Arctic Convoys war memorial, Newport

Arctic Convoys war memorial, Newport

This memorial was erected by the Newport branch of the Merchant Navy Association to honour the seamen who died on the Arctic Convoys of the Second World War. The memorial was unveiled by Captain Oliver Lindsay, once a commodore (most senior captain) of the Reardon Smith merchant shipping line. He was a survivor of the Arctic Convoys.

Cargo ships sailed in convoys, escorted by warships, during the war for protection against German submarines. In 1941 Britain and its allies started using convoys to transport supplies to Russia, whose western border had been invaded by the Nazis. These groups of ships were known as Arctic Convoys because they sailed to ports inside the Arctic Circle.

Weather conditions were often atrocious, and sea ice forced the ships to sail close to Nazi-occupied Norway. The convoys were vulnerable to attacks by the Luftwaffe as well as by German warships and submarines. More ships were sunk on this duty than on other convoy routes. The Royal Navy lost almost 2,000 sailors and the Merchant Navy more than 800 on the Arctic Convoys.

Despite the risks and losses, the convoys delivered more than four millions tons of equipment to Russia, helping the Soviet Union to rout the invading German army.

See below for details of men from Newport who died on Arctic Convoys. Nine of them died in 1942 when their ship, SS Goolistan, was torpedoed near Spitzbergen while carrying timber and cellulose to Britain on a return voyage from Archangel. The steamer had broken off from its convoy at the time. It took the German U-boat crew an hour to make their attack because the icy weather impaired the periscope and gauges. The explosion set the ship’s cargo alight and the crew took to the lifeboats as the vessel began to sink.

The submarine surfaced near the lifeboats to ask the occupants for the ship’s captain, who had remained on the vessel. It then disappeared beneath the surface. No survivors from the ship were ever found. The master, 41 members of the crew and ten gunners were lost.

With thanks to Byron Jones, of the Merchant Navy Association Wales

Postcode: NP20 2FR    View Location Map

 

Newport residents lost on Arctic Convoys

  • Clayton, Thomas James. Merchant Navy. Died 23 November 1942 aged 19. Fireman and Trimmer, SS Goolistan (Newcastle). Born Cheddar, Somerset. Last residential address: Hoskin Street, Newport. Commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial.
  • De Groot, Cornelius Martines. Merchant Navy. Died 23 November 1942 aged 54. Fireman and Trimmer, SS Goolistan. Born Rotterdam. Husband of MA De Groot, of Newport. Commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial.
  • Folet, David Augustine. Merchant Navy. Died 23 November 1942 aged 36. Greaser, SS Goolistan . Born Newport. Last residential address: Granville Street, Newport. Commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial.
  • Griffiths, Ronald. Merchant Navy. Died 23 November 1942 aged 30. Fireman and Trimmer, SS Goolistan . Born Newport. Husband of N Griffiths, of Newport. Commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial.
  • Hughes, Thomas Arthur. Merchant Navy. Died 23 November 1942 aged 36. Fireman and Trimmer, SS Goolistan . Born Newport. to Thomas and Eva Hughes, of Sheerness, Kent. Commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial.
  • McTavish, Andrew. Merchant Navy. Died 23 November 1942 aged 55. Fireman and Trimmer, SS Goolistan (Newcastle). Born Lerwick, Scotland. Last residential address: Commercial Road, Newport. Commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial.
  • Olmetti, John. Merchant Navy. Died 23 November 1942 aged 26. Fireman and Trimmer, SS Goolistan. Born Bagshot, Surrey. Last residential address: Marion Street, Newport. Commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial.
  • Owbridge, Frederick. Merchant Navy. Died 23 November 1942 aged 53. Donkeyman, SS Goolistan. Born Hull. Last residential address: Capel Crescent, Newport. Commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial.
  • Rowlands, Frederick Henry. Merchant Navy. Died 28/29 March 1942 aged 36. Fireman, SS Bateau (Panama). Born Newport. Husband of Dorothy May Rowlands of Hill Street, Newport. Commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial. The ship was torpedoed and shelled by three German Destroyers in the Barents Sea. Only six of the 46 on board survived.
  • Saysell, William Raymond. Merchant Navy. Died 23 November 1942 aged 21. Fireman and Trimmer, SS Goolistan. Born Newport. Son of Reginald and Mary Saysell of Newport. Commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial.