Welcome!

Welcome to this history and tribute site for Barry Merchant Seamen. Our concern is the lack of recognition given to those in the Merchant Navy for their work, particularly during the World Wars. We are interested in the port of Barry (in South Wales, UK), once a major coal exporting facility, and the way that had an impact on the town's seamen, resulting in their disproportionately high casualty rate.

Please note that we make use of both JavaScript (JS) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and having these enabled on your browser will allow you to see it as intended, and Google maps need JS in order to display at all. Both are on by default in most browsers.

Latest changes (3 June 2009):

• Added recognition our debt to the work of Mike Holdoway and his Convoy Web site.
• Added link to our more information sources page to a news report of Fred Hortop's work being accepted by the Imperial War Museum
• Added new code to make this site easier to use on an iPhone or iPod Touch.
  Fixed a problem with the earlier Internet Explorer display problem.
• Updated the Cemetery page to include a link to downloadable guide booklet.

Site news

We had a stand at the Barry in World War 2 exhibition at the Memorial Hall in Barry. The exhibition was well attended, and we had quite a few people visiting the stand. There might be a couple of pictures coming along soon, as well as material specially prepared for the event!

What else is on this site

• Contents page includes:
• • Pictures of the Memorial.
  • The Plaques on the Memorial.
  • Sailors and ships lost during WW2.
  • Merthyr Dyfan Cemetery.
  • Possibilities for non-virtual, future development .
  • Essays and articles.
  • Ship notes.
  • Site Information.

Pages not here yet but planned...

• Liberty ships and the "Sam..." names.
• The SS Anglo Saxon.
• Why convoys?
• Non convoyed (independent) ships.
• Barry docks - growth and decline.
• Contributor biographies (brief!).
• Book list.