Researchers stumped by mystery of WW2 ship

A ship believed to have played a "secret" role in World War Two has left researchers saying they have hit a brick wall.

The SS Florence Cooke, known as the Florrie, carried explosives and munitions and was one of the few powered ships associated with the port of Porthmadog in Gwynedd.

She is believed to have taken part in various special missions, including D-Day in June 1944, according to Porthmadog Maritime Museum

But researcher Captain Dave Creamer told the Local Democracy Reporting Service there were gaps in the ship's records.

He said this could be because "personnel were totally committed to the events occurring or it may be because such information has been deemed "not  for public eyes".

The Florrie was owned by Cookes Explosives Ltd, which had a depot at Penrhyndeudraeth.

Porthmadog Maritime Museum said the ship "took part in the Normandy landings and was released from the Navy in 1945".

But details of what happened to her between May 1944 and October 1944 are missing, which covers D-Day on June 8, said Capt Creamer.

It is not known if the records from that period are classified, missing or lost and Capt Creamer has appealed for crew or their families to get in touch to try and fill in these gaps.

Capt Creamer said: "I know the Florrie was deployed in the ‘Special Services’ group for D-Day but, interestingly, there is no mention of  her in any of the books about the ships involved in D-Day."

He said newspaper cuttings indicated the Florrie was supplying ammunition to "two naval monitors bombarding the French coast".

The museum volunteer said he looked at "overtime records and chandlers orders, receipts and payments, the master’s accounts of wages" but "everything stops" from May-October 1944.

"Either those records were never kept – which I can’t imagine, or they may have been locked away and won’t be released until an official period of time has passed,  we just don’t know - we just hit  a brick wall."