Palmers Shipbuildings & Engineering Co Ltd

   Palmer's Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd was based at Hebburn and Jarrow-on-Tyne, thwir two yards had fourteen building slips between them, with the docks at Hebburn being big enough for Dreadnoughts. They employed over 9000 and were a private yard which had been engaged in building warships before the war. During the conflict they continued to build warships and war cargo ships.

1st July 1914 HMS Lord Nelson
HMS Lord Nelson - Dardanelles 1915
Name: HMS Lord Nelson, Builder: Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company, Jarrow
Cost: £1,651,339, Laid down: 18 May 1905, Launched: 4 September 1906, Completed: October 1908
Commissioned: 1 December 1908, Decommissioned: May 1919, Fate: Sold for scrapping, 4 June 1920
HMS Lord Nelson was a Lord Nelson-class pre-dreadnought battleship launched in 1906 and completed in 1908. She was the Royal Navy's last pre-dreadnought. The ship was flagship of the Channel Fleet when World War I began in 1914. Lord Nelson was transferred to the Mediterranean Sea in early 1915 to participate in the Dardanelles Campaign. She remained there, becoming flagship of the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron, which was later redesignated the Aegean Squadron. After the Ottoman surrender in 1918 the ship moved to the Black Sea where she remained as flagship before returning to the United Kingdom in May 1919. Lord Nelson was placed into reserve upon her arrival and sold for scrap in June 1920.
Construction and description
HMS Lord Nelson was laid down by Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company at Jarrow on 18 May 1905 and launched on 4 September 1906. Her completion was greatly delayed by the diversion of her 12-inch (305 mm) guns and turrets to expedite completion of Dreadnought, and she was not fully completed until October 1908. Although she was not the last pre-dreadnought laid down for the Royal Navy, she was the last one commissioned.
Lord Nelson displaced 17,820 long tons (18,106 t) at deep load as built, with a length of 443 feet 6 inches (135.2 m), a beam of 79 feet 6 inches (24.2 m), and a draft of 26 feet (7.9 m). She was powered by two four-cylinder inverted vertical triple-expansion steam engines, which developed a total of 16,750 indicated horsepower (12,490 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).[1]
She was armed with four 12-inch guns arranged in two twin gun turrets, one turret each fore and aft. Her secondary armament consisted of ten 9.2-inch (234 mm) guns, eight in twin gun turrets on each corner of the superstructure, and a single gun turret between them. For defence against torpedo boats, Lord Nelson carried twenty-four QF 12-pounder 18 cwt guns and two 3-pounder guns. She also mounted five submerged 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes for which 23 torpedoes were stowed aboard.
Service Pre-World War I
HMS Lord Nelson was first commissioned in reserve on 1 December 1908 at Chatham Dockyard, being attached to the Nore Division of the Home Fleet with a nucleus crew. She first went into full commission on 5 January 1909 to relieve the battleship HMS Magnificent as flagship of the Nore Division, Home Fleet, and in April 1909 became part of the First Division, Home Fleet. She was transferred in January 1911 to the Second Division of the Home Fleet, and in May 1912 to the 2nd Battle Squadron. She was temporarily attached in September 1913 to the 4th Battle Squadron. In April 1914, she relieved the battleship HMS Queen as Flagship, Vice Admiral, Channel Fleet.
World War I
At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Lord Nelson became flagship of the Channel Fleet and was based at Portland. With other ships, she covered the safe transport of the British Expeditionary Force, under the command of Sir John French, to France. On 14 November 1914, she transferred to Sheerness to guard the English coast against the possibility of a German invasion. The ship returned to Portland Harbour on 30 December 1914 and patrolled the English Channel until February 1915.
Dardanelles campaign, 1915-1916
In February 1915, Lord Nelson was ordered to the Dardanelles to participate in the Dardanelles Campaign. She departed Portland on 18 February 1915 and joined the British Dardanelles Squadron at Mudros on 26 February 1915. She took part in the bombardment of the inner forts and supported the initial landings in early March 1915. The Ottoman Turkish forts engaged her heavily on 7 March 1915 and hit her several times, including by a stone cannon ball which landed on the deck and was kept as a souvenir by the Flag Officer, Arthur Baker, at Longcross Church; she suffered damage to her superstructure and rigging and was holed by one hit below the waterline which flooded two coal bunkers. After repairs at Malta, the ship returned to take part in the main attack on the Narrows forts on 18 March 1915. Later she bombarded Ottoman field batteries on 6 May 1915 prior to the Second Battle of Krithia.
Lord Nelson relieved the battleship Queen Elizabeth as flagship of the British Dardanelles Squadron on 12 May 1915, flying the flag of Vice-Admiral Rosslyn Erskine-Wemyss. On 20 June 1915, she bombarded docks and shipping at Gallipoli, aided by the spotting of a kite balloon, and inflicted significant damage. Lord Kitchener made his headquarters aboard her in November 1915 and, on 22 December 1915, Lord Nelson hoisted the flag of Vice Admiral John de Roebeck when he succeeded Wemyss.
Mediterranean operations, 1916-1918
With the end of the Dardanelles Campaign in January 1916, during which Lord Nelson had suffered no casualties, British naval forces in the area were reorganized and Lord Nelson became flagship of the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron, which was redesignated the Aegean Squadron in August 1917; under either name, the squadron was dispersed throughout the area to protect Allied-held islands, support the British Army at Salonika, and guard against any attempted breakout from the Dardanelles by the German battlecruiser Goeben and light cruiser Breslau. Lord Nelson spent the remainder of the war based at Salonika and Mudros, alternating between the two bases with her sister ship Agamemnon; the ship was based mostly at Salonika, with Agamemnon at Mudros.
According to naval historian Ian Buxton, the most important role of the Royal Navy was to blockade the Dardanelles and thus guard the Eastern Mediterranean against a breakout by Goeben. On 12 January 1918, Rear-Admiral Arthur Hayes-Sadler hoisted his flag aboard Lord Nelson at Mudros as the new commander of the Aegean Squadron. Needing transportation to Salonika for a conference with the British Army commander there, and finding his personal yacht unavailable, Hayes-Sadler opted to have Lord Nelson take him there and thus she was not present when Goeben and Breslau finally made their breakout attempt on 20 January 1918. The ship could not get back to the Dardanelles in time to participate in the resulting Battle of Imbros or intercept Goeben before she gained shelter in the Dardanelles. Lord Nelson was given a short refit at Malta in October 1918.
Post-World War I
Lord Nelson was part of the British squadron that went to Constantinople in November 1918 following the armistice with the Ottoman Empire, after which she served as flagship in the Black Sea. In April 1919, she conveyed Grand Duke Nicholas and Grand Duke Peter of Russia from the Black Sea to Genoa.
Lord Nelson returned to the United Kingdom in May 1919 and was placed in reserve until August, when she was placed on the sale list. On 4 June 1920, she was sold to Stanlee Shipbreaking Company of Dover. She was resold to Slough Trading Company on 8 November 1920, then again to German scrappers. She was towed to Germany for scrapping in January 1922.
John Doran

