Joseph Lowes Thompson 1859-1927  

SS Capelcastle




Built in 1917 by Robert Thompson & Sons, for Arthur Capel, Newport, Monmouthshire, 3,872 Grt.

NEWS IN BRIEF
The Times, Monday, Nov 28, 1949
HULL SHIP ABANDONED
IN THE BALTIC
  A Lloyd's message last night reported that the British steamer Britkon (3,881 tons) had run aground off the Swedish Baltic port of Oskarshamn, and that the crew of about 35 men were abandoning her.
  It was stated at Hull, the Britkon's home port, that she was under charter by the timber control authorities and was to load at a Swedish port.
The Times, Monday, Nov 28, 1949
HULL SHIP ABANDONED
IN THE BALTIC
  A Lloyd's message last night reported that the British steamer Britkon (3,881 tons) had run aground off the Swedish Baltic port of Oskarshamn, and that the crew of about 35 men were abandoning her.
  It was stated at Hull, the Britkon's home port, that she was under charter by the timber control authorities and was to load at a Swedish port.



The ship was later sold and renamed the CSÁRDA. Shown here at San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, on 15 March 1940,

Register-Guard, Eugene, Ore., Monday, Nov. 28, 1949
British Ship
Runs Aground
  STOCKHOLM - (U.P.) - The 3881 ton British freighter Britcon ran aground off the southeast Swedish coast Sunday night and the Coast Guard said Monday that all of the 38 crew members had abandoned the vessel.
  Eleven crew members, including three women, reached the shore by lifeboat.   They told the pilot station at the coastal town of Oscarshamn that the other 27, including the vessel's skipper, were aboard a motorboat lying alee of the Britkon.
  The Britcon was reported to be still afloat despite heavy damage incurred when it was blown onto the rocks by a 44-mile-an-hour wind.   Rescue vessels, handicapped by the heavy gale, were attempting to reach the scene.
  A lifeboat that managed to reach the Britcon at 2 a.m. GMT (9 p.m. EST) reported that the crew members in the motorboat were in "good condition."   They were unable to leave before dawn because of the storm.
  The crew members who reached shore said the crew abandoned the Britcon in good order.
The Times, Tuesday, Nov 29, 1949                         News
CREW OF WRECKED HULL STEAMER SAFE
12 HOURS HUDDLED IN BOAT
  STOCKHOLM, Nov. 28, - The 27 persons who were on board the 3,881-ton Hull steamer Britkon which ran aground off Oskarshamn, on the Swedish coast, last night are safe ashore.   They include Mrs. Sooman, the young wife of the captain, an Estonian now naturalized, and two other women.
  Mrs. Sooman said to-day that when the ship grounded she was told the engine-room was half full of water and that the ship might sink at any moment.   The Britcon at first heeled over, but then a huge wave righted her again and she stayed on an even keel for most of the night.   "The twelve hours we spent in the lifeboat seemed like a fifetime.   We were so crowded in the boat that I could hardly move my arms or legs (she continued).   We kept sending up distress signals while high seas broke over our boat, wetting us to the skin."
  Captain Sooman said: "We owe our lives to the bravery of the crews of the Swedish pilot boat and tug.   We shall never forget how they Manoeuvred through the surf to reach us." - Reuter.




and later again resold and named the BRITKON.   On November 27, 1949 the BRITCON found it's final resting place, when it ran
aground on Finnrevet reef, just east of Furö Island, off the east coast of southern Sweden, and inside the northern cape of Öland.
  It broke in half, about two days later. The ship was fully laden, and there was no loss of life.


SPECIAL THANKS  to Captain József Horváth, of Budapest, Hungary, for the photo of the CSÁRDA, and to Mikk  Jogi, of Ontario, Canada, whose parents were both crew members on board at the time of the accident, and to Pelle Karlsson, of Timmernabben, Sweden, for the BRITCON photos. Pelle Karlsson lived on Furö Island when the ship ran aground.