Trench Art?

[Hollis]

This appears to be a piece of WW1 artwork on a pocket watch cover or a compass. It was given to my husband by his stepfather, a WW2 and Korean War veteran, who had gotten it from a fellow many years before.  What unit was the maker with? and do the initials S.F. other inside have any meaning?

Thanks in advance,

Hollis

 

[aznation]

SS Tuscania

 

The liner Tuscania was delivered to its owners, the Anchor Line, at the beginning of 1915 for the joint service with Cunard from Glasgow to New York via Liverpool. Its maiden voyage on 6 February of that year was on this route, on which it traveled for the rest of its career. In September 1915 it helped rescue passengers for the Greek Line's ship Athini which had caught fire in the Atlantic.

 

Tuscania first undertook trooping duties in September 1916, carrying Canadian troops from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Liverpool. In August of the following year she brought 1,236 men of the 16th U.S. Engineer Regiment from New York to Liverpool, and two more successful voyages followed.

 

Tuscania left Hoboken, New Jersey, on her final voyage on 24 January 1918 carrying 2,013 American troops and a crew of 384. She joined Convoy HX-20 at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and proceeded to cross the Atlantic bound for Le Havre. On 5 February the convoy was sighted seven miles north of the Rathilin Island lighthouse by the German Submarine UB-77 under the command of Lt. Cdr. Wilhelm Meyer. At 5:40 p.m he fired two torpedoes at the Tuscania, the first of which missed, the second scoring a direct hit. By 7:00 pm. all the ship's lifeboats had been launched, but approximately 1,350 men remained on board. The convoy's escorting destroyers assisted in removing these but were hampered by the continuing presence of the UB-77 in the area. The Tuscania finally sank at 10:00 p.m., over four hours after being struck, with 230 people lost. (One estimate indicated 201 of these were American troops, the remainder crew members.)

 

Tuscania was the first ship carrying American troops to be sunk, and public opinion in the USA regarded its loss as an outrage. In 1920 the American Red Cross erected a monument on the Isle of Islay, where many of the victims were buried before their transfer that year to the American War Cemetery at Brookwood [England] or to their homeland.

Some Quick Facts

      Data on Tuscania: 

         Gross Tonnage — 14,348 tons

         Length —549 ft.; Width — 66.5 ft.

         Builder — A. Stephen & Sons, Glasgow

         Launch Date — 3 September 1914

         Passenger Capacity — 271 in 1st cl.; 246 in 2nd cl.; 1,900 in 3rd cl.

         Captain — Peter McLean, OBE

         Sunk — 5 February 1918 by UB-77, Lt. Cdr. Wilhelm Meyer, Commander

      AEF Units Aboard: 

         20th Engineers, Companies D,E,F. [Forestry Battalion]

         107th Engineer Train

         107th Military Police

         107th Supply Train

         100th, 158th, 263rd Aero Squadrons

         Replacement detachments for 32nd Division

         Fifty-one casual [replacement] officers

[aznation]

For the U.S. Military in WWI, July 30, 1918, is significant for the "baptism of fire" of the 32nd "Red Arrow" Division and continued heavy offensive operations by the 42nd "Rainbow" Division during the Aisne-Marne campaign.

 

Note:  I believe that's what the arrow symbol represents in the middle of the compass, that is the 32nd "Red Arrow" Division.

 

I'm not sure what the initials S. F. stand for inside the case of the compass.  Maybe an inspectors mark?  Not sure.

[AxolotlHelmet]

Do you have any connection to Wisconsin? Only ask because I'm going off the assumption that the shield in the middle has the initials (J.Y.) and the only member in the passenger list of the 107th Engineer Train (part of the 32nd) who was on the Tuscania is John J. Young (1895-1980) from Wisconsin. He would survive the sinking only to be wounded by shrapnel in the battle of Chateau Thierry in October 1918. He would also go on to serve in the Tuscania Survivors Association.

 

Linked here is a collection of articles pertaining to Mr. Young compiled by a site. In it, there is a full recounting of Mr. Young's experiences during that night (on the newspapers dated 1933)

 

 

But, again, this is just speculation that's what the shield means (or maybe its something entirely different than initials!)

[Hollis]

Thank you all so much! I had forgotten about the 32nd Div. 

I have no connection to Wisconsin, and I have no idea who my f-i-l got this from. It could quite literally have been from anywhere!

 

I love the info about John Young, but I have a very vague memory of someone telling me what the letters in the shield meant, and that it was a unit/division patch of some kind. 

But now, I am sort pulling for John Young!

 

Hollis

[GWS]

That's a nice piece of trench art with a story to boot!  I agree with aznation that the "S.F." was related to the compass manufacturer. Thanks for showing us this.

 

 

Steve