Wanderer (Peel 11)

Image courtesy Roy Baker, Curator of the Leece Museum, Isle of Man

Wanderer PL11 (Peel 11) was a sail-powered fishing boat from in Peel, Isle of Man, that was fishing off the coast of Ireland when the Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk on Friday, 7 May 1915. Wanderer was the first rescue vessel on the scene for about two hours and picked up 160+ people from four lifeboats (1, 11, 15, and 21), took two lifeboats in tow (presumably 13, 19), and also collected people from the water and collapsibles. However, the Wanderer had difficulty navigating the waters, as she was a sail-powered boat and Friday, 7 May 1915, was a flat calm.

Wanderer was was built in Peel in 1821. Its registration number was 11 and port of registry was Peel (abbreviated PL), so the boat was also known as PL11 or Peel 11. Books such as Hoehling and Hoehling’s The Last Voyage of the Lusitania and Diana Preston’s Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy have erroneously assigned Wanderer the registration number of “Peel 12″ (even saying that the trawler was from Glasgow instead of Peel!), but Manx historians have confirmed that Wanderer‘s registration number was indeed “Peel 11″ and not 12. Wanderer was later sold to Ireland and renamed Erin’s Hope. Later she was fitted with a motor and continued fishing until the 1930s.

The day of the Lusitania disaster, the Wanderer sailed with a crew of seven:

• William Ball, skipper, of Jurby, Isle of Man
• Stanley Ball, the skipper’s son
• William Gell, of Ramsey, Isle of Man
• Thomas Woods
• Robert Watterson
• John Macdonald
• Harry Costain, age 17

The last four crew members were all from Peel.

Left to right: Harry Costain, Johnny MacDonald, William Ball (skipper), Stanley Ball, William Gell, Thomas Woods, Robert Watterson at Tynwald Hill, home of the oldest, continuous parliament in the world. Image courtesy Roy Baker, Curator of the Leece Museum, Isle of Man

The crew made tea for the survivors and attended to the injured and overexposed. For the heroism of the crew of the Wanderer, Lord Raglan and the Manchester Manx Society presented a medal to the crew on 5 July 1915.

Obverse & reverse: Bronze Wanderer medal, which each crew member received. Skipper William Ball received a silver medal of the same design.  Image courtesy Roy Baker, Curator of the Leece Museum, Isle of Man

 

The first lifeboat to arrive was #21, and the first person to be taken aboard was an infant of two months. Next to arrive was #11 and then #15 and #1 arrived together. The small boat was so dangerously overcrowded with survivors and James Brooks’ account even tells of people dangling their legs over the side because of how packed the deck was with people! Wanderer transferred many survivors to rescue vessels that arrived later, most notably the Flying Fish and Stormcock.

52 of 160+ known survivors rescued by Wanderer. If you know more, please contact us.

