Hms Elise

Steam Trawler-(1918)

What is recorded here

This second Northumberland target was once labelled possibly HMS Elise, the Royal Navy trawler torpedoed by UB-34 on 22 September 1918 with all fourteen crew lost. Later heritage review says former Elise candidates in this area are now recognised as the other wrecks Prunelle and Hanne, while Elise herself was not…

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The vessel and voyage

The real Elise was built at Aberdeen in 1907 as the steel trawler Camperdown, renamed after sale to Fleetwood owners and hired by the Royal Navy in 1915. She served as an armed patrol vessel or minesweeper and was on Admiralty duty off Blyth on 22 September 1918. That vessel history explains why this target received the possible name, but it does not by itself prove that the wreck at record 323624 is Elise.

How it was lost

UB-34 torpedoed Elise without warning close to St Mary's Lighthouse. A large explosion sank the 239-ton trawler almost immediately. Older summaries sometimes say mine, but the German attack list and later heritage review support torpedo. This saved target lies in the same broad coastal area, yet a plausible place and correct year are not enough for identity. The exact cause belongs securely to Elise; it belongs to this hull only if the hull is actually Elise.

Deaths and survival

All fourteen aboard Elise died, including skipper Henry James and seaman Cecil Robert Sharman. No survivor could mark the exact resting point or describe how the wreck settled. Those deaths must not be transferred automatically to every nearby trawler-shaped target. If later work shows this site is Prunelle, Hanne or another vessel, it carries a different human story. The possible label therefore protects real people rather than withholding useful detail.

What remains

The national record gives a precise point and calls it possibly Elise. Later English heritage work reports that two sites formerly suggested as Elise are now recognised as Prunelle and Hanne, and that sonar failed to find Elise at the traditional point. The quick record does not say which correction applies directly to 323624, so this note does not force a replacement name. It records a real seabed target with an outdated or doubtful Elise attribution that needs record-by-record survey reconciliation.

Why it mattered

This point shows why duplicate and possible wreck records should be joined for explanation but not silently merged. Elise's well-supported torpedo story and fourteen deaths make the name attractive, yet several trawlers lie in the same coast and later survey changed earlier opinions. Keeping the doubt visible sends research toward measurements and identifying finds. It also avoids creating a false war grave while preserving the local fact that armed patrol work off Blyth suffered a complete crew loss in 1918.