SS Wandle ( 1932 ) SS " Wandle " was a British coastal collier owned and operated by the proprietors of Wandsworth gas works in south - west London . She was a flatiron , meaning that she had a low - profile superstructure , hinged funnel , hinged or telescopic mast and folding wheelhouse to enable her to pass under low bridges on the tidal River Thames upriver from the Pool of London . She was in service from 1932 to 1959 and survived a number of enemy attacks in the Second World War . Namesakes . SS " Wandle " was named after the River Wandle , which flows through much of district that Wandsworth gas works then served and joins the Thames at Wandsworth near the company ' s gas works and headquarters . She was the third flatiron of the same name in the service of the same owners . The first was built in 1909 and survived an engagement with a U - boat in 1916 . The second was built in 1922 and sold to Stephenson Clarke and Associates in 1932 . In the Second World War " Wandle " s Master was G . A . W . Mastin , whose father G . E . A . Mastin had commanded the first SS " Wandle " when she repulsed a U - boat attack in 1916 . History . The Burntisland Shipbuilding Company of Burntisland on the Firth of Forth in Fife , Scotland , built " Wandle " in 1932 for the Wandsworth and District Gas Company . She carried coal from ports in North East England down the North Sea coast and up the Thames to the gas works at Wandsworth in south - west London . She had capacity for a cargo of up to 2 , 200 long tons of coal . In the Second World War " Wandle " travelled laden in FS - series convoys southwards as far as Southend and in ballast in FN - series convoys from Southend northwards . When the UK armed its merchant ships she was fitted with one 12 pounder gun and two Lewis gun s . Sea and air attacks . During air attacks on 13 and 31 August 1940 , " Wandle " succeeded in hitting enemy aircraft . On the latter occasion a fire started on her degaussing cable but her engineers repaired the cable enabling her to pass through a heavily mined area . On 23 March 1941 in the North Sea an E - boat attacked her with rapid gunfire but " Wandle " s Mate , Edward Clarke , returned fire with the 12 - pounder and with his sixth shot disabled the E - boat ' s gun and repulsed the attack . At 2340 hrs on 11 June 1941 enemy aircraft torpedoed and sank the 2 , 056 GRT coaster SS " Moorwood " . " Wandle " s Mate recovered a man who had been blown overboard from " Moorwood " into the sea ; then the Mate and " Wandle " s crew picked up the remainder from " Moorwood " s lifeboat . During an air attack on 20 September 1941 , " Wandle " fired at enemy aircraft and succeeded in damaging one . On 24 October during an attack off the east coast of Norfolk she returned fire and " probably " hit an enemy S - boat . In April 1942 Captain Mastin was awarded the OBE and Edward Clarke was awarded the MBE for the fine defence of their ship . Torpedoing and salvage . At 2125 hrs on 9 November 1942 " Wandle " was in ballast heading northwards off Lowestoft when a flotilla of S - boats attacked her convoy . A torpedo struck her starboard side about forward of her bridge . It almost completely blew off her bow , and flung débris so far that it killed a Royal Artillery Maritime Regiment DEMS gunner in the after part of the ship . After 20 minutes her crew launched both lifeboats and abandoned ship . A rescue tug recovered the survivors and then went to recover survivors from another ship that had been sunk . After this " Wandle " was still afloat but she was on fire , her below decks accommodation was flooded , her fore part awash and her no . 2 hold taking water . Captain Mastin assembled a volunteer crew of nine men including himself and the Mate Edward Clarke . They reboarded the ship and extinguished the fire , and a party directed by the Chief Engineer J . S . Johnson got her dynamo and pumps started . The rescue tug took her in tow , but her ruined bow was still attached which worked as a large and unwieldy sea anchor . This limited their progress to about , and it took the tug 16 hours to tow " Wandle " to Great Yarmouth the next day . She was anchored off Yarmouth and her condition was deemed so precarious that she was abandoned a second time . An Admiralty salvage officer came aboard and cut away several hundred tons of wreckage . This relieved the strain on her bulkhead , which was then patched and shored up with heavy timbers . She was towed into Yarmouth for a few hours but was then towed north again by two tugs . A northerly gale arose and swung her about violently , and she was often awash . The tugs and " Wandle " sheltered in the Humber to escape heavy seas and in a bay to wait for fog to pass . On the fifth day after being torpedoed , " Wandle " finally reached the River Tyne . On 5 December she was dry - dock ed at John Readhead & Sons ' shipyard in South Shields . During this whole period of salvage and towing , the volunteer crew led by Captain George Mastin , Mate Edward Clarke and Engineer " Stanley " Johnson , remained with the Wandle , until she was safely docked at Redheads , to ensure no salvage claims were made on the owners . < Private papers and photographs of Captain Mastin > " Wandle " had not only lost her bow ; what remained of her was now badly twisted . Readheads straightened her , built a new bow onto her and on either 30 March or 8 April 1943 she was ready to return to service . Final years . In 1949 the Wandsworth and District Gas Company was nationalised and became part of the new South Eastern Gas Board . " Wandle " became part of the SEGB fleet and remained in service until 1959 . A Dutch tug then towed her across the North Sea to Rotterdam , where she arrived on 3 November 1959 to be scrapped .