BORN PIDDINGHOE, SUSSEX, 1883. SON OF PHYLLIS & CHARLES COMBS, OF PIDDINGHOE, SUSSEX. A MERCHANT NAVY FIREMAN. LOST BY ENEMY ACTION, ON 07/04/1918, AGED 34. HULL MERCHANT NAVY RECORDS.
SS Rye, built by Clyde Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd., Port Glasgow in 1914 and owned at the time of her loss by Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Co., Goole, was a British steamer of 986 tons. On April 7th, 1918, Rye, on a voyage from Newhaven to Rouen with a cargo of military stores, was sunk by the German submarine UB-74 (Ernst Steindorff), 19 miles NxW1/2W from Cape d’Antifer. 4 persons were lost.
PEOPLE ON BOARD SS “RYE”
1. CHILVERS, JOSEPH (56), Cook and Steward, SS Rye, Mercantile Marine, †07/04/1918, Husband of Emily Sarah Louise Chilvers, of 48, Percy St., Goole. Born at Beccles, Memorial: Tower Hill Memorial
2. COMBS, WILLIAM (34), Fireman, SS Rye, Mercantile Marine, †07/04/1918, Son of Phyllis Combs, of Piddinghoe, Sussex, and the late Charles Combs, Memorial: Tower Hill Memorial
3. PETTINGER, THOMAS WILLIAM (28), Fireman, SS Rye, Mercantile Marine, †07/04/1918, Son of Tom and Hannah Pettinger; husband of Jane Lydia Mary Pettinger (formerly Walker, nee Deane), of 103, Jackson St., Goole, Yorks. Born at Goole, Memorial: Tower Hill Memorial
4. WATSON , Leading Seaman (no. Clyde Z/3825), SS Rye, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, †07/04/1918, Memorial: Larkhall Cemetery, Dalserf
