Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Douglas Carley
In memory of:
Able Seaman Douglas Carley
July 14, 1942
Military Service
38
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Cortona (Glasgow, Scotland) (144237)
Additional Information
Son of Edward Claremont Carley and Florence Mary Croft, of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
On July 1, 1941, convoy OS-33 was dispersed by a U-boat attack while on route from Liverpool, England, to Buenos Aires, Argentina. On the 12th, at 12:22 a.m., the Cortona was damaged by a torpedo launched from U-116. Three minutes later, U-201 gave her the coup de grace south of the Azores, in the North Atlantic, and sank her, position 32°45'N/24°45'W. Of the crew, 29 sailors and two gunners lost their lives. The captain, 18 sailors and four gunners were rescued ten days later by the British destroyer HMS Pathfinder (G10) which landed them in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
Commemorated on Page 108 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.
Burial Information
HALIFAX MEMORIAL
Nova Scotia, Canada
Panel 21.
The HALIFAX MEMORIAL in Nova Scotia's capital, erected in Point Pleasant Park, is one of the few tangible reminders of the men who died at sea. Twenty-four ships were lost by the Royal Canadian Navy in the Second World War and nearly 2,000 members of the RCN lost their lives. This Memorial was erected by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and was unveiled in November 1967 with naval ceremony by H.P. MacKeen, Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, in the presence of R. Teillet, then Minister of Veterans Affairs. The monument is a great granite Cross of Sacrifice over 12 metres high, clearly visible to all ships approaching Halifax. The cross is mounted on a large podium bearing 23 bronze panels upon which are inscribed the names of over 3,000 Canadian men and women who were buried at sea. The dedicatory inscription, in French and English, reads as follows:
1918-1945
IN THE HONOUR OF
THE MEN AND WOMEN
OF THE NAVY
ARMY AND MERCHANT NAVY
OF CANADA
WHOSE NAMES
ARE INSCRIBED HERE
THEIR GRAVES ARE UNKNOWN
BUT THEIR MEMORY
SHALL ENDURE.
On June 19, 2003, the Government of Canada designated September 3rd of each year as a day to acknowledge the contribution of Merchant Navy Veterans.
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