9th Feb 1915 HMS Lion Undergoes Repairs

15th Jun 1915 Zeppelin bombs Tyneside.  On Tuesday 15th June 1915 Zeppelin LZ40(L10) commanded by Kapitan Leutnant Hirsch crossed the coast north of Blyth and headed directly for Wallsend where bombs were dropped on the Marine Engineering Works causing severe damage. 7 Heavy Explosive and 5 Incendiary Bombs then fell on Palmer's Works at Jarrow where 17 men died and 72 were injured.
North of the river again, bombs fell at Willington where they damaged Cookson's Antimony Works and Pochin's Chemical Works and several houses; a policeman died at Willington Quay.
The L10 then headed for the sea dropping bombs on Haxton Colliery and South Shields on the way.
It flew over Palmer’s Shipyard about 2340, dropped its bombs killing 17 persons and injuring 72.
There was a Memorial with 12 names on, at one time in the Stirling Foundry in Jarrow, once part of the Palmer Shipyard.
The bombing must have been highly censured at the time having just a few lines in the Shields Gazette on Thursday 17th June 1915. It just stated 16 killed which included a policeman and 40 injured when a Zeppelin bombed Jarrow. On Friday 18th in the Shields Gazette there was another small column regarding the inquest which noted the following 14 had been killed in the yard:

Albert Bramley 54
Matthew Carter 55
Karl Johan W. Kalnin 22
Joseph Lane 67 (Marine Engineer)
Robert Thomas Nixon 32
Frederick Pinnock 31
Lawrence Frazer Sanderson 16
Thomas Henry Smith 23
Ralph Snaith 48
William Stamford 40
Joseph Beckwith Thornicroft 31
William Grieves Turner 20
John George Windle 27
William Ernest Cook Young 16

It also added Ann Isabella Laughlin 62 living near to the yard, died from shock. It also stated there was an inquest for a policeman (no name given) who was killed over in Willington Quay.
These two died later from their wounds: John Cuthbert Davison 31 (Fitter and Turner) and George Ward 18 (Apprentice Fitter and Turner)
The Zeppelin LZ40 (L10) was destroyed by lightning near Cuxhaven off the Neuwerk Island in Germany on 3rd September 1915.
There follows some further summary and eye witness accounts.

