In late 1941 crew member Thomas Parker White was bound for the UK, on the SS Baron Erskine. Separated from the relative safety of the convoy, the Baron Erskine’s future swiftly became vulnerable. Deborah Pugh relates the events that unfolded next.
During World War II, Thomas Parker White was in the Merchant Navy transporting goods across the Atlantic, often travelling in convoys as protection against U-boat attacks.
As a crew member, he was listed as a ‘donkey man’. This was ‘an individual responsible for the Donkey engine, a steam-powered winch engine, which could be used to load or unload cargo, raise larger sails, or power pumps. It was invented in 1881’. (Maritime History Archive – https://mha.mun.ca/mha) In late 1941, Thomas was the eldest crew member, aged 40 years old, travelling on a ship called the SS Baron Erskine. The ship was carrying rock and super phosphates from Florida.
Torpedoed
The ship sailed on 9th December 1941 and joined convoy SC-62 on 27th December sailing across the Atlantic, but was unable to keep up with rest of the convoy due to poor quality coal. It fell behind (a ‘straggler’) and on 6th January 1942, the ship suffered two blows from German U-boat torpedoes approximately 360 miles south-east of Cape Farewell, near south-west Iceland. (Uboat – https://uboat.net) According to reports, the ship sank slowly. The U-boat surfaced and the Germans questioned the survivors. They counted 34 men on lifeboats and rafts. It was alleged that the Germans misunderstood the name of the ship and it was misreported, although they believed it was a vessel of the ‘Baron’ class.
It was thought to have been reported as the Baron Haig. It was not until a few days later, that it was realised that the Baron Erskine was missing, because the Baron Haig was still active. (https://u-boat.net)
The fate of a convoy ‘straggler’ crew
The survivors were never seen again. The U-boat left the men in freezing, wintry conditions to die with no hope of being rescued. The youngest crew member was just 16. Forty one people perished in total.
It is also worth noting, that it was around the time Turing’s Bombe had been invented and decryption of German transmissions was underway. As the Allies now ha
