On this day.

[Admin]

The Paddle Steamer Barry both built for and named after the town. We remembered. 75 years on, commencing at Barry at war just over two weeks ago, a static display at Central library, Kings Square and a mention in dispatches on Sea Sunday.

July 5th 1941 saw her lost in an enemy air attack. July 5th 2016 a Civic tribute, importantly remembering not only her then as HMS Snaefell but, also her Royal Naval crew members lost on that day.

Barry’s own paddle steamer commenced service for the town, her public and shortly after, King and country.

The paddle steamer Barry was built for and named after the town in 1907. Originally intended for excursion cruising to and from Bristol Channel ports, she gave pleasure to the public, day tripping in peacetime.

The paddle steamer Barry would become heroic in wartime and both World Wars as far as Gallipoli and later involved with D-Day.

During the Second World War, approximately half the paddle vessels requisitioned for naval service and pressed into use as minesweepers or anti-aircraft vessels, many took part in ‘Operation Dynamo’ the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from the Harbour at Dunkirk and beaches running east from the town to the Belgian border.

The original Waverley had been mothballed in peacetime was called to duty again for World War Two. She also attended the evacuations at Dunkirk, but was bombed and sunk on the 41st anniversary of her own launch date.

The Barry by then had been renamed HMS Snaefell but had been confused with the lost Waverley.

The PS Barry/HMS Snaefell survived Dunkirk and more but was finally sunk in an enemy aircraft bombing raid 13 months later off Sunderland on July 5, 1941. The paddler was on mine sweeping duties on the north coast at the time.

LINK

PS Barry / HMS Snaefell

Built as PS Barry in 1907 for the Barry Railway Company, the ship spent the first few years of her life as a pleasure steamer.
But by 1914 she was being used for war service transporting German prisoners before being used in the Mediterranean and carrying troops for the ill-fated Gallipoli landings.

After further service in the Mediterranean she was decommissioned and was reconditioned in 1920.

In 1926 she was renamed the Waverley but by the Second World War she was called up to serve her country again and became HMS Snaefell based in North Shields. Before being sunk in the raid on July 5, HMS Snaefell served at Dunkirk and was one of the last to leave with her precious cargo of 981 soldiers.

In her tragic final sailing off the coast of Sunderland three were killed and nine wounded.

LINK

[Admin]

[Admin]

[Admin]

Seeking support from Kinsale for paddle steamer project
APRIL 2ND, 2015

BY
SOUTHERN STAR TEAM

THE support of the people of Kinsale and district is being sought for the public display in Barry, Wales of artifacts recovered from the North Sea of the paddle steamer Barry named after the port which has strong family and maritime links with the Co Cork town.

The PS Barry was built for the Barry Railway Company at the John Brown shipyard, Clydebank, Scotland, in 1907, in a new venture at the time to capture a share of the Bristol Channel excursion trade linking seaside towns in the south west of England to Mumbles (twinned with Kinsale), and the Gower and other resorts in Wales.

The vessel was requisitioned in World War I and was stationed in Salonika, Greece, mainly transporting prisoners of war but also taking part in the ill-fated Gallipoli landings.

Re-fitted in 1920 and renamed Waverley, it was sent to Brighton in 1926 to replace the Ravenswood. In World War II the paddle steamer became HMS Snaefell, based at North Shields and once again served as a minesweeper.

It was also involved in the rescue mission at Dunkirk (saving the lives of over 981 men) and was sunk in a bombing raid off Sunderland on July 5th, 1941 with the death of three crew plus nine wounded. Two poems about the ship have been written by JS Earl.

Keith Greenway, who has strong family connections with Kinsale, said the ship was discovered by an eight strong dive team in an operation named ‘Silent Running’ with the valuable help of Allan Lopez from North Shields, skipper of Spellbinder II in 2010.

Objects recovered after almost 70 years from the wreck were subsequently offered for sale. These incluced the helm, the damaged wheel, two solid brass windows and a copper and glass lamp, which were at the time of writing, were being transported to Barry for initial display in the Mayor’s parlour at Barry Town Council.

The overall cost of the artifacts and transport is around £800.

The wreck is now a war grave and although divers can still go down and inspect it, they cannot take anything else. It is one of over 1,500 wrecks and underwater obstructions in the hydrographic charts of Britain and Ireland.

