Written by Brenda Shackleton (daughter).
The Rescue Ships - Arctic & Atlantic Convoys
My Father - Bill Hartley (1905-1999)
My Dad served in the Merchant Navy and during the War he was Captain of 2
Rescue Ships- the ‘COPELAND’ and ‘GOODWIN’. They were deployed to the
Arctic and Atlantic Convoys.
The concept of a Rescue ship came about in 1940 when Sir Max Horton
(Commander-in-Chief – Western Approaches) first suggested it to the
Admiralty. The principal task of a Rescue Ship was to save the lives of
Seamen whose ships were sunk by enemy action. Also to provide succour,
care and comfort and any Surgical, medical or other treatment that might
be necessary. Ships are soon replaced but not the lives of skilled
seamen. The Admiralty looked for vessels that were small and easily
manoeuvrable with a good speed. They were to sail at the rear of a
Convoy and to pick up survivors from the sea. These ships were used in
peacetime for coast-wise passenger traffic and many were drawn from the
Clyde Shipping Company. They were not built to serve in the Atlantic nor
the Arctic but were required to be sound and seaworthy. No Rescue Ship
was lost in an Atlantic storm, although one was “iced-up” and foundered
off the coast of Newfoundland.
The ships were manned by Merchant Navy Masters, Officers and Seamen for
the duration of the War. This was important because the Rescue Ship
could work independently during an attack and move immediately to the
rescue of the ship-wrecked without prompting or orders from the
Admiralty.
The first Rescue Ship was the BEACHY and my father, BILL HARTLEY, was
the Chief Officer. In January 1941 the BEACHY was attacked by a German
Foche-Wulf bomber west of Ireland, and sunk. Dad then joined the
RATHLIN and then COPELAND in July 1942 .He was promoted Master of this
vessel in August 1942.
On his first command he was ordered to North Russia in Convoy PQ18; one
of the most heavily attacked Convoys of the war. During almost
continuous attacks over 5 days, COPELAND was officially credited with
shooting down one enemy bomber and damaging several others. In
circumstances of great difficulty and danger, his vessel picked up 205
survivors sunk by enemy action. Namely the crew of the burning tanker
'Atheltemplar' and the ammunition ship, 'Oliver Ellsworth'. For his
courage and service in PQ18, CAPTAIN HARTLEY was awarded the
Distinguished Service Cross and Lloyds Medal for bravery at Sea. (
Ministry of War report )
On the night of 16th May 1943 sailing with Convoy ONS7, the British ship
AYMERIC was torpedoed by a U-boat and COPELAND at once went to her
assistance. While she was approaching, a second torpedo struck the
AYMERIC, showing that the U-boat was still in the vicinity. Not only did
Dad have to contend with this hazard, but one of the Allied ships in
the convoy opened fire in his direction; fortunately the shots fell
short !
The survivors of the AYMERIC were widely scattered. Some were in rafts,
some in water-logged boats; but from the number of red lights showing he
could see that the majority of them were in the sea, the surface of
which was burning with oil. As the temperature of the sea was only 36ºF
the crew of the COPELAND set to with a will to save the men, jumping on
to the rafts as they came alongside and bending on lines to haul the
survivors on board. There were 53 dead and 25 survivors. 4 died from
exposure on COPELAND and were buried later at sea.
During this operation a rescued seaman was hanging over the rail
shouting and pointing to a man still in the water. Dad turned ‘COPELAND’
in the dark and went back for him. A few days later the survivors were
landed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and two young men came to say,’
Thank you’. The first said, ”This is my brother whom you went back for. I
could not have faced my mother without him.”
After this rescue Dad went several times to the Mediterranean and back
to Russia. In February 1944 he took command of another Rescue Ship; the
GOODWIN.
In April 1944 the crew of the Norwegian tanker, SOUTH AMERICA were
rescued by ‘GOODWIN’. This tanker was torpedoed and immediately burst
into flames masthead high. Dad decided that the only way to save the
crew was to go alongside the burning vessel. When GOODWIN was 70 yards
astern the tanker was hit by a second torpedo, which had the effect of
quenching the fire. GOODWIN stopped about 40 feet astern and all 42 crew
were rescued in 37 minutes.
The sequel to this story is that I made contact with a Radio Officer –
Robbie Roberts – from the GOODWIN via a Merchant Navy web site. 16
years previously he had met up with one of the rescued Radio Officers
from the SOUTH AMERICA, Bob Cobb. In May 2005 the Captain’s daughter
(me) and the 2 Radio Officers met and I made recordings of their
memories. Robbie Roberts said, “Captain Hartley was a brilliant seaman –
there was no two ways about it. I also remember that he was always
smiling – always smiling.”
Dad never mentioned any of the horrors of the war. When he referred to his War Service he always said, "I thank God that I was in the business of saving lives and not taking them."
362 survivors have reason to be thankful to him. In 1992 I was watching
the Memorial Service for the Battle of the Atlantic with Dad. He turned
to me and said, "It was a terrible day (rescue of SS Aymeric) I just wanted to cry."
I was quite horrified as I had never heard him say anything like this
and had certainly never seen him cry. He then wept bitterly.
I know, now, that it was not his medals – D.S.C.( Distinguished Service
Cross) and the Lloyds Medal for Bravery at Sea – awarded for the rescue
of men in the Arctic and Atlantic that marked him as a brave man. It was
the fact that he encouraged his crew by smiling; when all the time he
wanted to cry.