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History
United Kingdom
Name	Bengrove
Owner	Joseph Hoult & Co
Port of registry	Liverpool
Builder	Craig, Taylor & Co, Stockton
Yard number	139
Launched	24 February 1910
Completed	April 1910
Identification	UK official number 128037 code letters HQSC
Fate	sunk by torpedo, 7 March 1915
General characteristics
Type	cargo ship
Tonnage	3,840 GRT, 2,389 NRT
Length	345.0 ft (105.2 m)
Beam	51.2 ft (15.6 m)
Depth	25.4 ft (7.7 m)
Decks	1
Installed power	342 NHP
Propulsion	1 × triple-expansion engine 1 × screw

SS Bengrove was a collier registered in Liverpool, England. Thousands of people on shore saw her explode and sink in the Bristol Channel on Sunday 7 March 1915.

The ship left Barry at about 4:00 am under sealed orders, carrying a cargo of 5,000 tons of coal. Later that day, in the Bristol Channel, about five miles off the coast of Ilfracombe, an explosion occurred under the ship amidships. The ship sounded her siren and the crew entered the lifeboats. The siren was heard on shore and the Ilfracombe coast guard sent lifeboats to the area. There were 21 other steamers in the area at the time of the explosion and six of them offered assistance to the foundering ship. All 33 crew were saved and taken to Ilfracombe pier. Early reports were unsure what had caused the explosion. There was speculation that the ship had struck a mine or torpedo. The cause was later determined to have been a torpedo fired by German U-boat U-20.

References

1. "SS Bengrove ? [+ 1915]". wrecksite.eu. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
2. ^ "Thousands on shore see ship blown up". The New York Times. 9 March 1915. p. 1. Retrieved 19 October 2007 – via Times Machine.
3. "British merchant ships lost to enemy action Part 1 of 3 – Years 1914, 1915, 1916 in date order". Naval-History.net. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
4. "Ilfracombe Shipwrecks". Archived from the original on 19 September 2007. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
5. "British World War I merchant ship losses – B". Retrieved 25 October 2007.

Bibliography

• Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Vol. I.–Steamers. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1914. BEN.
• Mercantile Navy List. London. 1914. p. 58 – via Crew List Index Project.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

51°21′04″N 4°06′58″W / 51.351°N 4.116°W / 51.351; -4.116

v t e Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in March 1915
Shipwrecks	4 Mar U-8 7 Mar Bengrove 10 Mar: U-12 11 Mar: HMS Bayano 14 Mar: Dresden 18 Mar: Bouvet, Glenartney, HMS Irresistible, HMS Ocean, U-29 25 Mar: USS F-4, Tamar 27 Mar: Aguila 28 Mar: Falaba
Other incidents	5 Mar: Dongola, Espagne 15 Mar: HMS Nymphe 18 Mar: Gaulois, HMS Inflexible 28 Mar: Thrasher incident 31 Mar: Santhia
1914 1915 1916 February 1915 April 1915

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• Colliers
• History of Devon
• Maritime incidents in 1915
• Ships built on the River Tees
• Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I
• Shipwrecks in the Bristol Channel
• Steamships of the United Kingdom
• World War I merchant ships of the United Kingdom
• World War I shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean
• Merchant ship stubs