William Keen Whiteway and the sinking of the 'Sagamore'

Today, on the 11th day of the 11th month, I always find myself thinking of William Keen Whiteway, who was Chief Officer of the S.S. Imperial, and whose story I told in My Beautiful Imperial. He served under Captain David Jefferson Davies on the Imperial, and subsequently went on to serve on the S.S. Sagamore during WWI. Davy and William survived the Chilean civil war of 1891, but William would not be so lucky on the 3rd March 1917. The Sagamore had left Boston, Massachusetts on 17th February and was heading back to Liverpool. When they were 150 miles west of Fastnet Rock, they were hit by a torpedo from the German U-boat, U49.

William Keen Whiteway (left) Chief Officer of the Imperial and afterwards the Sagamore with his friend Captain David ‘Jefferson’ Davies. This photograph was probably taken shortly after the end of the Chilean civil war of 1891, when they had escaped to Lima, Peru. I wrote about their friendship in My Beautiful Imperial.

Despite the ship sinking within 30 minutes, every member of the Sagamore’s crew succeeded in getting into the three lifeboats. The U-boat surfaced, and the men were questioned at gunpoint as to the whereabouts of their captain. The men refused to identify him, and eventually the German officers gave up. The submarine submerged, abandoning the men to their fate. The sea had been calm at the time of the sinking and the crew had succeeded in lashing the lifeboats together. But during the night, a gale began to blow, and the boats were separated in the rough seas.

Two of the boats, including William’s, disappeared during the night, leaving a third with 17 survivors on board. They spent 2 weeks drifting, having run out of food and water. Miraculously, they were picked up by the S.S. Deucalion, bound for Cape Town but by then, only seven men were left alive. Of the seven that reached Cape Town, five had to have limbs amputated because of the effects of frost bite.

The other two lifeboats, including William’s, were never found.

William was married to Mary Bird Whiteway and at the time of his death, they lived in 11A, Huskisson Street, Liverpool.

William Keen Whiteway’s memorial can be seen on Tower Hill, London.