With no knowledge of Naval map reading is there a naval buff who can advise the location of - latitude 40 deg. 30 min. N., longitude 40 deg, 20 min. W, It is the location of the sinking of the S.S. Ceramic. Grateful for your assistance Tony
Tony. Google Earth is good for pin-pointing coordinates. As well as entering placenames, you can also just plug in a coordinate, e.g. 40 30 N, 40 20 W It also has a measure tool for distances, which is handy. The location of the coordinate for the Ceramic appears to match that shown on uboat.net. It's approx. 780 miles (or 738,975 smoots) south east of Cape Spear, Island of Newfoundland. regards, Martin
Sorry about poor quality of the photo. I saw this memorial today to a casualty that was on the SS Ceramic. It's in St Peter's Church, Stourton, Wilts. Near the National Trust Stourhead property. CWGC :: Casualty Details Name:WETHERED, FRANCIS JOHN Initials:F J Nationality:United Kingdom Rank:Civilian (Bachelor of Arts) Regiment/Service:Civilian War Dead Age:24 Date of Death:between 06/12/1942 and 07/12/1942 Additional information:B.A.; Deputy Post Warden, Westminster, London; of Castle Orchard, Zeals, Wiltshire. Son of the late Lt. Col. Francis Owen Wethered, C.M.G., T.D., D.L., J.P., and Margaret Wethered, of Remnantz, Great Marlow, Buckinghamshire. Casualty Type:Civilian War Dead Reporting Authority:S.S. "CERAMIC"
I had no idea there were so many casualties, 266 (thanks to Geoffs Search Engine) of which 5 are RN, the rest Merchant Navy, plus 124 Civilian War Deaths, between 06/12/1940 and 07/12/1940... According to this SS Ceramic the untold story by Clare Hardy 655 of her passengers and crew died, with only one survivor being captured by U515....
The 'Ceramic' was a troop transport in WW1, and my Great uncle sailed in her to England from Melbourne in 1916.
In view of the following post, I thought I'd add this to the thread. http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/war-sea/29974-qaimns.html Casualty list for the SS Ceramic http://www.ssceramic.co.uk/casualties/casualty_images/casualties.rtf