Dauntless Gallery

Official No. 89468: Code Letters JLGT: Code Letters JLNR.

Owners: 1884 G.B. Harland & Co, West Hartlepool: 1900 Rederi A/B Helsingborg (N.C. Corfitzon) Helsingborg-renamed Skane.

Masters: 1884-86 J Willis: 1893-99 WB Ling: 1900 C Willis: 1907 HL Corfitzon: 1909 AH Wahlberg: 1915 A Hansson.

Voyages: July 1895 West Hartlepool for Archangel.

On a voyage from Stockton-on-Tees to Calais with a cargo of timber Skane was stranded off Whitby in 54.29.30N/00.36.45Won 30 November 1915. She was refloated but beached on Whitby sands because her forehold was full of water & she was in a sinking condition. The wind picked up & the Whitby lifeboat took off her crew & passengers leaving 8 salvage men aboard. The wind worsened & the lifeboat was again called out to take the salvage crew off.

The company of G.B. Harland & Co. was formed in 1883 with their first steamer Duchess. As well as owning eleven ships throughout the time the company traded they also managed ships.

Family History:

George Blenkhorn Harland was born in 1848 at Sandsend, Yorkshire to parents Thomas and Mary (nee Blenkhorn). He married Isabella Marshall at Hinderwell in 1874. On the 1881 census he was listed as a commercial clerk and the family were living at Milton Road, Stranton. By 1891, still living at the same address, he was listed as being a shipowner. At the time of his death on 6 August 1924 aged 76 George was living at ‘Brooklyn’ Grange Road, West Hartlepool. The family also owned a house at Glaisdale where they spent much of their time. He was survived by his widow and five children. On his death he did not leave a will but his effects amounted to £171,577.

This section will, in time, contain the stories of more than 450 merchant ships built or owned in the Hartlepools, and which were lost during the First World War. As an illustration of the truly global nature of shipbuilding, these ships were owned by companies from 22 different countries, including more than 30 sailing under the German flag at the outbreak of war.