Chapter 12

The Aftermath 

The grief was felt by hundreds of families who lost people with the Viknor. Nearly a century later one of the descendants of the lost of the Viknor wrote: “Then came the Great War, and my father, Chief Engineer, Henry Pollard RNR joined the White Star Line's HMS Viknor, a merchant cruiser, on 12 December 1914.She was sunk by enemy action early in 1915 and my father was drowned at sea, his first voyage on her. Shortly after receiving the telegram notifying my mother of her loss, she gave birth to me and died, leaving me an orphan.”
 

The Bishop family were among hundreds of thousands during the war who did not have a body to bury. Of the more than 300 sailors who went down with the Viknor, only a handful of bodies were recovered from the sea and a number were buried in graves in Ireland marked: “Know unto God.”

Jack may be in one of these, but we will never know.

Other families were luckier in that the bodies of their loved ones were found.The family of Gunner Kenneth Galbraith had his remains removed from Ireland to be reburied in Portsmouth.These were newspaper reports of the time:-

The remains of Chief Gunner Kenneth Ballantyne, one of the Viknor crew, whose body was washed ashore at Ballycastle in February, and whose remains were interred in Bona-margy burying ground, were exhumed for the purpose of having them re-interred in Portsmouth, at the request of the deceased’s relatives. The funeral started from Bona-margy at 3.30, and was preceded by a detachment of the Royal Irish Fusiliers, in charge of Sergeant Kane, and immediately behind came a company of the National Volunteers, under Company-Commander JE Coghlan and Half-Company Commanders Francis Black, RDC, and E Savage, followed by a company of the Ulster Volunteers, under Company-Commanders Arthur Hunter and JA Byrne and Half-Company Commander Charles Lawrence; also the postmen attached to the Ballycastle Post Office, accompanied by Mr GN Scarlett, and the local police force, in charge of Sergeant Brannigan, attended the funeral. The arrangements were superintended by Mr J Ainsworth, RN divisional officer coastguards, Ballycastle. The remains left by the 4.10 train for England.

Gunner Kenneth Ballantyne also started in the Navy, and so clever, and industrious, and persevering was he that he rose to the rank of chief gunner and a warrant officer. Like his brother, he has visited each hemisphere. He was on one of the ships which accompanied their Majesties on their Royal tour to India. For two years he was quartermaster on the British Ambassadorís yacht at Constantinople. He took part in the Heligoland Bight fight on the H.M.S. Edgar, from which he was transferred to the H.M.S. Viknor, only three weeks before she was lost. His body was washed ashore at Ballycastle, Ireland, from where it was conveyed to Portsmouth, where his wife and two children reside. The funeral took place with full naval honours. He was 33 years of age.  

On Saturday the remains of Chief-Gunner Kenneth Ballantyne, one of the Viknor crew whose body had been washed ashore at Ballycastle in February, and whose remains were interred in Bonamargey burying-ground, were disinterred for the purpose of having them laid to rest in Portsmouth, at the request of his relatives. The funeral started from Bonamargey Abbey at 3.30pm, and was preceded by a detachment of the Royal Irish Fusiliers, in charge of Sergeant Kane, and immediately in front of the hearse was a pipers’ band. A guard of honour of the naval wireless operators marched beside the hearse, and immediately behind came a company of National Volunteers, under the command of Company-Commander JE Coghlan and Half-Company Commanders Francis Black, RDC, and E Savage, followed by a company of the Ulster Volunteer Force, in command of Company-Commanders Arthur Hunter and JA Bryne and Half-Company Commander Charles Lawrence; also the postmen attached to the Ballycastle Post Office, in charge of Mr GH Scarlett; and the local police force, in charge of Sergeant Brannigan. The entire arrangements were in charge of Mr J Ainsworth, RN, Divisional Officer Coastguards, Ballycastle. Large crowds lined the road all along the route to the railway station. Numbers of visitors were much impressed with the imposing spectacle. The remains left by the 4.10pm train for Portsmouth . The arrangements were in charge of Sergeant Brannigan, who approached the several corps to attend, and who organised the pipe band for the occasion. The hearse was supplied by Mr EF McCambridge, Antrim Arms Hotel, Ballycastle.

One of the strangest stories was the fate of the skipper of the Viknor,Commander Ernest Ballantyne. His body was washed hundreds of miles across the Irish Sea to the coast of his native Scotland. His family had given up hope and held a memorial service for him. Days later a small boy found Ballantyne’s body on a Dumfrieshire beach.

