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The Protector was a pilot cutter used by a group of river pilots to board ships and guide them into the Tyne. On New Year鈥檚 Eve 1916, 19 men, 10 pilots, four assistant pilots and five crew members were on board when she exploded. It鈥檚 believed she hit a German mine.

All nineteen men were killed.

The Tyne pilots were an interlinked community with the job passing from father to son. Among those lost were 70-year-old Robert Philips and his grandson, Ralph Philips.

Three months later, Robert鈥檚 son spotted a body in St Edwards Bay in Tynemouth and pulled the body out not knowing at the time it was that of his father, the only body ever found.

Censorship meant the explosion was not widely reported but in 1924 a plaque was erected in St Stephens and St Aidans Church, South Shields in memory of the 19 men by the Tyne Pilotage Authority.

Location: South Shields, Tyne and Wear NE34 9PT
Image: The Protector, courtesy of John Hart Burn