Remembering Pudsey Sailor Arthur Edward Murgatroyd, lost 15/01/1918

Service of Remembrance held at Pudsey Cemetery 14/01/18. A big thankyou to everyone that attended, and the Pudsey & Farsley Royal British Legion Branch for holding the centenary remembrance service for Arthur Edward Murgatroyd.
Arthur Edward Murgatroyd was born 3 Dec 1888, only son of Alderman Myers Murgatroyd. Arthur received his primary education in Pudsey, and then passed through Hanson’s Academy at Bradford. He was a scholar of Fartown Church Sunday School, with which he had enjoyed a long connection. A popular and well known man, he entered business of his fathers Quarry as a delver and crane operator. Arthur married Jane Nichols of 24 South Parade Pudsey, on 11 Dec 1912, they moved into 21 South Parade. Arthur was called up for compulsory service in March 1916. He was represented at a Military tribunal held at Pudsey Town Hall by his father, who argued that his only son was a key member of his of his quarry operation. The request was dismissed and Arthur put himself forward to the Royal Navy. Between September and November he trained at shore base HMS Victory 1. Duties took him into deck gunnery, and for more than a year he passed through some thrilling experiences on the high seas. He and his shipmates disembarked from their old boat in December 1917, to come home for well-earned term leave. When leave had expired he was assigned to the RNVR and the crew of the steamship S.S. War Song. Built by Detroit and launched July 27, 1917 as LAKE ARTHUR, it was handed over to British Shipping Control as the WAR SONG as compensation for the losses to the Merchant fleet. A steamer of 2535 tons, it had a crew of 16 and served as a transport for raw materials. It would have had a steam deck crane which was likely Arthur’s responsibility. War Song voyaged between Bilbao to Brest bringing iron ore to the French war effort.
On January 15th, 1918, she was sunk by shellfire from the German submarine U-93 (Captain Helmut Gerlach), 12 miles west of L'isle-de-Sein near Brest. 16 persons were lost, six members of the crew; Charles Lombard Audigier who was only 16, M T Brown Ship's Steward, William Patrick Goulding 52 Second Officer, J Hollingsworth 29 Second Engineer, James Rankine Ramsay 48 Mate, Arthur Edward Murgatroyd 29, are buried together in L'isle-de-Sein Communal Cemetery, France (A small and peaceful Island off the coast of Brest).
Still missing: Alfred Stalker Fleming 41 First Engineer, A Rasmussen 25 Carpenter, J G South 47 Ships Master, J Tepsich, Abdullah Saleh, Hamid Abdus, Jumma Ali, Muhammad Bin Ali, Muhammad Zamin, Umar Said. 
The German Navy lost contact with their submarine later that day as she tried to return to base in Ostend. No other ship could definitely claim her destruction.
U93 - Captain Helmut Gerlach
Launched 15th Dec 1916, Complement of 4 officers, 32 enlisted sailors.
Armament: 6 × 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes (four bow, two stern) 1 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/30 deck gun.
U 93 was assigned to operate along the French coast between the Channel Islands and Penmarch and was part of the unrestricted submarine warfare that caused so much havoc, attacking every ship she came across. 
U93’s most famous battle was facing the Q Ship HMS Prize, Captained by New Zealander William Edward Sanders. Both vessels were badly damaged in the confrontation, and for his coolness under fire, Sanders was awarded the VC.