Description

Offered is a British Mercantile Marine War Medal to James Bliss, who was killed in action whilst acting as a Fireman aboard the S.S. Prunelle on 22 August 1918, the ship having been torpedoed by the German U- boat SM UB-112.

British Mercantile Marine War Medal (1914 – 18) impressed named JAMES BLISS. Comes with copy death records.

James Bliss was born at Hull in 1898 was killed in action whilst Fireman aboard the S.S. Prunelle on 22 August 1918 and is commemorated upon the Tower Hill Memorial.

Prunelle left London and set sail for Dundee on 22 August 1918 with a crew of 16 and a cargo of jute on board. One of the crew members, second officer Alfred Cheetham, had served on four Antarctic expeditions with Captain Scott and Ernest Shackleton.  At 1.40pm on the same day as she had left London, Prunelle was targeted by the UB-112 when the ship was 2 nautical miles off Blyth, Northumberland. The U-boat fired a torpedo at the ship without warning and the torpedo hit her on the port side near the engine room. The following explosion and rapid sinking of the ship killed 12 of the 16 crewmen on board including Captain Storm, Second Officer Cheetham and Fireman Bliss.