Allied Merchant Ships Sunk on this day ww2

Hi All,
My uncle Henry was a merchant seaman....unfortunately he and all hands were lost when the L'orient was torpedoed and sunk of the coast of Ireland...May 4th 1943.....by U125....he was 22 years of age .

 

My Uncle James Missen, age 41, was killed in the Stork sinking on this day. There were three survivors who were rescued and taken to Gibralter on the 24th. Is there any way to know the names and ages of the survivors?

 

Hi JosephS

It seems that the survivors were picked up by "Three crew members were picked up by HMS Campion (K 108) (LtCdr A. Johnson, RNVR) and landed at Gibraltar on 24 August." - http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/1066.html

Perhaps there are some records of the HMS Campion that may hold the details you seek

TD

 

Welcome Joseph,
I did a lot of research on ss STORK on a Merchant Navy forum quite a few years ago now. I am sure we probably identified the survivors but alas looking through my files after such a long time I no longer have the information saved. Sadly the site I worked on is now defunct.
There is a way to find out who survived by looking at the last crew agreement for STORK and checking the names against those that were lost.
The last crew agreement for STORK official number 165408 for 1941 should be held at Kew in piece BT 381/1631. This would be best obtained by a visit to Kew.
If a visit is not an option then there are a couple of guys on here who do copying for a very reasonable charge.

Regards
Hugh

 

Hugh,

Good to see some activity on this thread again.

CWGC register only records 18 of the 19 lost 23/08/1941, being the only merchant Navy deaths recorded for that day. Did one die at a later date?

Cheers

Geoff

 

Hello Geoff,
Yes, agreed, and thanks for starting the thread way back. - plenty of facts out there that need to be highlighted and brought to mind given the terrible casulties sustained by the Merchant Service.

There were 17 Merchant Navy deaths and two Royal Navy DEMS gunners. The man you are missing is I presume George Edgar Ridley a supernumerary deckhand (ship not shown on CWGC).

Regards
Hugh

 

When the Stork had been torpedoed Second Officer Wolley and ships Carpenter Stanley Smart had jumped from the port bridge wing into the water, while Second Engineer Maxwell had to jump through a porthole to escape the burning vessel. Smart had to tow Maxwell out through a lane of burning petrol and placed him on a raft.

Regards,

Mark

 

double post!

 

Double Post

 

So can we assume that the three survivors are:

George Edgar Ridley
Second Officer Wolley
Carpenter Stanley Smart

TD

 

Panel of Stork from Tower Hill Memorial

 

No, TD, George Edgar Ridley was lost as well.
As Mark states above Smart, Wolley and Maxwell were the survivors of the sinking. However, the carpenter Stanley Smart although he survived the sinking of STORK was lost a month later when travelling as passenger (DBS) on PETREL which was torpedoed and sunk by U-124.

Regards
Hugh

 

Thought I was wrong when I saw the plaque - thanks for correcting me

TD

 

30th April 1943 - SS “Bandar Shahpour” sunk by U515 off Freetown, Sierra Leon.

My father, Bombardier Edward “Andy” Anderson, was a survivor. I’m attaching a PDF extract from a record I’ve made of my father’s service in the Maritime Regiment Royal Artillery drawn from his letters, several web sites and books, including “Lone Wolf” about U-Boat ace Werner Henke by T P Mulligan. Although only one life was lost on Bandar Shahpour, U515 skilfully and bravely commanded by Henke, caused tremendous havoc and much loss of life that night, sinking seven merchant vessels from convoy TS37.

Chris