Dundee Evening Telegraph, Wednesday, February 24th, 1915:
WEST HARTLEPOOL STEAMER IS DETAINED By Refusal of Crew to Proceed to Rotterdam. At Falmouth 18 men belonging to the steamer Darleydale, of West Hartlepool, were fined 56s each for refusing to obey the orders of the captain. The vessel had cargo of maize from Rosario for the Belgian Relief Commission. When the crew found she was bound for Rotterdam 18 out of 24 refused to go on the steamer. They were informed that the Germans had agreed to inspect vessels flying the Belgian relief flag, but the men declared they would not go to Rotterdam under any consideration.
The Mayor pointed out that Great Britain's commerce was in full swing, and asked in view of that fact would the crew now go. They still refused. It was stated that 18 substitutes from Cardiff would fill the vacancies on the Darleydale.
This section will, in time, contain the stories of more than 450 merchant ships built or owned in the Hartlepools, and which were lost during the First World War. As an illustration of the truly global nature of shipbuilding, these ships were owned by companies from 22 different countries, including more than 30 sailing under the German flag at the outbreak of war.