More about James Wilkie

James Wilkie was the son of Mr James and Mrs Elizabeth Wilkie and was born in Dundee. He was the husband of Mrs Margaret Jolly Lowman Wilkie of 24 Temple Lane, Dundee. In June 1915 he was in the crew of the coastal vessel Ussa from Dundee to Liverpool and, earlier, in the Caria from Dundee to Newcastle. His previous ship was named in the Crew Lists as HMS Patrician. The War Patrol was a 1800 ton steam cargo ship completed in 1917 by Detroit Shipbuilding, Michigan USA for the British Government. She sank on 10 August 1917 after striking a mine laid by the German submarine UC-69 approximately 1 mile West of Penmarc’h, Brittany, France. She was en route from Barry to an unknown destination with a cargo of coal. Thirteen crew were lost in the sinking including James Wilkie and three others from Dundee. They are all remembered on the Tower Hill Memorial in London. There is an In Memoriam entry for James Wilkie in the Peoples Journal on 10 August 1918.

For reasons unknown this man is not listed on the original Dundee Roll of Honour, but is remembered on the Tower Hill Memorial.

On 10 August 1917, the steamer of 2,045 tonnes was travelling on a voyage from Barry to an unknown destination, with a cargo of coal, when she hit a mine from a German U-boat under the command of Erwin Waßner. War Patrol was one mile West from Penmarch, Brittany at the time of her sinking.

Sadly, 14 people on board lost their lives.