Beatrice Crocker

Beatrice Crocker is (so far) the only woman on our database. She was not a member of any branch of the armed forces but lost her life when the P&O passenger ship Maloja, on which she was travelling, struck a mine. Although she was born in Devonport, her death was reported at some length in the Dartmouth Chronicle because her husband, Francis Thomas Crocker, came from Dartmouth, and many of his family lived in the town.

Family

Beatrice Crocker was born Beatrice Skedgel in 1889 in Stoke Damerel, Devonport. She was the seventh surviving daughter of Isaac Peter Skedgel and his wife Emma Blampey. Isaac was born in Dittisham, Devon, just up the river from Dartmouth, on 20^th November 1843. He had worked as a seaman but by 1871 was a ship's carpenter. Around 1874 he took those skills to Devonport where subsequently he worked as a shipwright in the Dockyard. By the 1891 Census the family had made their home at 79 Alexandra Road, Devonport, where they remained for many years - the 1911 Census recorded Isaac, Emma, and Beatrice still living there. No occupation was recorded for Beatrice at that date.

In 1913 she married Francis Thomas Crocker, born in Dartmouth on 10^th June 1888, and baptised at St Petrox, along with his younger brother James, on 16^th March 1890. Francis was the fourth of nine children of Thomas Francis Crocker and his wife Annie Wyatt. Thomas was a Trinity House pilot who worked in Dartmouth Harbour for many years. In 1893 he had narrowly escaped from drowning when acting as pilot for a German ship, the Thekla. He had transferred from the Thekla to a gig to get to the Pilot Cutter, Gwendoline. The Dartmouth Chronicle reported that:

Francis Thomas did not follow his father to sea but instead turned to shipbuilding and became a boilermaker. By the time of the 1911 Census he was working in the Naval Dockyard at Devonport. The Census shows him and his younger brother, James, living with his sister Elizabeth Amelia Pinhey and her husband Charles, in Devonport. Shortly after, on 24^th April 1911, he joined the Boilermakers and Iron Shipbuilders Trade Union.

Beatrice and Francis presumably met in Devonport - perhaps Francis worked with her father. The couple married there in 1913.

Francis' father Thomas died suddenly of a heart attack on board the Pilot Cutter Rose early in 1914, on 18^th February. He was taken to the Cottage Hospital but nothing could be done for him.

Death

It seems that following the outbreak of war Francis was sent to the Dockyard at Gibraltar. The Dockyard at Gibraltar was opened in 1704 to service the Fleet overseas and from 1889 had been much expanded and modernised, becoming the base for the Atlantic Fleet. Although the major part of the Fleet had been based at Rosyth and Scapa Flow from the outbreak of war, Gibraltar was still essential to maintaining effective operations in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

On Saturday 26^th February 1916 the SS Maloja, the largest ship in the P&O fleet, sailed from Tilbury for Bombay carrying around 450 passengers and crew, including Beatrice, on her way to join Francis at Gibraltar. The passengers included some military and government personnel, as well as other women and children. The ship was armed with deck guns, but for defensive purposes only.

The Dartmouth Chronicle of 3^rd March 1916 reported what happened:

The paper also reported that a survivor, Mrs Wilkins, of Devonport, also travelling out to her husband, an electrical engineer at Gibraltar, said that passengers had been told to have their lifebelts with them at all times, which she had. When the ship had been hit she jumped into the water, owing to delay in lowering a boat. She swam until she was exhausted, and was rescued by a minesweeper. According to Mrs Wilkins, Beatrice Crocker was also rescued from the water, but died from shock and exposure before she could be got ashore.

The mines had been laid in the Straits of Dover by German Submarine UC6, launched in June 1915. Enemy submarines were very active in the Straits of Dover and during January and February several ships fell victim to them. According to the Official Naval History, the Maloja was struck within half a mile of the entrance to Dover harbour, and the Canadian cargo ship Empress of Fort William was mined in going to her assistance. She also sank, though her crew were saved. The following day, two trawlers were also lost in locating the new field.

Maloja had been steaming with her lifeboats already swung out, in case of emergency, but when the ship was struck she developed a steep list to starboard which prevented many of them being launched. Further, flooding in the engine room prevented the engines being stopped, so she continued to steam. This also made it impossible to launch the lifeboats, and, additionally, rescue vessels were unable to get alongside. Many passengers could only jump overboard and try to swim clear, but many deaths, like Beatrice, were from hypothermia. Contemporary accounts say that the sea was quite high. 122 lives were lost, including several dockyard workers, and women and children.

Many of those lost were buried in one large grave in Dover but Beatrice was returned to Devonport. The Dartmouth Chronicle of 10^th March carried the family's announcement of Beatrice's death and the account of her funeral in Devonport:

Sources

History of the Great War, Naval Operations, Volume III, by Sir Julian S Corbett, Longmans, London 1923, second edition 1940

SS Maloja page on Coastal Heritage website

Information Held on Database

Surname:	Crocker nee Skedgel
Forenames:	Beatrice
Rank:	Mrs
Service Number:	None
Military Unit:	None
Date of Death:	27 Feb 1916
Age at Death:	26
Cause of Death:	Shock and exposure
Action Resulting in Death:
Place of Death:	Off Dover
Place of Burial:	Weston Mill Cemetery, Plymouth
Born or Lived in Dartmouth?	No
On Dartmouth War Memorial?	No
On St Saviour's Memorials?	No
On St Petrox Memorials?	No
On Flavel Church Memorials?	No
In Longcross Cemetery?	No
In St Clement's Churchyard?	No
On a Private Memorial?	Yes
Name of Private Memorial:	Obituary in Dartmouth Chronicle
On Another Memorial?	No

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