Remembering World War II

The SS Empire Crossbill The West Amargosa was built for the United States Shipping Board (USSB) and completed in March 1919. It was assigned U.S. Official Number 217631 and Code Letters LQBW. Between 1919 and 1921, United American Lines chartered the ship to operate a route between Plymouth, Gibraltar, Tunis, and New York. In 1934, its Code Letters were updated to KLCP. The vessel was transferred to the United States Maritime Commission (USMC) in 1937 and placed in the reserve fleet. In 1940, the ship was transferred to the British Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) and was initially managed by Sir W. Reardon Smith & Sons before management moved to John Morrison & Co. Ltd of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Although originally scheduled to join Convoy HX 119 in April 1941, the ship instead joined Convoy SC 28, sailing from Halifax to Liverpool with a cargo of scrap iron for West Hartlepool. In May 1941, Empire Crossbill joined Convoy WN 228, traveling from the Clyde to Methil. The vessel was subsequently renamed Empire Crossbill and registered in London with Official Number 168177 and Code Letters MLNP. Following several trips between Middlesbrough and the Tyne in early June 1941, the ship joined Convoy EC 31 and later Convoy OB 334. The ship reached Philadelphia on July 2, 1941, after stopping in St. John's, Newfoundland. On August 30, 1941, the Empire Crossbill departed Sydney, Cape Breton, as part of Convoy SC 42 bound for Liverpool. The ship carried 6,686 tons of steel and four tons of relief goods, though some reports indicate a cargo of explosives was also on board. At 03:11 GMT on September 11, 1941, the vessel was torpedoed and sunk at 63.2333°N -49°W. There were no survivors; all 38 crew members, ten DEMS gunners, and one passenger died. The sole passenger was Reginald Sidney Colvin Heraghty, a Maltese Merchant Navy Seaman. The majority of those lost in the sinking are commemorated at the Tower Hill Memorial in London. The three Canadians aboard, however, are remembered on the Halifax Memorial at the Point Pleasant Park in Halifax, Nova Scotia, including Second Radio Officer Emerson Clarke Davies of Scott, Saskatchewan (1916-1941). The two other Canadians had ties to Nova Scotia and are listed on Panel 19 of the Memorial and commemorated on page 123 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance. Their page is displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa every year on March 13th and August 10th. They are: Name: Michael Alexander MacDougall Rank: Fireman and Trimmer Date of Birth: unknown Place of Birth: Grand River, Newfoundland Age: 38 Michael was the son of Duncan MacDougall and Mary (Ryan) MacDougall, and the husband of Catherine Ellen (Gouthro) MacDougall (b. 1901), of Sydney Mines, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The two married in Sydney in 1923. Catherine was the daughter of Nicholas Gouthro (1866-1935) of Frenchvale, Cape Breton, and Mary (Nicholson) Gouthro. Name: John Stephenson Piercey Rank: Fireman and Trimmer Date of Birth: January 1, 1923 Place of Birth: Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Age: 18 John Stephenson Piercey was the son of William Cumby Piercey (1879-1940) of Hearts Content, Newfoundland, and Sarah Jane (Wiseman) Piercey (1884-1933) of Trinity Bay, Newfoundland. His parents settled in Nova Scotia and lived there when John was born. On his birth certificate, John’s surname is recorded as Pearcy. His siblings were Emily “Emma” Mae Piercey (1909-1978), Martin Piercey (1910-1984), Georgina Piercey (1912- 1992), Haddie “Addie” Piercey (1914-1996), Elsie Piercey (1915-1916), Nelson Piercey (b. 1918), William John Charles Piercey (b. 1920), Rosina Emma Piercey (1921-1921), Stanley James Piercey (1922-1997), Lenord R. Piercey (1925-1927), and Freeman Piercey (1927-2008). Fraser Kenneth MacLeod is listed on the Halifax Memorial as a casualty of the SS Empire Crossbill. At 20 years old, he served as a Fireman and Trimmer and was included on the memorial because he was believed to be aboard the ship when it sank. However, MacLeod was no longer a member of the crew at that time. Although he had previously served on the ship, he remained in England and later enlisted in the Canadian Army. He died in Europe in 1944. His name remains on Panel 19 of the Halifax Memorial, likely because he appeared on an outdated crew manifest. He is actually interred at the Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery in France. Read his story at: http://wartimeheritage.com/whaww2ns2/wwii_macleod_fraser_kenneth.htm