TOPIC:

The miniature group to Sir Bertram Hayes

Bertram Hayes was born in Birkenhead in Cheshire on 25 April 1864. When he was four years of age his family move to Goole in Yorkshire and at the age of 14 he began his service in the Merchant Navy as a Junior Clerk in the Goole Shipping Company. He went to sea in 1880 and gained his Master’s Certificate in 1889 and his Extra Master’s in 1897. He joined the firm of Ismay, Imrie & Company, sailing as Mate aboard the Coptic in 1898. He was promoted Master and commanded the Britannic, taking troops to South Africa during the Boer War, for which service he was awarded the Transport Medal.
Bertram Hayes was born in Birkenhead in Cheshire on 25 April 1864. When he was four years of age his family move to Goole in Yorkshire and at the age of 14 he began his service in the Merchant Navy as a Junior Clerk in the Goole Shipping Company. He went to sea in 1880 and gained his Master’s Certificate in 1889 and his Extra Master’s in 1897. He joined the firm of Ismay, Imrie & Company, sailing as Mate aboard the Coptic in 1898. He was promoted Master and commanded the Britannic, taking troops to South Africa during the Boer War, for which service he was awarded the Transport Medal.

During the Great War he was appointed Captain of the White Star line RMS Olympic, sister ship to the Titanic. The ship was employed as a troop carrier across the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. In 1917 he was awarded a CMG for his services. On the 12 May 1918, en route from New York to Southampton and while in the English Channel, the Olympic,
commanded by Captain Hayes sighted U103 and engaged the enemy submarine. After opening fire, the Olympic eventually rammed and sank the submarine. For this service, the first and only sinking by a merchant vessel during the First World War, he was awarded the DSO.

London Gazette 21 June 1918, Hayes, Bertram Fox, CMG RD Capt Royal Naval Resreve, Honours for services in action with enemy submarine’. DSO.

In 1920 he was knighted and created KCMG and he retired as Commodore of the White Star Line in 1924. He was a Commodore RNR, receiving his RD in **** and a Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Lancashire in 1931. He was a Director of Marconi Marine and he became Master of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners in 1940. In 1925 he published ‘Hull Down, Reminisces of Windjammers, Troops and Travellers’ by Sir Bertram Hayes. Latterly living in Fornby Lodge, Blundellsands, Liverpool, he died on the 15 May 1941.

During the Great War he was appointed Captain of the White Star line RMS Olympic, sister ship to the Titanic. The ship was employed as a troop carrier across the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. In 1917 he was awarded a CMG for his services. On the 12 May 1918, en route from New York to Southampton and while in the English Channel, the Olympic, commanded by Captain Hayes sighted U103 and engaged the enemy submarine. After opening fire, the Olympic eventually rammed and sank the submarine. For this service, the first and only sinking by a merchant vessel during the First World War, he was awarded the DSO.

London Gazette 21 June 1918, Hayes, Bertram Fox, CMG RD Capt Royal Naval Resreve, Honours for services in action with enemy submarine’. DSO.

In 1920 he was knighted and created KCMG and he retired as Commodore of the White Star Line in 1924. He was a Commodore RNR, receiving his RD and a Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Lancashire in 1931. He was a Director of Marconi Marine and he became Master of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners in 1940. In 1925 he published ‘Hull Down, Reminisces of Windjammers, Troops and Travellers’ by Sir Bertram Hayes. Latterly living in Fornby Lodge, Blundellsands, Liverpool, he died on the 15 May 1941.