RN:
On the 18 Sept 1939, just after the start of WW2, the
Alvis was fishing in the vicinity of
St Kilda. At about 1.20pm a shot was heard and a large spout of water erupted close to the Alvis. The skipper and crew then spotted a German submarine. The skipper, Albert Thomason, was signalled from the U Boat and instructed to abandon his vessel. The small lifeboat was launched and the crew left the
Alvis. The lifeboat pulled alongside the submarine, the
U-35, and the commander,
Werner Lott, asked for the captain of the
Alvis. Thomason went aboard the submarine and, on the conning tower, Lott extended his hand in welcome. He then said,
" I am sorry but I will have to sink your ship" and asked Skipper Thomason if there were anymore crew aboard the
Alvis. The crew and Lott, all speaking very good English, handed cigarettes to the
Alvis crew, and then ordered them back to their vessel. Lott sent a working party over to Alvis under the command of a Lieutenant. On their arrival, they threw the wireless overboard and then chopped away the fishing gear and smashed the dynamo in the engine room. The Lieutenant asked Thomason if he could take a lifebelt as a souvenir, which he did. However, Lott gave Thomason a bottle of gin in return with his compliments.
No provisions or the fish caught were taken from the
Alvis by the Germans. The reason the U-Boat commander did not sink the
Alvis was that, in his opinion, the 13-man crew would never make it back to shore in their lifeboat. The
Alvis returned unharmed to her homeport of
Fleetwood, but that same day the U-Boat commander found 3 other Fleetwood vessels. They were the
Arlita, the
Lord Minto, and the
Nancy Hague. After removing the crews from the
Arlita and
Lord Minto onto the
Nancy Hague, the U-35 sank the two empty ships. The three crews returned to Fleetwood aboard the
Nancy Hague. The
Alvis was subsequently requisitioned in 1940 by the Admiralty.
Werner Lott was taken prisoner of war aboard HMS
Kingston, with all of his crew, after he scuttled his U-boat on 29 November 1939.
HMT Alvis, armed WW2 trawler:
