Photo: Brian Chandler
In Holy Sepulchre churchyard is a headstone which includes:
Also their son
Ernest Pattinson Houston
1st Radio Officer Merchant Navy
Lost at sea through enemy action
Augt. 24th 1942 aged 43 years.
“Peace perfect peace”.
Completed in November 1924 as Luciston for William S. Miller and Co, Glasgow. 1939 renamed Sheaf Mount for W.A. Souter & Co Ltd, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Between 01.38 and 01.41 hours on the 25th August 1942, U Boat U-605, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Herbert-Viktor Schütze, fired four single bow and one stern torpedoes from a distance of about 4000 meters at the outermost starboard column of convoy ONS-122 southeast of Cape Farewell. Detonations on three ships were observed after 5 to 7 minutes and one ship was seen to caught fire and sink within a minute after breaking in two. Schütze claimed one ship sunk and two others damaged. In fact, the Katvaldis in station #92 and Sheaf Mount in station #94 were sunk in this attack.
The Sheaf Mount (Master Ralph Sydney De-Gruchy) was hit on the starboard side in the engine room and immediately settled by the stern. The crew began to abandon ship, but before the lifeboats could be launch the vessel broke in two after a heavy explosion, possibly hit by another torpedo from U-605. She caught fire and sank within two minutes, dragging all lifeboats down with her. The survivors found themselves in the water and clung to debris and wreckage until being picked up within 2.5 hours by the Stockport (Master Thomas Ernest Fea, OBE) in thick fog, greatly helped by the red lights and whistles carried on the lifebelts. The master, 26 crew members and three gunners were lost. 14 crew members and seven gunners (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 12pdr, two 20mm AA guns and two twin machine guns) were picked up, but one badly injured crewman later died aboard and was buried at sea. The survivors were landed at Halifax on the 1st September.
Acknowledgments: Colin Boyd
Ernest Pattinson Houston is remembered at Ashington on A17.01 (A17.27), A17.09 and A17.43, also South Shields on NUT.015 and on our List of Ships’ crews.
S.S. Sheaf Mount Crew List
The CWGC entry for 1st Radio Officer Houston
