Nice bit of detective work Bert, just a few more details to add, Myrmidon belonged to Alfred Holt, more commonly known as the Blue Funnel line, at 02.33 on September 5th 1942 just SE of Cape Palmas she was torpedoed and sunk by U 506 commanded by Erich Wurdeman, all 245 members of crew and passengers were saved.
Correct Bert My Mother confirms Mary and George as there names The address and description spot on, he was a very small bloke Are they 2 different William's on SS Beaverhill and MV Myrmedon? My Mother and Auntie will now get a print of the ship that was torpedoed. They did not know the name of the ship, they was told it was top secret Bert you are a genius and I cannot thank you enough
I'm confident its your William on all the records I have quoted or posted. He and others were sent to Baltimore on the Beaverhill to crew the MV Myrmidon. The Myrmidon was indeed torpedoed, however I have no evidence William was on board at the time, seems very likely but I'd like to see conclusive proof.
God help us, Come yourself, Don't send Jesus, This is no place for children.
I'm confident its your William on all the records I have quoted or posted. He and others were sent to Baltimore on the Beaverhill to crew the MV Myrmidon. The Myrmidon was indeed torpedoed, however I have no evidence William was on board at the time, seems very likely but I'd like to see conclusive proof.
I agree Bert, that is him. My Mother confirms addresses and names It was the SS Beaverhill and MV Myrmidon that was throwing me off Now you explain, he set off on Beaverhill to then crew the Myrmidon answers it. He was on a torpedoed ship and would have been very unlucky to be on 2 so it has got to be the MV Myrmidon. He did work with blue funnel for a long time The conclusive proof has to be in that newspaper article which has been lost which is a damn shame Many thanks again Bert I will download a print of that ship and put in a frame
OMG! I have just been speaking to my Dad regarding the Myrmidon and how they all survived He was telling me some stories from my Grandad He was on 3 ships that had been torpedoed and recalled one story that broke my Grandad's heart
Grandad had hold of an injured shipmates hand trying to hold him up above water. He was only a young kid and was crying I want my mum as he slipped out of his hand drowned
Its a shame it has taken so long for the MN to be recognized for the part it played during the war, I got the bit in my teeth reading about your granddad:
Just a bit about the SS Beaverhill she did many Atlantic crossings unscathed but ran aground in St Johns Harbour and sank in 1944.
But she had a famous sister ship the SS Beaverford who formed part of Convoy HX-84 this convoy was quite famous for many heroic actions, on November the 5th 1940 the convoy was attacked by the German cruiser Admiral Scheer, the armed merchant cruiser Jervis Bay turned to face her firing her guns, the uneven action ended with the loss of Jervis Bay her captain was later awarded the VC, however not so well known was the action of SS Beaverford manned by a MN crew with 2 DEMS gunners aboard who also attacked the Scheer, unarmoured with only two small guns one forward the other aft she was pounded again and again before she could get in range, she carried on this hide and seek action for four hours, darting in and out masked by smoke floats and the dark until finally pounded by enemy gunfire and stopped she was torpedoed by the Scheer and lost with all hands, while these actions were going on the convoy dispersed and escaped, of the 38 ships of the convoy six were sunk by the Admiral Sheer, but without the courage of the actions of these ships and their crews the convoy would have been decimated, just as an addendum, the tanker San Demetrio was also part of the convoy after being set alight by gunfire from the Admiral Scheer, abandoned by her crew then reboarded and sailed back home. All good stuff Mike, makes you proud, so sad we don't see the Red Duster so much now, nearly all flags of convenience.
How disgusting it was, prior to May 1941 when Merchant Seamen were fighting for survival in the water and lifeboats, their pay was stopped.
After May 1941, agreement was reached and they remained on pay whatever their circumstances.
We certainly do Bert Theres is so much I don't know about this subject
WOW! Thanks casper Anymore stories on theses convoys and ships?
Mike if you get the chance to watch it there is a film called "San Demetrio London" which tells the tale of San Demetrio she was an oil tanker and part of the aforementioned convoy, dated but well worth a viewing.
The sinking of SS Automedon, she was also a Blue Funnel Line ship of 7,500 tons, she sailed from Liverpool en route to Singapore on the 24th of September under the command of Captain Ewan, she had a quiet voyage, until 07.00 on the 11 November 1940 when she encountered the German surface raider Atlantis (commerce raiders were heavily armed ships disguised as merchant ships), Atlantis ran up her German ensign and uncovered her guns, Automedon immediately transmitted a distress signal RRR- Automedon-041N , the Germans then fired four salvo's hitting the bridge and killing all the officers and decimating the upper structure of the ship, the Germans boarded her and transferred the survivors to Atlantis, after some looting of cargo they found the strong room, where they discovered Top Secret orders for the British Far East Command outlining the Singapore defences and naval intelligence reports, they were in a weighted bag which should have been dropped overboard in the event of capture, but those who knew about it had been killed on the bridge, this information was passed on to the Japanese which it is believed to have encouraged them to expand their plans to invade Singapore after discovering that we had little or no naval force in the East.
Some years later in the early sixties I found myself on a Blue Funnel ship as part of her deck crew, one of the many jobs we had was to chip away the paint from areas that were prone to rust and then apply red lead and repaint, whilst doing this I decided to paint a swastika in red lead ( young and stupid) later in the day I was pulled by the bosun, He said I never want to see another one of those things as long as I live, nothing else no explanation, I learned later he was a survivor of the crew of the Automedon. This story about the Automedon has so much more to it than I can write here, escapes by some of the crew etc.
so it has got to be the MV Myrmidon. He did work with blue funnel for a long time 
and recalled one story that broke my Grandad's heart 
