HMS Bergamot (1917)

HMS Bergamot

Company type	Sloop
Industry	Naval military vessel
Founded	January 1, 1917 (1917-01-01)
Founder	Armstrong Whitworth (builder)
Defunct	August 13, 1917 (1917-08-13)
Fate	Torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-84
Headquarters	United Kingdom

HMS Bergamot was an Anchusa-class sloop serving in the Royal Navy during World War I, with a notably brief operational history. Constructed by Armstrong Whitworth, her keel was laid on 1 January 1917, she was launched on 5 May, and officially entered service on 14 July.

Less than a month after commissioning, on 13 August 1917, while commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Percy T. Perkins, she was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 70 nautical miles (130 km) northwest of the port of Killybegs. The attack was carried out by the German submarine U-84, under the command of Walter Rohr.

Sinking

The sole surviving items from HMS Bergamot: the binnacle from lifeboat no.2 and the binoculars worn by Signalman Bill Jones at the moment of the torpedo impact, which he kept throughout the subsequent lifeboat journey.

According to his war diary, he observed a solitary merchant vessel lacking any defensive weaponry, a rarity by 1917. When Bergamot apparently detected the U-boat's periscope, she commenced rapid zig-zag maneuvers. The submarine U-84 launched a single torpedo, which struck the port side, causing Bergamot to split in two and sink within four minutes. Upon surfacing, U-84 noted an unusually large number of crew members—70 in total—and debris floating nearby. The U-boat’s log suggested that Bergamot might have been a "trap ship," citing its narrow beam relative to its length as indicative of a warship.

The binnacle from HMS Bergamot’s lifeboat no.2

The torpedo hit portside at 08:47, breaching the auxiliary engine room and destroying the dynamo along with the bulkhead separating it from the main engine room, resulting in a complete power failure. A "panic party" was launched in lifeboat no.1, carrying 31 men; however, as the vessel suddenly listed to port with both bow and stern rising, it sank too swiftly for this tactic to succeed.

U-84 then approached lifeboat no.2, inquiring about the captain’s whereabouts. The crew responded that he was aboard the other lifeboat, although he was actually on a small raft being towed by lifeboat no.2 at that time. With deck guns aimed at the boat, U-84 accepted this explanation and proceeded toward lifeboat no.1, approximately two miles (3.2 km) away. There, they drew close and took aboard the ship’s steward—likely because his collar and tie made him appear as an officer. Despite intense questioning from Rohr regarding destination and cargo, the steward maintained the cover story and was sent back to his lifeboat after receiving a glass of port wine and a cigarette. Additionally, a wounded man rescued by the submarine was transferred to lifeboat no.1 before U-84 vanished into the night mist with a parting remark of "See you after the war!"

At the instant of the explosion, Lieutenant Frederick W. Siddall, first officer of Bergamot, and probationer surgeon Robert S. Smith were both inside the wardroom. The blast caused both watertight doors leading into this compartment to jam, rendering Siddall unconscious. Smith piled broken wardroom furniture beneath the skylight to reach it and then hauled Siddall out of the compartment onto the main deck. There, Smith attended to Siddall and an injured petty officer suffering from broken limbs lying on deck. As it became clear that the ship was sinking rapidly, Smith inflated their life vests and assisted them into the water.

During Bergamot’s sinking, one of her depth charges detonated nearby, severely injuring Siddall and causing him to lose consciousness again. Smith swam with both casualties to lifeboat no.2—which had already left the sinking vessel with 47 survivors aboard—and administered artificial respiration on Siddall for 25 minutes until he regained consciousness. Over the following 48 hours adrift in lifeboats before rescue, Smith continued providing medical care to all injured survivors on no.2. For these heroic efforts, Surgeon Robert Sydney Steele Cathcart Smith was awarded the Albert Medal.

The two lifeboats became separated during their first night adrift. Lifeboat no.2 with 47 crew members set course for Loch Swilly—approximately 100 miles away—sailing and rowing for three days until rescued by Admiralty trawler Lord Lister. Meanwhile, lifeboat no.1 made landfall on County Donegal’s rocky shore where coastguards took them ashore.

For both Smith and Siddall, this incident marked their second sinking within six weeks; previously they had served aboard HMS Salvia, which had also been lost.

A noteworthy historical detail is that just one week prior, Bergamot had trialed towing a submerged submarine—E48—reviving a tactic first used in 1915 aimed at trapping enemy submarines.