Many donations have been received including that from a group under the banner of Kinsale-Barry Friendship Pact comprising, to date, Michael Doran, Billy Lynch, Dermot Collins, John Thuillier, Noel Harrington and Leo McMahon but further pledges and donations from Kinsale and West Cork are most welcome.

The first Friendship pact was signed in Kinsale in May 1999 between Kinsale Harbour Board and the Merchant Navy Association, Barry and reciprocated at the Seaview Labour Club, Barry in September 2001. Kinsale Town Council and Barry TC signed a friendship pact in the Municipal Hall, Kinsale in 2009. Sadly Kinsale TC (along with the harbour board) is no more so the second leg of the pact in Barry could possibly involve a delegation including a member of Cork County Council’s Bandon-Kinsale Municipal District travelling over perhaps for the permanent display of the artefacts or some other event of interest to both ports.

The fostering of sporting, cultural, heritage, maritime, touristic, civic, educational and other links between both Celtic ports is always most welcome, particularly with the soon to be revived Cork-Cardiff air link. There have been exchange visits to Sea Sunday and other maritime events.

Like minded people on both sides of the water are joining together to ensure a friendship continues between Kinsale and Barry. Glamorgan and Cork and Wales.and Ireland.

Family connections between Kinsale and Barry are also sought. Kinsale and Barry are forever friends and a search has begun for a full list of relatives and family in both towns.

Former Kinsale town mayor Tomas O’Brien said: ‘Many a young Kinsale man left to go to Barry, which to them was the gateway to the world. For some it was the first time they had left their native town, and their families survived on the money they sent home. Some settled in Barry and have families there today. Many others died in the wars while serving in both the Royal and Merchant Navies.’

Pledges for the PS Barry project in Barry can be made to [e-mail] (COMPLETED NOW)

Donations can also be posted to Jim Greenway, on behalf of the organising body, Merchant Navy Association Wales (Barry branch), 19, Fryatt Street, Barry, Vale of Glamorgan. South Wales. CF63 4JU. Further information is also available by e mailing Keith Greenway at [e-mail] (COMPLETED 2015)

LINK

[Admin]

The paddle steamer PS Barry saw action during both World War One and World War Two and now, over a century since she left the port after which she was named, some of her artefacts have finally come home.

Originally designed in 1907 for a sleepy life carrying tourists along the Bristol Channel, she was requisitioned by the Royal Navy in 1914 and went on to save thousands of lives not once, but twice.

Surviving both the Gallipoli landings and Dunkirk, she was sunk in a bombing raid off Sunderland on 5 July 1941, and lay undiscovered until 2010.

Salvaged artefacts from war-torn steamer return to Barry
By Neil Prior
BBC News

Published
11 April 2015

LINK

[Admin]

NOTE:

LINK

LINK

LINK

[Admin]

12 July 2016

The Paddle Steamer Barry both built for and named after the town. We remembered. 75 years on, commencing at Barry at war just over two weeks ago, a static display at Central library, Kings Square and a mention in dispatches on Sea Sunday.



July 5th 1941 saw her lost in an enemy air attack. July 5th 2016 a Civic tribute, importantly remembering not only her then as HMS Snaefell but, also her Royal Naval crew members lost on that day.

P.S. WAVERLEY

On the 5th September 2016 members of the Barry Branch, accompanied by Mr T. Sylvester of the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society, spent a very pleasant afternoon onboard PS Waverley on a short voyage in the Bristol Channel departing from Penarth. Whilst onboard they met the Captain Ross Cochrane and presented him with a Merchant Navy Plaque. They also met the actors Timothy West and Prunella Scales who are members of the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society and were onboard filming for their TV programme Great Canal Journeys.



The current PS Waverley was built in 1946 and is owned by the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society. In 1907 another paddle steamer PS Barry was built for the Barry Railway Company as a pleasure steamer carrying passengers to various ports in the Bristol Channel. She later transferred to the Campbell Fleet. She served with distinction in the Gallipoli campaign during World War One. After the war she was reconditioned and renamed Waverley in 1925 and returned to cruising in the Bristol Channel in 1934. She saw service as a minesweeper during World War Two as HMS Snaefell and was bombed and sunk off the north east coast of England in 1941.