The remains were taken home to Dalkeith for a burial with full military honours.

From the Dalkeith Advertiser.

The remains of Commander Ernest Orford Ballantyne, 38, were taken from the Ashton, Eskbank, home of his brother, Harold, to Dalkeith Cemetery.The family had given up hope and had held a memorial service for him days before his body was was washed up at Port Castle Bay in Dumfries. The remains were carried aboard a destroyer to Mallaig, where they were identified by his brother.

More than four thousand people lined the streets at the funeral, with full naval honours, at Dalkeith Cemetery. All the shops closed and people drew their blinds and wore black. 

The coffin, made of polished ash and mounted with brass, was carried on a gun carriage and draped with a Union Flag. A party of  blue jackets from HMS Indomitable march behind. On the coffin, were wreaths from a number of fighting ships, including one of white heather and another of Nile lilies.

At the head of the funeral procession was a large contingent of Royal Scots, with slow and measured tread and with arms reversed. A pipe band playing "Scots Wha Hae" followed behind. Then, there was a brass band of the South Wales Borderers, who were stationed in nearby Edinburgh at the time.

Behind all of these was the gun carriage, provided by the Lowland Field Artillery, drawn by half-a-dozen "lithe-limbed horses" and led by a mounted officer. Then  came the mourners, led by the father, Alexander Ballantye, also a doctor.

Bringing un the rear was a body of general mournes including businessmen, porfessionals, politicians and a contingent of the Royal Marine Light Infantry.

A solider in Khaki limped with the aid of a stick at the rear of the procession, along with a number wounded men home from the front.

The mourners passed between two lines of Territorial soldiers, who stood mointionless, with the muzzles of their rifles resting on their boots and their heads bent over the butts of their weapons. The Territorials fired three volleys over the grave, while a buglar sounded the last post.

Hundreds of people visited the grave in the following days.       


There were questions in Parliament about the Viknor from a lord who had a reputation for campaigns and tough questions. Charles Beresford was the second son of the 4th Marquisof Waterford. He joined the Royal Navy in 1859 and started his training as a cadet at the naval training academy HMS Britannia. He became a lieutenant in 1874. He was a well-known and popular figure who courted publicity. He was widely known to the British public as "Charlie B" and considered by many to be a kind of personification of John Bull and indeed was normally accompanied by his trademark, a bulldog.

Lord Beresford was to grill the First Lord of the Admiralty and future British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill.

  He asked whether His Majesty's ship "Viknor" was surveyed after she was armed; whether the Government were quite satisfied that she was absolutely seaworthy; and whether there will be any inquiry with regard to her loss?

Mr Churchill

The hull and machinery of the ship were thoroughly surveyed while she was being fitted out and armed, and on completion her stability was tested. The Admiralty officers responsible were quite satisfied that the ship was in all respects seaworthy. As there are no survivors no formal inquiry can be held.

Lord C Beresford.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that there are ten survivors of His Majesty's Ship "Viknor" who were nineteen days in that ship and left her as a prize crew on the 18th January; and whether the Board of Admiralty will reconsider their decision not to have an inquiry into the loss of the ship?

Dr Macnamara

I do not think that the members of the crew referred to can, strictly speaking, be termed survivors. In any case they are not in a position to throw-any light on the circumstances in which this vessel was lost, not having been on board her at the time.

 Lord C Beresford

There is great doubt about the seaworthiness of this ship. Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that one sub-lieutenant, one signalman, four seamen, and three Marines, a total of nine, only left the ship a short time before, and they are all capable of giving evidence as to the seaworthiness of the ship?

 Dr Macnamara

The Noble Lord will remember that the First Lord answered a question on this point the other day.

 Lord C Beresford

There may be a mistake. The question is so serious that I ask the right hon. Gentleman if he will reconsider the matter?

 Dr Macnamara

I cannot. On the question of seaworthiness I cannot add anything to the reply of the First Lord.

Nothing was done and the no one knows for sure where the wreck is. The nearest we know is the result of diving by a underwater expert Jan Lettens who surveyed the wreck on 13/01/2008 – the 95th anniversay of the sinking, just off Tory Island and off the rocks of the Bloody Foreshore. 

 He said: “ I don't know whether she has been found yet, but it should not be too difficult to locate with Sonar. While researching on maritime charts, I found a 'mountain' coming up to 49m LLWS in a region where the ocean depth is about 80m. This could be her. It should be possible to dive her with high-technology diving gear.”

Let's hope one day it will be and the mystery can be solved.

 

The End

 

Written by Chris Bishp