Merchant Seaman UK - Baron Blythswood

[Sailormannn]

For anyone following this thread and interested in the story of the surviving Seaman from the Baron Blythswood, the following was posted on Uboat.net:

"There is a detailed description of the rescue of the sole survivor from BARON BLYTHSWOOD by U-99 in the book "Night Raider of the Atlantic" written by Terence Robertson shortly after the war (later also released with the titles "Wolf im Atlantik" and "The Golden Horseshoe".

The event is confirmed in the reports of the survivors from INVERSHANNON, who abandoned ship in three lifeboats. They observed a U-boat approaching the lifeboat in charge of the chief officer and transferring a man into it, they later found him to be the sole survivor from BARON BLYTHSWOOD who had been rescued by the Germans from a raft and given dry clothing while aboard the U-boat. However, the three lifeboats from INVERSHANNON later became separated when the weather deteriorated - the chief officer's boat and its occupants were never seen again, including the sole survivor from BARON BLYTHSWOOD.

The name of this man isn't mentioned in the survivors reports from INVERSHANNON and I couldn't find it in the German edition of Robertson's book either. Blair writes his name was Joseph Byrne, but this is not possible as the names of all casualties of this sinking are known - a sailor with this name was reported missing in September 1940: Joseph Dobson Byrne, but he had been aboard NEPTUNIAN which was sunk with all hands by U-47 on 7 September 1940."

[HMac]

So, ultimately, there were no survivors to this sinking and E. Hardwick was not aboard as we now know. The CRS 10 - your best hope to find trace of him in the MN if indeed he was serving in 1942.
Keep us posted on how you get on.

Regards
Hugh

[seaweed]

I note, my good friend Rainer has given a comprehensive reply to your post on the forum at U.Boatnet.
So it's back to the drawing board.
You need to obtain the CRS 10 of Ernest Hardwick, if it is available.
Meanwhile, you could also try and obtain the  first crew agreement of 1936 for BARON BLYTHSWOOD Official_No=161807 https://www.mun.ca/mha/holdings/viewcombinedcrews.php? for to see if contains any info on your man's previous ship and any personal details on him.
The reason for looking at the first 1936 crew agreement is that he did not sign on until December 1935 so it is more than likely that she did not return to a UK port until 1936.
If you do decide to take this course, just explain the situation. MHA at MUN are very good at researching individual merchant seamen and will go the extra mile.

[Sailormannn]

Thanks .. I'll let the group know what I find

[Sailormannn]

I put in a request to the Maritime History Archive in St. John's regarding crew agreements for the Baron Blythswood for 1936. I just heard back. They found 3 voyages of the Baron Blythswood in 1936. The first voyage lists Hardwick's previous vessel as the Edern, ON 143710.

I haven't seen the documents yet, but there's no indication from MHA if there is any personal info on any of the records. They found Hardwick on the agreements dated 15/1/34 – 2/7/34 and 1/7/34 – 8/1/35 for the Edern.

Not sure if it's worth copying the 1936 crew agreements for the Baron Blythswood at this point or if I should focus on the Edern. MHA retrieved the crew agreements for the Baron Blythswood dated: 22/11/35 – 24/1/36; 13/2/36 – 21/9/36 and 28/9/36 – 19/11/36. I'm looking for personal info and a photo if there was one.

Lee (Acre) is looking for his CRS 10 on action after the Baron Blythswood. I hope to hear back from him in the next week or so. 

Let me know any thoughts.

[HMac]

Checking Crew Agreements is generally only a one-way process i.e. looking backward from a known ship. So if you need to know his service history from a known point you need to progress backwards starting with EDERN ON 143710 - looking to search the Crew Agreement from the earliest known date and hoping his previous ship is noted in the agreement or else something like 1st Ship. Checking forwards on BARON BLYTHSWOOD will only tell you that he sailed on that voyage or not and when he signed off. You would then need to check the next voyage and so on which is a pointless and costly exercise really as seamen did not always stay on a ship for more than one consecutive voyage.
The Crew Agreement will confirm his discharge number if it was produced to the master - many show Not Produced. It will tell you his next of kin and home address as well as dates of engagement and discharge, ability, conduct, previous ship etc.

Sadly there will be no photo of him in any of the records as he has no CR 10 card or surviving Seaman's Pouch. Good luck with the CRS 10.

Regards
Hugh

[*Sandra*]

New poster on the link below  - son of Joseph Byrne mentioned earlier in the thread as the only survivor of the baron Blythswood.

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=767119.new#new

Sandra