SS Wandle was a British coastal collier owned and operated by the proprietors of Wandsworth gas works in south-west London.

[5] At 2340 hrs on 11 June 1941 enemy aircraft torpedoed and sank the 2,056 GRT coaster SS Moorwood.

[5] On 24 October during an attack off the east coast of Norfolk she returned fire and "probably" hit an enemy E-boat.

[5] At 2125 hrs on 9 November 1942 Wandle was in ballast heading northwards off Lowestoft when a flotilla of E-boats attacked her convoy.

[5] It almost completely blew off her bow, and flung débris so far that it killed a Royal Artillery Maritime Regiment DEMS gunner in the aft part of the ship.

[8] Captain Mastin assembled a volunteer crew of nine men including himself and the Mate Edward Clarke.

[8] The rescue tug took her in tow, but her ruined bow was still attached which worked as a large and unwieldy sea anchor.

[9] This limited their progress to about 1 knot (2 km/h), and it took the tug 16 hours to tow Wandle to Great Yarmouth the next day.

[9] The tugs and Wandle sheltered in the Humber to escape heavy seas and in a bay to wait for fog to pass.

[3] 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.