Hodgson, Robert

BORN HULL 1879. FOURTH SON OF ROBERT HODGSON, AN ACCOUNTANT IN THE CITY OF HULL. CHIEF OFFICER OF THE STEAMER “UMBA”. HE WORKED FOR THE ELLERMAN & WILSON SHIPPING LINE. HE WAS  LOST AT SEA, ON 30/04/1918, AGED 39. HE LEFT A WIDOW, FLORENCE GETRUDE HODGSON, LIVING AT 15 AUCKLAND AVENUE, HULL. HIS DEATH WAS REPORTED IN THE HULL DAILY MAIL, ON 13/05/1918.
HE IS COMMEMORATED ON THE WW1 MEMORIAL AT ST JOHNS, NEWLAND, HULL.
The Umba was built as Adelheid Menzell (Construction No. 287) in 1903 at the Neptun shipyard in Rostock, Germany. She was a schooner rigged, screw steamer, with a gross tonnage of 1501t, and measured 88.39m x 12.5m x 5.8m. She was equipped with a triple expansion steam engine delivering 180HP and two boilers. She had a crew of 25 and was capable of a maximum speed of 9kn. According to Lloyds Register in 1917, the vessel had a single deck, deep framing and was equipped with electric light and wireless. The Register also gives the lengths for poop (8.53m), bridge deck (38.1m) and forecastle (10.36m).
From 1903 to 1906 Adelheid Menzell was employed on the Hamburg- China route. In 1906 the vessel was bought by the Hamburg Bremer Afrika Linie AG, and was used in the Africa trade. In 1907, she was renamed to Irmgard, renamed again to Utgard and purchased by the Deutsche Seeverkehrs A.G. in Nordenham in 1912.
In 1914 F.W. Fischer from Rostock bought the Utgard, but shortly thereafter she was commandeered by the Russian forces in Kovda in 1914, renamed to Umba and used by the Archangelsk Murmansk S.N. Co. Archangelsk. The vessel was armed with a single Russian 6pdr gun mounted at the stern. In 1917 the Umba was in turn confiscated by the Shipping Controller in England. In 1918 she was bought by the Ellerman´s Wilson Line. She was torpedoed on 30 April 1918 while in ballast en route from Dunkirk in France to Barry Roads in south Wales. The torpedo, fired by SM UB-57, hit the Umba amidships and tore a massive hole into her side. She sank almost immediately with the loss of 20 of her crew of 25. Those on board from Hull were:-
HACKETT, CHRISTOPHER JOSEPH (25), Third Engineer, Son of Walter and Alice Hackett; husband of Alice Maud Hackett (nee Addey), of 4, Bell View, Middleburg St.Hull
HODGSON, ROBERT (39), Mate, S.S. Umba, Mercantile Marine, †30/04/1918, Husband of Florence Gertrude Hodgson, of 15, Auckland Avenue. Hull. Born at Hull
KERRIDGE, THOMAS WILLIAM (29), Second Mate, S.S. Umba, Mercantile Marine, †30/04/1918, Son of James William and Faith Alice Kerridge; husband of Ethel Mary Kerridge (nee Renshaw), of 23, Carrington St., Boulevard, Hull. Born at Hull
PITT, EDWIN (42), Second Engineer, S.S. Umba, Son of the late William Henry and Isabella Pitt; husband of Lillie Pitt (nee Hyde), of 9, Rosemead St., Hull. Born at Walsall