* Jack Tillson

PLYMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL Panel 48, Column 3.

Name Empire Heron
Type: Steam merchant
Tonnage 6,023 tons
Completed 1920 - Moore Shipbuilding Co, Oakland CA
Owner Andrew Weir & Co, London
Homeport London
Date of attack 16 Oct 1941 Nationality: British

Fate Sunk by U-568 (Joachim Preuss)
Position 54° 55'N, 27° 15'W - Grid AK 6673
Complement 43 (42 dead and 1 survivor).
Convoy SC-48
Route Freeport, Texas - Sydney, CB (5 Oct) - Manchester
Cargo 7673 tons of sulphur
History Completed in August 1920 as Mosella for US Shipping Board (USSB) and later laid up as part of the reserve fleet. 1941 transferred to Britain and renamed Empire Heron by Ministry of War Transport (MoWT).
Notes on event
At 01.14 hours on 16 Oct 1941, U-568 fired a spread of three torpedoes at convoy SC-48 southeast of Cape Farewell and hit Empire Heron (Master James Dick Ross) in station #92 on the starboard side with two torpedoes after 88 seconds, causing the ship to sink fast by the stern. A sole survivor was rescued by HMS Gladiolus (K 34) (LtCdr H.M.C. Sanders, DSO, DSC, RD, RNR) astern of convoy, but he died when the corvette was herself torpedoed and sunk the next night. The master, 33 crew members and nine gunners were lost. (Courtesy of uboat.net)

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