Alexander John Chisholm Seaman SS El Lago (New York) Merchant Navy July 25, 1909 Malignant Cove, Antigonish Co., Nova Scotia Roman Catholic Single October 11, 1942 33 Halifax Memorial, Nova Scotia Listed at Panel 21 on the Memorial Commemorated on Page 112 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on March 8 and August 5 Alexander John Chisholm was the son of John Chisholm (1863-1929) and Mary (MacDonald) Chisholm (1873-1949) of Malignant Cove, Antigonish Co., NS. He was the brother of Private Donald Joseph Chisholm (1907-1943) killed in action on December 25, 1943 while serving in Italy with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment. In 1942 Alexander Chisholm was a Seaman on SS El Lago, that sailed from Reykjavik on October 5, 1942 en route to New York. The ship departed Reykjavik in a small convoy of 12 ships in two columns as third ship in the port column with a complement of 39 crew members, 14 armed guards and six merchant seamen being repatriated as passengers. These ships later joined convoy ONS-136. The convoy ran into a storm with hurricane force winds, tremendous heavy seas, rain and poor visibility about 250 miles south of Iceland. The El Lago was forced to slow down and lost convoy. On October 11, at approximately 8:00 pm, U-615 sighted the ship and fired a spread of two torpedoes, both struck the El Lago and broke the ship in two. Within minutes the ship sank. None of the lifeboats could be launched and the few survivors climbed on rafts, which had floated free. The U-boat approached the survivors, asking for the name of the ship and for the master. The Norwegian master and the Dutch first engineer were ordered aboard the U-boat and were taken prisoner. The other survivors on the rafts were never rescued. The ship’s complement consisted of 39 crew members, 14 armed guards and 6 merchant seamen being repatriated as passengers. Only the two crew members taken aboard the submarine survived. In 1945 they were repatriated from the POW Camp Marlag near Bremen. Carl Hayward Shaw (Boatswain) aged 32, of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, was also lost on the SS El Lago.

Sources Canadian Virtual War Memorial findagrave