Great War at Sea: RIVER LOYNE (X215) sister ship to Gallipoli landing craft

Description

The RIVER LOYNE, a small motor ship, was being used to carry stone from the Penmaenmawr Quarry near Conwy to Liverpool when it was lost on 8 December 1948. However, despite the change of name and alterations made in 1923, at heart the ship remained that built for a very different purpose.

The RIVER LOYNE was originally an Admiralty X lighter, a type of landing craft specifically designed to the take part in the Allied Gallipoli campaign of February 1915 - January 1916. The above image shows two X lighters delivering stores and hospital supplies such as handcarts to carry casualties. Note the horse-drawn ambulance wagons to the far left on the quayside.

The Gallipoli Campaign is one of the key centenaries being marked in the UK, and also Australia and New Zealand, as part of the Great War Centenary commemorations. The peninsula forms the northern bank of the Dardanelles, a narrow strait connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara in northwest Turkey. It provides sea access to the Black Sea and Russia. The rugged terrain and the small number of suitable landing beaches created logistical problems. However, in February 1915, Walter Pollock of James Pollock and Son was asked on behalf of the Admiralty to design and oversee the construction of 200 motor landing craft to be designated as ‘X’ Lighters. The plans for these new craft were drawn up within four days and 27 shipyards in the northeast England and three on the Clyde were soon appointed to construct the 200 vessels.

The Allies planned to secure the northern shore, capturing the Ottoman forts and artillery batteries, so that a naval force could advance through the Dardanelles and the Sea of Marmara towards Constantinople. The ground forces to be used were the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), regular British 29th Division, and the French Oriental Expeditionary Corps. The 29th Division was to land at Helles on the tip of the peninsula and then advance upon the forts at Kilitbahir. The Anzacs, with the 3rd Infantry Brigade spearheading the assault, were to land north of Gaba Tepe on the Aegean coast, from where they could advance across the peninsula, cutting off the Ottoman troops in Kilitbahir. On 25 April 1915, the landings commenced. The Ottoman defenders occupied good defensive positions and inflicted many casualties. Fifteen awards of the Victoria Cross were made amongst the Allied infantry and sailors in the first two days.

By June 1915, completed X lighters were being delivered to specified UK ports. They were then towed by merchant ships to Mudros on the Aegean Island of Lemnos. Of the 200, 14 were converted to carry essential water supplies, whilst the remainder were used for troops, horses, field guns, stores, etc. Most of the lighters had been delivered by the end of August ready for the part of the campaign where the Allies moved northwards from Anzac Cove to secure Suvla Bay. However the Allied attack soon lost momentum. The Ottomans had time to bring up reinforcements to pin the Allies down at the coast.

As the stalemate continued into the summer, conditions worsened for the soldiers on both sides. The terrain and close fighting did not allow for the dead to be buried. Flies and other vermin flourished in the heat causing epidemic sickness. Moving into the winter months, rain storms and a great blizzard caused deaths by drowning in the trenches and hypothermia. By December, the Allied commanders were finally convinced that the troops should be withdrawn. The X-lighters began the evacuation continuing through into early January 1916.

More than 550,000 Allied troops participated in the Gallipoli campaign - of these some 120,000 United Kingdom, 27,000 French, 28,000 Australian, 7,400 New Zealand, 4,700 Indian and 100 Newfoundland troops are estimated to have been killed, wounded or captured. Some 145,000 of these deaths were due to sickness, chiefly dysentery, diarrhoea, and typhoid. Other sources estimate that some 175,000 Ottoman Empire troops were killed, wounded, or taken captive – deaths from disease are believed to be almost as high again.

The campaign's necessity remains the subject of debate. Some military strategists believe that the Allies should have focused on fighting on the Western Front, others that by attacking Germany's allies in the east – Germany’s so-called ‘underbelly’ – the war might be ended more quickly. British and French submarine operations in the Sea of Marmara were the one success. Between April and December 1915, a total of 13 Allied submarines carried out 15 patrols, sinking one battleship, one destroyer, five gunboats, eleven troop transports, forty-four supply ships, and 148 sailing vessels. But even these led to eight submarines being lost.

In Turkey, the Gallipoli campaign is regarded as a defining moment in the nation’s history. The spirited defence made by the Ottoman troops reverberated and led to Turkish War of Independence and the declaration of the Republic of Turkey eight years later under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who first rose to prominence as a commander at Gallipoli.

The campaign is also often considered as the birth of national consciousness in Australia and New Zealand. There, the 25th April is known as Anzac Day, and is a more significant day for commemorating military casualties than Remembrance Day (Armistice Day, 11 November).

Whilst serving at Gallipoli, 9 of the water-carrying X lighters were lost, but all of the others survived to take part in the withdrawal. The lighters were then dispersed to Constantinople, Lemnos, Salonika, Gibraltar, Egypt, and even Bombay. The Admiralty then ordered 25 more X-lighters and 25 dumb barges to same basic design. The RIVER LOYNE is one of this batch of X-lighters, designation number X215, used in other Great War campaigns.

From 1920 onwards, many of the surviving X lighters were sold to private firms and shipping agents, and also to the foreign governments. For example, twenty-six were sold to the Spanish Government of which eleven survived the Spanish Civil War 1936-39. Thirty-one X-lighters continued in use by the Admiralty through into World War II, five successfully taking part in the evacuation Allied troops from Dunkirk, 27 May – 4 June 1940.

Given the above, we can say that the RIVER LOYNE and her sister ships were witness to some of the key moments in 20th century military history.

We would love to hear from anyone who could tell us more of the X215's story or who might know which Cardiff-registered vessels were involved in towing the X lighters to Malta and then on into the Aegean.

Very special thanks to David Mallard of xlighter.org and George Cottingham of www.teesbuiltships.co.uk for their kind assistance in compiling this history.

Follow this link to read more about Welsh experiences of the Gallipoli Campaign:

http://www.peoplescollection.wales/node/443935

• http://xlighter.org/ (link opens in new window)