Model of ship that did NOT sink up for auction

[Kyt]

This is an excellent story

Model of ship that did NOT sink up for auction - Scarborough Today

An intricate and immaculate model of one of the shortest-lived ships in Whitby's marine history is expected to fetch up to £7,000 when it is auctioned in London later this week.

The four feet five inches long model, with brass fittings, is of the ill-fated steam ship, Barnby, which was launched in December 1940 – only to be torpedoed less than 18 months later by German U-boat 111 off the Icelandic coast on May 22,1942, in one of the most bizarre nautical incidents of the Second World War.

This was because the Barnby – owned by the Whitby-based Rowland & Marwoods Steamship Company – did NOT sink ! She was on her way back from Canada heavily laden with flour, which swelled up and kept her afloat, so no one quite knows where she lies.

But U boat 111 only survived for another six months before she, too, was destroyed, decisively depth charged.

The model was made by the Barnby's builders, Short Brothers of Sunderland. Their name and that of Rowland & Marwoods is on an attached ivorine plaque.

Lionel Willis, marine models expert at auctioneers Bonhams who are selling the Barnby model in their Marine Sale at Knightsbridge on Wednesday, said: “Builder's models of this period are particularly sought-after because they are very attractive. Early models have fine metal fittings, often silver or silver gilt and gunmetal or brass. The complex derricks and davits open bridgework and detailing all add to the value of the Barnby model. A comparable builder’s model for a vessel from the 1980s for instance, a tanker or a container ship, makes far less at auction.

“Models such as this were made to be presented to the owners by the ship builder usually. They would then have been displayed in the owner’s offices or initially in the boardroom.”

[Kyt]

It appears that there were two casualties, bot of whom died after the sinking:

Name: FLETCHER, JOHN WILLIAM
Initials: J W
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Cook
Regiment/Service: Merchant Navy
Unit Text: S.S. Barnby (Whitby)
Age: 29
Date of Death: 30/05/1941
Additional information: Son of Ralph Lynas Fletcher and Jane Elizebeth Fletcher; nephew of Mrs. M.J. Fletcher, of Whitby, Yorkshire.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 13.
Memorial: TOWER HILL MEMORIAL

Name: MOORE, JAMES FRANCIS
Initials: J F
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Able Seaman
Regiment/Service: Merchant Navy
Unit Text: S.S. Barnby (Whitby).
Age: 67
Date of Death: 09/06/1941
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: C37. 16.
Cemetery: REYKJAVIK (FOSSVOGUR) CEMETERY

Hugh, do you have any more information?

[Adrian Roberts]

Short-lived? I would have thought 18 months was not bad for a British merchant ship launched in 1940.

Nice model though (speaking as a ship-modeller, but not quite to that standard and I don't think my wife would be that keen on having a four foot five model in our lounge)

Adrian