BACKHOUSE, DIXON & COMPANY, MIDDLESBROUGH

Name	SIXTY-SIX
Type	Cargo
Yard Number	66
Launched	17/07/1871
Completed	1871
Off. Number	65008
Engine builder	Blair & Co., Stockton-on-Tees
Engine type	C. 2 cyl. 40hp
GRT	214
Length (feet)	127
Beam (feet)	20
First owner	Edmund Grove, Henry Cochrane and Thomas Shiel, Middlesbrough

History	1897 Edmund Grove (Cochrane, Grove & Co.), Middlesbrough
	LR1905 owners Cochrane & Co. (J. W. Lister), Middlesbrough

Fate	29/06/1918 torpedoed by UB.88 off Flamborough Head.

Thanks to John Fawcett for further details of this early steamer with a family connection

The Sixty-Six was built in Middlesbrough by Backhouse & Dixon Co Ltd in 1870/71 and registered there on the 14^th Aug 1871, her registration number was 65008 (Register of shipping Middlesbrough 1870 -1879). She was registered to Messrs Edmund Grove, Henry Cochrane & Thomas Sheil, although by 1897 Edmund Grove of Cochrane, Grove & Co was the sole owner.

The ship had a gross measurement of 214 tons and was 127ft long by 20ft wide. She had a single deck, two masts and ‘Schooner’ rigging. She was described in the register as a ‘Steam Screw’. Her engines were of the ‘Compound Surface Condensing’ type and gave her 40Hp of power.

Her Captain for the first 34 years of service was my Great, Great, Grandfather Captain William Truefitt, who retired in 1905. It seems that the Sixty-Six spent most of her seagoing life plying between Middlesbrough, Amsterdam/Rotterdam and the Port of London.

Her owners were Iron Founders and therefore her cargos were connected to the business. She regularly carried 250 tons of pipes to the continent, calling into London to pick up cargos of sand for the foundry on Teesside. She ran aground in Teesmouth in 1908 but was re-floated. She was stranded again on 9^th June 1916 at Flamborough Head but got off.

During the First World War she was fitted with a 3”Vickers H.A. stern mounted gun

Whilst on Government service on a passage from Middlesbrough to London carrying 245 Tons of cement she met her end.

At 2:15 AM on the 29^th June 1918 she spotted the German submarine UB 88 in fog on the surface 500 yards abeam on the Port side steering the same course. The Sixty-Six was on a course parallel to the buoys in the war channel. She turned to Starboard to bring the submarine astern, but within minutes she was struck amidships by a Torpedo. The explosion was so intense that the ship broke up and sank immediately. The survivors were thrown into the water & clung to the wreckage. She had a crew of 11(Inc 2 gunners), 6 lives including the master were lost.

The survivors were the Chief Engineer, 2^nd Engineer, a Fireman and the two Gunners. They were picked up and landed in Scarborough.

The wreck has been explored by local divers and is known locally as ‘cement’.

... and here is a memento of Captain Truefitt

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