James Sikking (1891 – 1927), 24, was a British subject and boatswain’s mate in the deck crew of the RMS Lusitania on that ship’s final voyage. When the ship was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20 on 7 May 1915, Sikking survived. Sikking died of injuries related to a fall in Australia in 1927.
This biography was made possible by Peter Kelly and a collaboration with the Merseyside Maritime Museum.
Biography
James Sikking was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, on 17 June 1891, the son of John and Catherine Sikking. The family home was at 13. Boswell Street, Bootle, Liverpool.
James was a professional seaman in the British Mercantile Marine, and served on board the Lusitania as an able seaman in the Deck Department when she sailed from Liverpool to New York on 17 April 1915. Having successfully completed this voyage, he was again on board when she departed from New York’s Pier 54 on 1 May 1915 on her homeward journey.
He survived her torpedoing and sinking when she was six days out of New York and only hours away from her home port, off the coast of southern Ireland. He was rescued from the sea and having been landed at Queenstown, he eventually made his way back to Liverpool.
James continued to serve on a variety of ocean-going vessels following his survival, and in 1921, filed a Declaration of Intention to become a citizen of the United States of America, but it is not known if he ever completed the process.
What is known is that James Sikking was killed as a result of injuries he sustained in a fall from a silo on a construction site in Buddigower, Wyalong West, New South Wales, Australia, in May 1927. He was aged 35 years, and was buried in a local cemetery on the 17 May 1927.
Links of interest
James Sikking at the Merseyside Maritime Museum
Contributors
Peter Kelly, Ireland
Ellie Moffat, UK
References
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths
1901 Census of England and Wales
1911 Census of England and Wales
Cunard Records
PRO BT 350
Australia Death Index 1878 – 1985
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