Zeppelin Specification
Production Number: LZ-40
Tactical Number or Name:L10
Type/Class:P
Usage:military
First Flight:13 May 1915
Summary
LZ-40 flew eight reconnaissance missions around the North Sea.
She participated in five attacks on England, dropping 9,900 kg of bombs.
She flew in the great raid on London of 17-18 August 1915 during which Leyton was bombed causing ten deaths and injuring 48 people.
She was destroyed in a thunderstorm on 3 September 1915 near Cuxhaven.

Report on Tyneside Raid: Tuesday 15th June 1915. Censorship forbade newspapers like the Shields Gazette reporting it at the time. Even now, the story of the death and devastation that a Zeppelin visited on Jarrow during the First World War is still coming together like a jigsaw and integral to that, Philip Strong believes, could be eyewitness accounts handed down through the generations.
Philip, who lives in New South Wales, Australia, lost his great uncle, Joseph Lane, in the raid on the night of June 15, 1915. Sixteen of the dead were from Palmer’s shipyard, among them Joseph, a 67-year-old engineer, born in Ireland, and whose home was in Bede Burn Road.
Philip, who has researched the episode in impressive detail, says: "Some stories must have been passed down through Jarrow families about the bombing. What did the survivors say?"
One eyewitness account he has turned up is that of Captain Hugh Tweedie RN. He was supervising the fitting out of two Monitor-class warships at Palmer’s, the Marshal Soult at Hebburn and the Marshal Ney at Jarrow. On the evening of June 15, a Tuesday, Tweedie had returned to his lodgings at the North Eastern Hotel, near Jarrow railway station.
Early next morning, Arthur Gowan, managing director of Palmer’s, woke him and told him there had been a Zeppelin raid and he went at once to the shipyard. He found that in the street leading to the yard, every window from every house had been blown out. In the yard itself, "some 50 men" had been killed and injured by a bomb, which had fallen into the main fitting shop where work had been going on in night shifts.
The erecting shop was also hit, where considerable damage had been done to a series of destroyers’ engines which were being built. Out in the shipyard, a bomb had fallen near the Marshal Ney and splinters had pierced the side and deck plating.
Says Philip: "Captain Tweedie said that the Zeppelin had come quite low down in the absence of any anti-aircraft guns. There was no organisation for putting-out the lights and that, under the circumstances, it was lucky that far more damage had not been done. "Perhaps he was referring to the ships in the yard. Was this due to the glass-sectioned roofs of the engine works shops? The glare from the roofs would make the ships a target, but placed the shipyard in shadow." Life, though, did go on and, the next day, Hugh Tweedie’s wife, Constance, launched the Marshal Ney.
Strict censorship was imposed on the Press, which simply reported that there had been a Zeppelin raid in the area at about 2340. No locations were given.
However, an inquest report described what probably happened to the night-shift workers in the main fitting shop: "A night manager said at about 2315 he heard a loud report and saw a flash. This was followed by others in rapid succession. A bomb dropped on the roof. Witness was about 25 or 30 feet from it, and he was struck by splinters on the back and head, the latter being cut. As near as he could estimate three or four bombs fell on the roof, two more being more powerful than the others."
The newspapers named the victims, and Philip has gleaned information on some of their occupations from the 1911 Census. They were:

Lawrence Fraser Sanderson;
Matthew Carter, ship fitter;
Joseph Beckwith Thorneycroft, sea-going engineer;
John George Windle, screwing machine fitter;
Karl Johan W. Kalnin;
William Erskine Cook Young;
William Grieves Turner, apprentice engineer’s fitter;
Joseph Lane, mechanical engineer;
Robert Thomas Nixon, mechanic turner and fitter;
Frederick Pinnock;
Albert Bramley, colliery above ground labourer;
Thomas Henry Smith, apprentice engineer;
Ralph Snaith, turner in turbine works;
William Stamford, colliery fitter;
George Ward, apprentice fitter and turner;
John Cuthbert Davison, fitter and turner.

