The SS Mount Temple Project ^©

Dinosaurs in the Deep ^©

In Memoriam

"To the men and women who gave their lives willingly for the freedom of others and have no grave but the sea. They shall not grow old as we who are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them" (inscription on a monument in Liverpool, United Kingdom, written by Lawrence Binyon, dedicated to the Merchant Seamen of the Great War).

Reference material relating to the sinking of the SS Mount Temple states that three men were killed in the skirmish with the SMS Moewe. The names of two of the dead, Gilbert Oddy and G. Baker were easily found. Oddy was a 38 year-old Englishman serving as Chief Steward. Baker, a seaman, served with the Canadian Merchant Navy. Both men are memorialized in the Books of Remembrance, Canadian Virtual War Memorial. It was only after extensive research that the name of the third victim was found. A 61 year-old British seaman, F. Janssen, drown in the action that day. This seamed to settle the issue but there was still a problem.

An article in The New York Times dated January 30, 1917 related that a stoker had been killed. On December 5, 1916 the Norwegian steamer Hallbjorg was captured and sunk by the German raider. The next day the Mount Temple was captured and scuttled. Captain Anderson of the Hallbjorg witnessed the events of the 6th and related the story. With the aid of The Commonwealth War Graves Commission, in England, the fourth victim was identified. Karim Baqir, a stoker on the Mount Temple, also died of wounds inflicted that day.

We can recount some detail of events on December 6, 1916. The German surface raider approached the Mount Temple and ordered the ship to stop. Oddy and Baker, dressed in British Naval Reserve uniforms, manned the 75MM gun at the stern. The raider responded with cannon fire that killed both and an exploding shell injured Baqir. The crew panicked at the outbreak of cannon fire and started to abandon the ship. In the confusion a partially loaded lifeboat dropped from the moorings and Janssen was dumped into the ocean and drowned, perhaps the lifeboat fell on him.

Karim Baqir, severely injured, died of wounds during the night of December 6. He was buried at sea the next day. The Captain of the Mount Temple, A. H. Sargent, conducted the ceremony with the crew of his ship and a representative group from the Moewe attending the services.

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