BORN HULL 1880. SON OF JEMIMA LEILA & THE LATE JOHN GIBB, OF 23 COLTMAN STREET, HULL (CWGC ADDRESS). SHIP’S BOSUN. LOST AT SEA ON 20/05/1917, AGED 37. HIS NAME IS RECORDED ON THE TRINITY HOUSE SCHOOL MEMORIAL. HIS BROTHER RICHARD GIBB, DIED AT SEA IN WW2 11/09/1940, AGED 52. HE IS COMMEMORATED ON THE LONDON TOWER HILL MEMORIAL.
SS Tycho: Built: 1904. Lost: 1917. Sunk by U-boat. In May 1917 the SS Tycho was nearing the end of a voyage from Bombay to Hull with 5,700 tons of general cargo. Built in 1904 by Earles Shipbuilding and Engineering Co of Hull for Ellerman Wilson Lines, she was of 3216 Gross Registered Tons (GRT) and powered by a Triple Expansion steam engine. Hull was her home port and some of her crew of 33 would undoubtedly have been looking forward to arriving, having left Bombay on 25th March. She called in to Falmouth to receive routing instructions from the Admiralty and then proceeded up the English Channel. The weather is recorded as dismal, with rain, drizzle and haze. At 1810 on 20th May 1917, whilst south of Brighton, she was torpedoed by the German submarine SM UB-40 (commanded by Hans Howaldt). The torpedo hit abreast of No. 2 Hatch and the ship immediately began to sink. There were no casualties at this point and the crew abandoned ship into the lifeboats. The Tycho sank at 1840, the Master having destroyed her confidential papers. The crew then pulled towards the steamship Porthkerry, which had seen the explosion and was standing by about 200 yards away on the port beam. As the Tycho’s boats came alongside her, another torpedo was discharged by the submarine. This blew up one of the boats, killing the master and 14 men, and capsized the other boat. The Porthkerry was abandoned, with eight casualties, the vessel going down in three minutes after being struck by the torpedo. The survivors from both ships were picked up at 7 o’clock that night by a small coasting steamer and landed at Newhaven at midnight on the 21st May.
