S.S. Volo 28/12/41

Discussion in 'The War at Sea' started by Steve49, Mar 25, 2022.

  1. Steve49

    Steve49 Boycott P&O...

    S.S. Velo was sunk on 28th December 1941.

    Lloyd's and uboat.net say 21 crew and 3 gunner killed. CWGC lists 6 Officers and 15 OR crew and 2 OR RN gunners. Any idea who the third gunner could be, looking at the CWGC for this date I can not see any possible casualties.

    Regards

    Steve
     
  2. Hugh MacLean

    Hugh MacLean Senior Member

    Hi Steve,
    I think you have a typo in the header - should be ss VOLO.

    I have three gunners listed against ss VOLO in the DAS Register but two do not appear on CWGC so not sure if this is an incorrect listing - wouldn't be the first time.
    JR Parker and H Stall and Robert Anderson with no mention of Frank Humphrey. I will do some more checking but may need the crew agreement.

    Regards
    Hugh
     
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  3. Steve49

    Steve49 Boycott P&O...

    Hi Hugh,

    Thanks for that, I've corrected title.

    If you've got the crew agreement number let me know and I'll add it to my list. Due to my former employer giving me an unexpected and immediate change to my employment status... I've suddenly found myself with a lot more spare time, so I might be making a trip to Kew in the next few weeks.

    Regards,

    Steve
     
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  4. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    from my collection Tower Hill Memorial

    upload_2022-3-25_10-28-25.jpeg
     
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  5. Hugh MacLean

    Hugh MacLean Senior Member

    Hi Steve you need to look at VOLO/165701 - the last crew agreement for 1941 - BT 381/1639. It may be that those gunners I mention were on the crew list but were not casualties. Sometimes deaths at sea were not always clear and were revised afterwards, although that said, I can see no alterations for that ship.

    das1.png

    Oh dear, "unexpected and immediate", that doesn't sound too good - [P&O]. Hope all will be well for you.
    Regards
    Hugh
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2022
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  6. Billy McGee

    Billy McGee Senior Member

    ANDERSON, Able Seaman, ROBERT, P/JX 236695. H.M.S. President III. Royal Navy. (lost in S.S. Volo) 28th December 1941. Age 25. Son of Peter and Catherine Anderson, of Wemyss, Fife.

    HUMPHREY, Able Seaman, FRANK, P/JX 262547. H.M.S. President III. Royal Navy. (lost in S.S. Volo). 28th December 1941. Age 30. Son of Frank and Florence Humphrey, of Wallington, Surrey.
     
  7. Steve49

    Steve49 Boycott P&O...

    Cheers Billy,

    Yes have identified those two gunners from CWGC, but sinking reports says three gunners lost. Trying to determine if there actually was a third loss related to this sinking.

    Regards,

    Steve
     
  8. Steve49

    Steve49 Boycott P&O...

    Regarding mystery of the two or three gunners I think I may have found an answer from BT381/1639.

    'Deck Hands' R. Anderson, J.R. Parker and H. Stall on listed on the third page of the crew list with the following notation 'no trace of these deck hands'. Whilst on page two of the crew list, 'Deck Hand' F. Humphrey is listed with the notation 'no proof of discharge'.

    Now we know from the CWGC that Anderson and Humphrey were lost on this date, so I speculate that in the post sinking accounting, the three deck hands 'with no trace' were all mistakenly considered to have all been killed and Humphrey was overlooked. Thus resulting in Lloyd's recording three gunners as lost.

    BT381/1639 lists another five 'deck hands' (gunners) as surviving, so it seems that the actual status of the Volo gunners was two killed and seven survived.

    Regards,

    Steve
     
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