Lot 62W
A good Builder's Model of the SS Eskdene 1934 56x15x20.5ins.(142x38x52cm)
15 April 2014, 14:00 BST
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £11,250 inc. premium
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A good Builder's Model of the SS Eskdene 1934
Hull of timber, painted black to the waterline and maroon below, with painted draft marks and Plimsoll Line, single four-blade brass propeller and accommodation ladder slung over starboard side. Wooden decks, with inscribed plating lines and hatch covers picked out in Indian ink. Painted superstructure with single smokestack and open bridge, fitted with telegraphs and binnacle. Fine plated metal details include anchors, cable and windlass, ventilators, guardrails and stanchions, cargo winches and steering quadrant. Fitted with wooden cargo derricks and ship's boats on davits. Mounted on brass posts in a period glazed display case with an ivorine Builder's plaque for Bartram & Sons, Sunderland. The model: 48ins.(122cm)long. 56x15x20.5ins.(142x38x52cm)
Footnotes
The general cargo ship SS Eskdene was built by Bartram & Sons, Sunderland for Dene Shipping Co. London, and was launched in 1934.
She had the misfortune to be sunk twice in WW2.
On December 7th 1939 she was mined or torpedoed (accounts differ) off the mouth of the Tyne. Luckily, her cargo of Norwegian timber prevented her from sinking and she was successfully towed to port and repaired. Then on April 8th 1941 whilst dispersed from Convoy OG57 she was torpedoed by U107 200 miles off the Azores. Again, she stubbornly refused to sink after receiving two torpedoes and the submarine was forced to surface and pump 104 shells into her from the deck cannon before she slid below the waves. Captain William Thomas and her 38 crew had been allowed to abandon ship beforehand and were picked up shortly after by the SS Penhale who landed them safely at Pernambuco on April 22nd.
U107 and Korvettenkapitan Gunter Hessler
The Eskdene shares the dubious distinction of being the first ship sunk in the most successful U Boat cruise of WW2. Captain Hessler, married to Admiral Donitz' daughter, commissioned U107 on October 8 1940 and set off from Lorient on a series of three cruises. The second cruise, from 29 March to 1 June 1941 is recorded as the largest haul by any U boat Commander; 14 ships, with a total of 86,699 tons were sent to the bottom. Hessler was awarded the Knights Cross for his endeavours and became a celebrity in Germany. He did not serve in submarines again and survived the War. U107 was finally sunk with all hands by depth charges from a Sunderland aircraft in the Bay of Biscay on August 14th 1944.