The Canonesa pictured before the war.

The loss of the Canonesa has been described in a number of witness accounts, official reports (such as those of the Captain of the Canonesa and the Commander of U-100) and published books. One recent book included this description:

".......as the moon lifted above the horizon, bathing the convoy in a weak glow, Schepke was between columns five and six drawing abreast of the second line of ships. To port was a tempting target, the 8,286-ton Liverpool steamer Canonesa, keeping station directly astern of the Commodore's ship, Tregarthen. Beyond, and lagging behind the Canonesa, so that the two ships overlapped, was the motor tanker Torinia, 10,364 tons and loaded down to her marks with precious fuel. Taking careful aim, Schepke fired a spread of three torpedoes.

One torpedo caught the Canonesa square in her engine room, blowing a hole in her plates through which the sea poured in, quickly flooding the engine spaces. The engineer on watch was killed by the explosion. On deck the damage was equally catastrophic, much of the starboard side of the ship being wrecked; hatchboards and tarpaulins were hurled into the air and one lifeboat was destroyed. When her dazed crew took to the remaining boats, the Canonesa's decks were awash from stern to stern. She sank shortly afterwards."¹

In an unemotional and understated manner typical of merchant ship logbooks and reports the sinking is described in the attached Official Report of the Canonesa's Captain.

From the other side the sinking is described in the attached war diary (or KTB) of U-100

The Houlder Brothers & Co wartime-history, Sea Hazard, contains the following account ;

"The torpedo struck the engine room on the starboard side, and on examination it was found that the engine room and stokehold were flooding rapidly, the No. 4 hatches had been blown up, the decks abreast of No. 4 hatch were buckled, the main topmast was broken and No. 3 boat blown away. Orders were given to abandon ship, and all members of the crew except Mr Purnell, Fourth Engineer, got safely away in Nos. 1,2 and 4 boats. When the last boat left, the vessel was floating with about 2ft 0in. freeboard amidships with the upper deck awash from aft to the mainmast.

The 33 persons in No. 1 boat were taken aboard H.M.S. La Malouine at about 2.30pm, but no trace could be found of Nos. 2 and 4 boats. This escort vessel was engaged in picking up survivors, etc., and at dawn, after a search over the scene of the action it was found that the Canonesa had disappeared.

No. 1 boat's crews were landed at Greenock on the 25th September at about 8pm and were very well looked after by the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society. After arrival, the lists of survivors who had landed earlier from the other two boats was checked over and it was found that only one man was missing, namely, Mr Purnell, Fourth Engineer, who was on duty in the engine room at the time of the explosion."²

A most fascinating witness account of the sinking is provided by Peter Tingey, an apprentice on the Canonesa at the time of the sinking. Peter is pictured right, aboard the Canonesa in front of numerous crewmates. From his home in South Australia he has written to me describing some of the events of that night. He recalled that a neighbouring (possibly Dutch) ship had been showing conspicuous port-hole lights from low down aft on the starboard side shortly before the attack. Unsuccessful efforts were made to persuade the ship to remedy the situation, to no avail. Peter added that he still wonders today if there was a traitor aboard that ship or a planted German agent. Interestingly the Commanding Officer of H.M.S. La Malouine recorded that "Simla (Norwegian) was more than once asked by F.S.Fales to douse a light showing aft her poop, without effect", noting that "this was the ship that escorts were told to watch."³ Only a few hours later Simla was herself sunk.

Peter described the torpedoing of the Canonesa in the following words:

"I was sent down on deck to ensure that all our crew were complying with the blackout regulations and I had just finished checking and having a laugh with the ship's carpenter, just aft of amidships, when a thunderous and horrific explosion occurred. A torpedo blasted its way into the starboard side of the engine room where my good and respected friend Tom [4th Engineer Tom Purnell] was apparently unable to survive the engine-room's immediate engulfment by the thunderous water. However two on-duty greasers apparently in the boiler room were luckier and in an astounding feat of survival thrashed and wriggled their way up to the top of a thin ventilation shaft slightly aft of the funnel and were covered in fuel oil from head to foot. It was obvious that the two men were assisted by the lubrication effect of the oil because the ventilation shafts were noticeably thin in diameter."

"....as I went out on deck I could see that the canvas deck cover of hatch number four had been blown sky-high and had come to rest over the wireless aerial, all this being accompanied by the sound of falling cheeses in their oval containers with an amusing 'plomp, plomp, plomp', although I was not laughing at the time.........the attack was so deadly and intense that the convoy was ordered to 'star', in other words to set course in all different directions so that the straight columns of ships would not present such a gift target........It was hell as ships were on fire and some tankers just a blazing funeral pyre. One ship loaded with lethal iron ore plunged to the bottom within ten seconds. I would estimate that at least 12 ships were lost that night. There were lights from battling survivors all over the heaving hell place."⁴

Peter made his way to an already-lowered lifeboat occupied by crew members, some only in their underwear. He recalls that:

"there was an understandable nervousness among the lifeboat occupants as it was dark and cloudy....we rolled and pitched on mainly in silence, each I presume thinking of what trials lay ahead. Then about 15 minutes later a rather confusing silhouette loomed in the dark distance which immediately led to a cry from one of our survivors that 'its a bloody submarine'! Fortunately it was not and as the shadowy object crept closer it thrilled our hearts and minds as it proved to be our rescue ship, the corvette Calendula. We stood ready to board the corvette which had temporarily secured our boat with a thin heaving line. Each survivor had to judge the peak of the heavy swell and then jump for his life. I was the last to jump and knew as I prepared to make it that it was probably my last chance as one of the sailors on the corvette had cut the heaving line. If I had missed the jump and the boat had fallen down with the swell, I would have drifted away to what sort of fate I had not imagined."

Mr Tingey, in later correspondence, has stated that Fourth Engineer Tom Purnell would probably have been standing by the control wheel of the turbine propeller engine when the torpedo struck. He explains that :

"his station at the control wheel would have been necessary as in convoy the officer on watch on the bridge would have to increase or decrease the propeller revolutions, usually in twos ("Up two, or down two") by using the bridge-engine room phone in order to maintain constant convoy position astern of the ship ahead.⁵

George Barrat was 2nd Cook and Baker on the Canonesa. He later told his son, also named George, that he had just finished his day's work work, and was wearing only pyjama trousers and having a shave when the ship was hit. All the lights failed making it difficult to collect some gear together before abandoning ship. Mr Barrat was then picked up by a British sloop (probably H.M.S. La Malouine).⁶

Peter Tingey reflected that the crew of the Canonesa were fortunate to be serving aboard a refrigerated cargo ship, "as the meat chamber doors were closed and everything airtight", thus giving buoyancy and preventing a rapid sinking.

R.S. Thomas was serving on the Pacific Grove, which he recalls was directly behind the Canonesa in the convoy. He remembers that "one felt rather than heard the explosion and there was a short-lived flash. That was about all that was to be seen. As was the custom we pulled out of line, leaving the rescue ship to pick up the survivors."⁷

The report of the captain of H.M.S La Malouine, who had interviewed survivors of the Empire Airman, Canonesa, Dalcairn, Torinia, Broompark and Frederick S. Fales, noted that:

Canonesa was abandoned in unnecessary haste and in poor order, her Captain not only leaving his papers on the bridge, but also men trapped in the stokehold, and failing to take any sort of charge in the ship or subsequently in the boat."⁸

The Canonesa was sunk in position 54°55N 18°25W about 385 miles west of Rossan Point in County Donegal. This location is shown on the attached maps and satellite photo .

You can view pictures of the Canonesa at the Gallery.

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