The Demise of the S S Belem The S S BELEM ran ashore in fog at Menachurch Point, a little to the north of Northcott Mouth, Bude on the night of 20 th /21 st November, 1917. She was originally named the Rhodos for the Hamburg/American line, seized in Lisbon Harbour in 1916 and loaned to Italy to bring coal from England and her return cargo would generally be Sulphur from Sicily to England for munitions. On this particular voyage there was no sulphur ready so she came back to Benjaffa, Oran, North Africa to load iron ore for Cardiff of which she had 2500 tons. After cutting holes in her side to throw out the cargo (presumably when she ran aground A.E.A) she began to bump badly and soon large holes were in the ballast tanks. She was eventually sold to the ship breakers. Another account does say that the cargo was salvaged. This is the information on the back of the photograph of the SSBelem aground at Menachurch Point. As far as I can find out, the information would have come from the late Edward Blight probably circa 1950s. Audrey Aylmer Cares Enesow Remains of the S S Belem aground at Menachurch Point
On 20 th November 1917 the Portuguese steamship Belem, in ballast from Gibraltar to Barry, was wrecked at Menachurch Point, Northcott Mouth, near Bude. She had been launched in 1890 at Flensbury as the Rhodos for the Hamburg/American line, from whom she had been seized at Lisbon in 1916. The crew of 33 were all rescued. The ship broke her back. Although much of the vessel was salvaged at the time, a considerable amount of the wreckage is still exposed at certain states of wind and tide. During the equinoctial tides of March 1997 I was able to take photographs and on showing these to Mr Arthur Madge he gave me the following memories. During the First World War I was a boarder at St. Petroc s School, then in Killerton Road, Bude. In my dormitory there were five boys of my own age. About midnight on 20 th November 1917 we were awakened by five loud bangs. Our housemaster called us down into the basement and told us not to be afraid. We then heard that these bangs were from a ship off Northcott Mouth, about a mile north of Bude. There was a thick fog at the time. A Mrs Spooner, who lived near Northcott, heard those guns and, seeing the flashes, took her horse and rode all the way over the downs to warn the authorities about the situation, a very brave thing to do. As soon as dawn broke our master walked us along the cliffs. The fog was still very thick as we arrived and looking down we could just see the ship on the rocks. The life-saving gang was there in operation, hauling the poor seamen ashore by breeches buoy. They rescued all the Portuguese crew, including the little cabin boy who could speak some English. The ship was carrying a cargo of iron ore bound for Cardiff. They had been sailing very close to shore to avoid German U-boats. The crew were suffering badly from exposure. Although everything was rationed because of the war, people gave clothes and food. We boys bought them tobacco and sweets out of our pocket money. I well remember our walks along the cliffs to Widemouth Bay as boys. On a sunny day we would sometimes see German U-boats on the surface, charging up their batteries. We could do nothing about it except warn the authorities, by which time they had submerged. The airship base at Langford, between Marhamchurch and Week St. Mary, was of great interest. We used to count the airships flying over the sea to guard the convoys up the Bristol Channel, and sometimes they did not all come back. When the peace was signed at the end of the First World War we had a great celebration, and I remember waving little Union Jacks frantically outside Vickery s Corner in Bude. I also remember prisoners coming home. We used to go to the station to meet them with a carriage. Instead of horses, ropes were attached to the carriage, and schoolboys and a lot of local people would pull the prisoners through town, along the Strand and up Bellevue Footnote. This account in Arthur Madge s own words was told to me in 1998. He was eight years old at the time of the wreck and is now 102. Audrey E Aylmer Cares Enesow.
Wreckage exposed 12 th March1997