Current Information:

Age-24

23, Red Lion Street, Wapping

In February 1917, the German navy introduced their ‘sink on sight’ policy whereby their submarines attacked all merchant shipping without warning. By doing this they hoped to starve Britain and the Allies of vital supplies and force them to sue for peace. At first it was very successful and hundreds of ships were were sunk in the opening months of the campaign and at one point Britain was reduced  to just six weeks' supply of wheat. But there were dangers for Germany. Many of the ships sunk were American and this was one of the main factors why the United States entered the war in April 1917. Eventually the threat of the U-boats was weakened by the introduction of a convoy system, but not before many ships had been sunk and many lives lost.

One of the victims of this ‘sink on sight’ policy was the Steam Ship Montebello which, on 21st June, 1918, was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-100 in the  Atlantic Ocean, 320 nautical miles west of the Brittany coast. Forty one of her crew, including William Sowerby, lost their lives.