SS Backworth – Captain “Hard Nut” defending the women and children of the Basque country
By Jamie Tucknutt
The SS Backworth, built in 1919 at Port Glasgow, played a notable role during the Spanish Civil War. The ship had several Sunderland men on board, including A. Goodfellow, First Mate; E. Brockie, Second Engineer; and C. Piggford, Third Engineer. It was helmed by the intrepid Captain ‘Hard Nut’ Russell of South Shields. A North Mail reporter, Edward F. Balloch, was also on the voyage and quoted the captain, a married man, as saying he was “happy to undertake the trip to help the defenceless women and children in the Basque country.”
The Humanitarian Mission
The Backworth was chosen by the Spanish Relief Fund to carry humanitarian aid. The ship was loaded at Immingham docks with 200 tons of food and 2,000 tons of coal, and the crew even subscribed out of their own pay to provide parcels of food. After five days at sea, on April 28, 1937, the ship reached the North Spanish coast. It was met by the Royal Navy ships HMS Royal Oak and HMS Fury, which warned of a fascist warship in the area and advised against entering Bilbao. Despite the risk of being “bombed or fired on,” Captain Russell, living up to his nickname, declared, “We intend to proceed.” This brave decision was met with an “almighty cheer” from the crew of HMS Fury.
A Lifeline and Legacy
The Basque people greatly appreciated the crew’s bravery and the special nature of the donated cargo from the British public and trade unions. The Backworth later joined a flotilla of nine British ships to help transport 5,000 refugees to safety in France. The ship’s journey ended in South Africa, where it was owned by Aliwal Steam Ship Co Ltd and renamed SS Roodewaal. On September 23, 1961, it caught fire off Cape Town, was abandoned, and subsequently scrapped.
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