Robert O’Brien

Sources: Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Name: Robert O’Brien Rank: Fireman and Trimmer Service: SS Baron Graham (Ardrossan, Scotland) Canadian Merchant Navy Date of Birth: January 1, 1904 Place of Birth: Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Address: 159 Prince Street, Sydney Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Date of Death: April 11, 1943 Age: 39 Memorial: None Commemorated on Page 264 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on May 25, October 22, and December 25 Robert O’Brien served in the Merchant Navy in the Second World War aboard the SS Baron Graham, a British- registered tramp steamer with the official number 148984. Managed by H. Hogarth & Sons of Glasgow, the Baron Graham was a workhorse of the Atlantic, tasked with carrying vital supplies through the hazardous convoy routes that served as the Allied lifeline. By April 1943, the vessel had successfully navigated a number of transatlantic crossings, defying the constant threat of U-boat wolf packs to deliver its cargo to the United Kingdom. On April 26, 1940, the SS Baron Graham joined Convoy OG 27, which formed at sea to escort merchantmen to the Mediterranean; the Baron Graham detached for Bona, Algeria, to deliver her cargo. By March 1941, the ship was back in the North Atlantic, departing Oban on March 8 with Convoy OG 55, carrying a strategic load of coal to Gibraltar. She repeated this run a year later, sailing with Convoy OG 83 on May 1, 1942. That summer, she departed Milford Haven on July 19 with Convoy OG 87, transporting coal to the neutral port of Lisbon. All this, just some of the convoy work completed by the Baron Graham and her crew. On April 11, 1943, the SS Baron Graham was at Port Clarence on the River Tees. Located near Middlesbrough, the port was a massive industrial and coal-loading hub essential to the British war effort. It was here that Robert drowned accidentally. Robert’s death occurred just ten days before the Baron Graham was scheduled to depart on April 21, 1943, destined for another westbound crossing to North America.