Raid Sequence of events.
The L10 Zeppelin with Commander Hirsch made landfall just north of Blyth near the Wansbeck River, and then turned south towards the Tyne. Hirsch firstly bombed the North Eastern Marine Engineering works at Willington Quay, Wallsend. His observers reported that on the left there were blast furnaces, a winding river and many industrial plants. He relied on his observers since the newly trialled radio navigation was not effective.
The Commander perceived he was under fire from shore batteries, and probably immediately crossed the river, bombed the Hebburn Colliery, lined up the lights of the Palmers' blast furnaces and their Engineering Works for a straight bombing run. Perhaps the two reports which an inquest witness later reported, were actually bombs on the blast furnaces? This witness then said that half a minute later there were 14 reports…. perhaps the 7 explosive bombs and 5 incendiaries which were said to have been dropped on Palmers engineering construction department, killing 16 workmen.
Hirsch then continued on an arc across the river to bomb the chemical plants at Howdon near Willington Quay (Cookson's Antimony Works and Pochin's Chemical Works).
The L10 went out to sea via South Shields, leaving a scenic railway ablaze near the Haxton Colliery Staithes (coal loading piers).
5/16th June 1915 After the attack by L 10 on Tyneside on 15,16 June the short summer nights discouraged further raids for some months, and the remaining Army Zeppelins were re-assigned to the Eastern and Balkan fronts. The Navy resumed raids on Britain in August.
Vin Mullen www.strong-family.org/lane/chapter_4.html#zeppelin

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These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.

Those known to have served at
Palmers Shipbuildings & Engineering Co Ltd
during the Great War 1914-1918.

Bramley Albert. (d.15th Jun 1915)
Carter Matthew. (d.15th June 1915)
Collingwood Alexander A..
Davison John Cuthbert. (d.15th Jun 1915)
Pinnock Frederick. (d.15th Jun 1915)

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215399

Frederick Pinnock Palmer's Shipyard (d.15th Jun 1915)

Frederick Pinnock aged 31 was a Dock Labourer in Palmers Shipyard and was killed on the 15th June 1915 during a bombing raid by Zeppelin LZ40 (L10) in which High Explosive and Incendiary Bombs struck the Works. He was remembered on a Memorial Plaque mounted in the old Stirling Foundry Building and at Jarrow Cemetery.
Frederick was the son of Robert and Caroline Pinnock nee Alexander of Jarrow having been born at Jarrow in 1883. He was married to Margaret Pinnock nee James. In the 1911 census the family were living at 7 Back Hibernian Road, Jarrow. Fred was 26 years old and a dock labourer, Margaret (29) his wife of 6 years had 3 children, Robert (5), Fred (3) and Elizabeth (1).
Vin Mullen

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215340

John Cuthbert Davison Palmers Shipyard (d.15th Jun 1915)

John Cuthbert Davison was a Fitter & Turner at Palmers works, he was aged 31 when he died in an air raid on Tuesday 15th June 1915, as a Zeppelin bombed the shipyard. He was born in Newbottle Durham in 1884, son of John Cuthbert and Elizabeth Davison (nee Batey) on the 1911 census, John Cuthbert Davison age 27 Coal Miner Stoneman is listed as living with his parents John Cuthbert and Elizabeth Davison and family at Bunker Hill, Fence Houses.
Vin Mullen

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215206

Alexander A. Collingwood Palmer's Ship Yard

Alexander A. Collingwood died during WW1. He was on Palmer's Staff and is commemorated on the Palmer Cenotaph (south face) Jarrow.
Vin Mullen

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214994

Matthew Carter (d.15th June 1915)

Matthew Carter was a Ship Fitter at Palmers shipyard and was aged 55 when died on Tuesday 15th June 1915 in an air raid. Born at Fatfield, Durham in 1860 he was the son of William and Jane Carter and husband of Caroline Carter (nee Fairgrieve) of Jarrow.
Matthew is buried in Jarrow Cemetery. He was commemorated on the Triptych (left panel) in St. Mark's Church Jarrow (it is no longer a Church)
Vin Mullen

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214738

Albert Bramley (d.15th Jun 1915)

Albert Bramley was a Civilian Machine Driller at Palmers shipyard who died on Tuesday 15th June 1915 age 54 . He was born in Knaresborough Yorkshire 1861 and was the wife of Esther Skeen Bramley (nee Turnbull) of Jarrow. He had enlisted in the Northumberland Fusiliers on the 6th August 1914. He is buried in Jarrow Cemetery.
On Tuesday 15th June 1915 Zeppelin LZ40 (L10) commandeered by KapitÃ¤nleutnant Hisch crossed the coast north of Blyth and headed directly for Wallsend where bombs were dropped on the Marine Engineering Works causing severe damage. 7 Heavy Explosive and 5 Incendiary Bombs then fell on Palmer's Works at Jarrow where 17 men died and 72 were injured. There was a Memorial with 12 names on, at one time in the Stirling Foundry in Jarrow, once part of the Palmer Shipyard.
Vin Mullen

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Those known to have served at
Palmers Shipbuildings & Engineering Co Ltd
during the Great War 1914-1918.