William Cooley

Son of Tom Arthur and Nellie Cooley, of Worksop, Nottinghamshire

HMS Voltaire

On 27 October 1939 the passenger ship Voltaire of the Lamport & Holt Ltd, Liverpool was requisitioned by the Admiralty and converted to an armed merchant cruiser. The conversion was completed on 4 January 1940.

On 4 April 1941 HMS Voltaire (A/Capt. James Alexander Pollard Blackburn, DSC, (retired), RN) was on isolated patrol in the central Atlantic, about 900 nautical miles west of the Cape Verde Islands: at 0615 hrs she was spotted by the lookouts of the German raider Thor and the ships headed for each other.

At 0645 the opponents opened fire and by 0649 Voltaire was ablaze. By 0715 only 2 guns remained in action and by 0800 she hoisted a white flag, sinking shortly afterwards by the stern with a heavy port list in position 14º30'N, 40º30'W. 75 men were lost including Able Seamen Thomas Angus from Newark and William Cooley from Worksop. 197 survivors were rescued by the Germans. (Uboat.net)

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