Edgar Henry Smith
Leading Seaman Edgar Henry Smith – Lost with the S.V. Trebiskin
The Trebiskin and the Great Storm of 1908
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| Edgar Henry Smith credit - Photo courtesy of nephew Ross Vivian |
The Trebiskin’s Wartime Role
By the time of the First World War, small sailing vessels
like the Trebiskin still played a crucial role in the coastal
coal trade. Although steamships dominated long-distance and military transport,
hundreds of sailing ketches carried cargoes of coal from South Wales ports
such as Swansea across the Bristol Channel and Irish Sea. These ships
supplied fuel to towns, industries, and naval facilities that depended on coal
for power.
The Trebiskin, though modest in size, was part of this vital
wartime network. Sail-powered coal carriers were slower and more vulnerable
than steamships, but they were often used to free up larger vessels for
overseas trade and troop convoys. Crews of such ships faced enormous risks:
shifting cargoes in rough seas, sudden gales, and, during the war, the
ever-present threat of German U-boats and mines.
Loss of the Trebiskin in 1918
On 4th November 1918, the Trebiskin
was last sighted sailing near the Mixon Sandbank, off the South Wales
coast. Three days later, on the 7th, wreckage identified as belonging to the
ketch was found on the Mixon. None of her crew survived.
One of those lost was Leading Seaman Edgar Henry Smith.
Early Life and Naval Career
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| Edgar Henry Smith Royal Navy Records |
On 18th March 1914, he passed his medical
examination and was recommended for enlistment with the Royal Naval Reserve,
where he completed his basic naval training on board HMS Calypso.
When war was declared in August 1914, Edgar was called up by
Royal Proclamation. Reporting to St. John’s on 13th August, he
embarked on the S.S. Carthaginian for England, arriving at HMS
Vivid, the Royal Navy’s training establishment at Devonport.
Over the next four years, Edgar served at a range of naval
facilities and on several warships. He was assigned to HMS Prince George,
a pre-dreadnought battleship, during the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915. He
took part in both the landings and the evacuation and was mentioned in
dispatches by the Vice-Admiral commanding the Eastern Mediterranean
Squadron for “good services during these operations.”
Orders to the Trebiskin
On 26th August 1918, Edgar received new
orders to report to HMS President III, the navy’s accounting base
for personnel assigned to merchant vessels. He was then detailed to serve as a gunner
aboard the Trebiskin, which was sailing with a crew of five.
The ketch departed Swansea on 4th November,
bound for Youghal, Ireland, with a cargo of coal. Somewhere in the heavy
seas off the Mixon Sandbank, she was lost. At the subsequent Swansea
inquest, the jury could not determine the exact cause but concluded that the
Trebiskin may have foundered under the weight of her cargo in rough
conditions.
The Crew
Among those lost were Leading Seaman Edgar Henry Smith
and Seaman John Doyle, both from Newfoundland, along with three
other crew members. John Doyle’s body was never recovered.
Burial at Danygraig Cemetery
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| South Wales Daily Post |
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| Edgar Henry Smith Danygraig Cemetery credit - findagrave |
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| Western Mail |
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| Western Mail |
Further reports in the Western Mail later that
December confirmed that two more bodies from the Trebiskin had also been
recovered, underlining the full extent of the tragedy.
Legacy
Edgar was a long way from home when his body was
washed ashore at Swansea. A young man from a small Newfoundland outport, he
ended his days on the South Wales coast — a reminder of how the First World War
drew men from across the globe into common service and sacrifice.
At Danygraig Cemetery, his grave stands among those
of other foreign servicemen who never returned home — Australians,
Canadians, and Newfoundlanders who died while serving in Britain. Together,
their memorials speak to Swansea’s unexpected role as a resting place for men
of many nations, all bound by the shared ordeal of war.
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