can be funny about that ;0.

    Yes, a tragedy, in extremis. There is embedded disorder in all order.~Mary

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Jen .. well I reckon your grandmother was exceedingly lucky - the Laconia had a tragic history .. I too don't like to think about it .. just so glad I've never experienced anything so appalling or difficult - mild words in the scheme of things .. Hilary

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was telling my Aunt (her daughter) the story and she was completely speechless at the terribly sad history attached to the ship her mother came to this country on.

      We like to think of her coming here to the US as nothing but good but then we read this history and realize it's something much more than that!

      Delete
  6. That is a bit tragic. So many stories during the war were of course! Looking into family history can be fascinating, and I love it when it leads to discoveries like this,

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It really is! I just started corresponding with my grandfathers niece. Before last month i didn't even know she or her father even existed! Amazing what a bit of snooping on Ancestry sites can find!

      Delete
  7. Yes, very tragic. It's so interesting to dig into our ancestral history. Your grandmother could have been on that ship! My grandfather arrived in Boston on the Ivernia in 1906 from Norway. Now need to research the ship!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd be interested to hear if you find anything interesting Sharon. So many people entered their new American lives thru Boston. My grandfather did as well in 1906, by railroad from Canada!

      Delete
  8. What an interesting story Jen! And to think you are connected to its history! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  9. So interesting! Thank you for sharing this

    #atozchallenge, Kristen's blog: kristenhead.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kristen, It was an interesting time and this story really blew me away!

      Delete
  10. -Yes, quite interesting and abundantly sad.

    xx

    ReplyDelete

I'm always interested in what you have to say...
Comments are appreciated!