Built as a cable ship under yard No 939 by the yard of Palmers Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., of Newcastle on Tyne for Siemens Brothers & Co. Ltd. Woolwich, London.
16 February 1923 launched under the name FARADAY.
Tonnage 5,533 gross, 7,342 dwt, dim. 394.3 x 48.4 x 27.6ft.
Triple expansion steamengine, 530 nhp., speed 12 knots, twin screws.
April 1923 delivered to owners.
The FARADAY did the following cable work:
1923 United Kingdom to New York, the Canso section.
1924 The cable between Barbados and Demerara. Barbados and Trinidad, Barbados and Turks Island.
And between Aldeburgh, U.K. and Domburg, Netherlands, a telephone cable.
Cape St Vincent to Fernando Noronha in Brazil.
1926 The cable between Fanning island and Fiji in the Pacific.
Balboa to San Elena, and a telephone cable between Dumpton Gap, U.K. and De Panne, Belgium.
1929 The cables between Ballyhorman and Isle of Man, and Blackpool and Port Greenhaugh.
1930 Between Dumpton Gap and De Panne a telephone cable.
1932 Between St Margarets Bay and De Panne, telephone cable.
1935 Chartered by the Submarine Cable Ltd., when Siemens and Telegraph Construction and Maintance Company formed this company.
1935 A telephone cable between Australia and Tasmania.
1937 Between the U.K. and the Netherlands, two telephone cables. Between Aber Geigh, U.K and Howth, Ireland, two telephone cables. Aldeburg and Domburg, and telephone cables and between Port Kale and Donaghadee, and Aber Geich and Howth.
1938 The telephone cable between Guernsey and Jersey, and Jersey and Pirou. Between Aber Geich and Howth and Tunis and Beirut, and Nabeul and Beirut.
When war broke out in 1939 the FARADAY was laid up at Falmouth till December.
Then chartered by the Admiralty to recover 265 mile of German cable lying between the Varne bank and Ushant. After the work was completed she sailed to Greenwich for unloading the cable and reconditioning, for later use.
It was intended first to lay the cable between the U.K. and Narvik where Allied troops had landed, but the subsequent evacuation halted this.
The FARADAY without work was moved to the Dart River and laid up.
24 Oct. 1940 hired by the Admiralty as a base ship, renamed OHMS FARADAY.
She was again chartered for cable laying, the cable was brought alongside by two small coasters.
25 March 1941 she sailed from Falmouth with on board 3870 tons cable and via Milford Haven bound for Alexandria in convoy with 5 other ships, but due to bad visibility the convoy got scattered.
26 March 1941 she was attacked by a Heinkel 111 German bomber airplane around 7.45pm. The plain dropt 2 bombs and riddled the deck with machine gun fire, killing 8 men and wounded 25. The bombs exploded inside the ship and she got on fire 3 miles 38 degree off St Ann’s Head.
Escorted to smooth waters were she sank the next day in position 51 42 40N and 05 12 12W.
117 Crewmembers were rescued, but the FARADAY broke in three, and lays now in a depth of 5 to 10 meters under the cliffs of Hoopers Point.
Almost all of her cable was later salvaged.
Barbados 1994 45c sg1080, scott877.
Source: http://www.atlantic-cable.com/stamps/Ca ... ndexdg.htm. http://www.dive-pembrokeshire.com/wrecks.html Lloyds War Losses, Second War. Ships of the Royal Navy Vol. 2 by J.J.Colledge.