Name	Age	Class or Dept	Citizenship	Residence	Lifeboat	Transferred to
ANDERSON, Miss Barbara Winifred	2	2nd	British/USA (dual)	Bridgeport, CT, USA	15, 1
ANDERSON, Mrs. Rowland (Emily Mary Pybus)	26	2nd	British (English)	Bridgeport, CT, USA	15, 1
BERNARD, Mr. Oliver Percy	34	Saloon	British (English)	London, England	11	Flying Fish
BIRD, Miss Marian “May”	40	Victualling	British	Cheshire, England	15	Flying Fish
BRANDELL, Miss Josephine Mary (Brandeis)	23	Saloon	USA	New York, NY, USA	12, 15
BROOKS, Mr. James “Jay” Ham	41	Saloon	USA	Bridgeport, CT, USA	collapsible	Flying Fish
BURDON, Mrs. Andrew Thompson (Ellen Mary Rickwood)	24	2nd	British (Canadian)	Winnipeg, Mb., Canada	15
BURDON, Master Robert P.	14-months	2nd	British (Canadian)	Winnipeg, Mb., Canada	15
CLARKE, Rev. Charles Cowley	64	Saloon	British (English)	Clifton, England	11
COX, Mrs. Samuel J. (Margaret Elizabeth Robinson)	27	2nd	British (Irish)	Winnipeg, Mb., Canada	15
COX, Master Desmond Francis	17-months	2nd	British (Irish)	Winnipeg, Mb., Canada	15
DOCHERTY, Mrs. William (Mabel “Millie” Irving)	29	2nd	USA	Westbury, NY, USA	15	Flying Fish
DOCHERTY, Master Thomas William	2-months	2nd	USA	Westbury, NY, USA	15	Flying Fish
DRAPER, Mr. Percy	29	Deck	British (English)	Wallasey, Cheshire, England	15
DUCKWORTH, Mrs. Alfred (Elizabeth Ann Smith)	52	3rd	British (English)	Taftville, CT, USA	21
FISH, Mrs. Joseph “John E.” (Sarah Mary Rogers)		2nd	British (Canadian)	Toronto, On., Canada	15
FISH, Miss Sadie Eileen	10	2nd	British (Canadian)	Toronto, On., Canada	15
FISH, Miss Marion Enid	8	2nd	British (Canadian)	Toronto, On., Canada	15
GAUNTLETT, Mr. Frederic John	45	Saloon	USA	Washington, D.C., USA	collapsible	Flying Fish
GWYER, Rev. Herbert Linford	32	2nd	British (Canadian)	Saskatoon, Sk., Canada	15	Flying Fish
HARKNESS, Mr. William Herbert	25	Deck	British (English)		15
HEIGHWAY, Mr. Edward John	42	Deck	British (Irish/New Zealand)	Stangford, Co. Down, Ireland	15, 1
HILL, Mrs. Richard (Emma “Emmie”Jane Haynes)	31	2nd	British	Schenectady, NY, USA	15
HOLBOURN, Prof. John “Ian” Bernard Stoughton	43	2nd	British (Scottish)	Edinburgh and Isle of Foula, Scotland	15, 1	Stormcock
INCH, Mr. William Ernest	27	2nd	British	New York, NY, USA	15
JONES, Mr. Arthur Rowland	33	Deck	British (English)	Ffynnongroew, Flintshire, Wales,	15
KNOX, Mr. Samuel McIlhenny	57	Saloon	USA	Philadelphia, PA, USA	collapsible	Flying Fish
LAURIAT, Mr. Charles Emelius, Jr.	40	Saloon	USA	Boston, MA, USA	collapsible	Flying Fish
LEHMANN, Mr. Isaac	36	Saloon	USA	New York, New York, USA	15	Flying Fish
LEITH, Mr. Robert	29	Deck	British (English)	Wallasey, Cheshire, England	15	Paddle boat
LUKER, Mr. Francis John	30	3rd	British (Canadian)	Saskatoon, Sk., Canada	11, 15
MacKENZIE, Mr. Robert Anderson	40	3rd	British (Irish)	Dublin, Ireland	15	Flying Fish
MARICHAL, Prof. Joseph Phillibert René	38	2nd	French	Kingston, On., Canada	21
MARICHAL, Mrs. Joseph Phillibert René (Yvonne Jessie Emerson)	39	2nd	French	Kingston, On., Canada	21
MARICHAL, Miss Yvonne “Eve”	6	2nd	French	Kingston, On., Canada	21
MARICHAL, Miss Phyllis Renée	2	2nd	French	Kingston, On., Canada	21
MARICHAL, Master Maurice	Infant	2nd	French	Kingston, On., Canada	21
MITCHELL, Mr. Arthur Jackson	45	2nd	USA	Toronto, On., Canada	15
MORECROFT, Mrs. Herbert (Fannie Jane Chamberlain)	43	Victualling	British (English)	Liverpool, Lancashire, England	15	Flying Fish
MORTON, Mr. John Clifford	19	Deck	British (English)	Deserted from Naiad	1	Flying Fish
PENNY, Mr. Algernon Percy	33	Victualling	British (English)	Liverpool, Lancashire, England	15
PHILLIPS, Mr. Wallace Banta	29	Saloon	USA	Brooklyn, NY, USA	15	Flying Fish
RANKIN, Mr. Robert	33	Saloon	USA	Ithaca, NY, USA	11	Flying Fish
RHYS-EVANS, Mr. Arnold Leslie	23	Saloon	British	Cardiff, Wales	11	Flying Fish
ROGERS, Mr. Percy William	46	Saloon	British (Canadian)	Toronto, On., Canada		Flying Fish
TAYLOR, Mrs. William Harold (Lucy Haddock)	19	3rd	British	Niagara Falls, NY, USA	15
THOMAS, Mr. David Alfred	59	Saloon	British (Welsh)	Cardiff, Wales	11	Flying Fish
VEALS, Mr. Albert Edward	31	3rd	British	Orange, NJ, USA	15
VEALS, Mrs. Albert Edward (Agnes Maud Bailey)	27	3rd	British	Orange, NJ, USA	15
WHALEY, Mr. Robert William	31	2nd	British (Canadian)	Victoria, B.C., Canada	15	minesweeper
WICKINGS-SMITH, Miss Nancy Eileen Fenn	Infant	2nd	British (Canadian)	Victoria, B.C., Canada	11
WOLFENDEN, Mrs. Charles (Dora Roden)	49	2nd	USA	Central Falls, RI, USA	15

Image courtesy Roy Baker, Curator of the Leece Museum, Isle of Man

Links of interest

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PL11: The Wanderer

Contributors
Roy Baker, Curator of the Leece Museum, Isle of Man
Senan Molony, Ireland

References
Molony, Senan. Lusitania: An Irish Tragedy, pages 104-106. Mercier Press, 2004.

Peel Town Commission. PL11: The Wanderer. Online. <http://www.thewanderer100.com/>. Accessed 28 April 2015.