The wreck site of the AFTON has been identified during research by Dr Innes McCartney (2022: 234) for the Echoes from the Deep project. McCartney concluded that the AFTON is positionally, dimensionally, and archivally consistent with UKHO 76491 (NPRN 519053). The record has been updated to reflect that research.
Event and Historical Information:
The AFTON was a steel-hulled steamship built by D J Dunlop & Co, Port Glasgow, in 1911. Technical and configurations specifications are given as 1156gt, 486nt; 242ft 4in length x 34ft 2in breadth x 16ft depth; 2 x decks, passenger and boat deck 151ft, forecastle 47ft; screw propulsion powered by single steam boiler linked to a triple expansion engine producing 226hp. At the time of loss, the vessel was owned by William Sloan & Co, Glasgow,
On 15 February 1917, the AFTON was on passage from Bristol to Belfast and Glasgow. It had left Bristol at 11pm on 14 February 1917. The master was Peter Whyte and intelligence accounts collated by the Admiralty contain his statement - "About 1pm 15 February I heard a peculiar noise in the water and looking over the side I observed a torpedo passing about six yards ahead of us. Five minutes later a shot was fired from an enemy submarine on the starboard quarter, striking our hull amidships on the starboard side. A second shot struck us a little further aft and a third exploded among the boats. At the time the torpedo was fired, a vessel, presumably one of the Cork SS Co. was on my port beam distant about half a mile and heading in the opposite direction. When firing commenced she was probably 1 1/4 to 2 miles distant. The torpedo which missed me passed within a few yards only of this vessel's stern. When the enemy boarded the ship then proceeded into the cabin and removed chart, clocks, barometers, portable lamps, knives, forks, and such provisions as were handy. I may add that the commander of the submarine was polite throughout. He stated that he was sorry to do such dirty work but that he had to do his duty. He also instructed me to have another boat lowered and to obtain as much clothing as possible for my men.' The U-boat number was UC- 65 commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Otto Steinbrinck. All of the AFTON's crew made it into the lifeboats, with only two being slightly injured. The recorded location of the sinking was 23 miles north by east of Strumble Head.
Sources include:
ADM 137/3980 Home Waters Ships Attacked February 13 - 20 1917, The National Archives, Kew
Appropriation Books, Official Numbers 133001 - 133050 (133001)
Goddard, T, 1983, Pembrokeshire Shipwrecks, p.104
Larn and Larn Shipwreck Database 2002
Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1 January - 31 March 1917, p.10 (i)
Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, 1 July 1915 - 30 June 1916, number 302 in A
McCartney, I., 2022. Echoes from the Deep. Leiden: Sidestone Press. https://www.sidestone.com/books/echoes-from-the-deep
Mercantile Navy List, 1915, p.8.
Northern Whig- Monday 19 February 1917, p.8.
U-Boat Project: Commemorating the War at Sea
UKHO ID 76491: Contains public sector information, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, from UK Hydrographic Office.
https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?12230
J.Whitewright, RCAHMW, December 2023.
This record was enhanced in 2020 with funding from Lloyd's Register Foundation as part of the project ‘Making the Link: Lloyd's Register and the National Monuments Record of Wales’. Visit Lloyd’s Register Foundation Heritage and Education Centre for more resources.