Remembering World War II

Robert Gordon Siteman

Sources: Canadian Virtual War Memorial uboat.net warsailors.com findagrave (Halifax Memorial)

Robert Gordon Siteman Mess Room Boy SS Blink (Norway), Canadian Merchant Navy January 4, 1922 Ship Harbour, Halifax Co., NS. Single February 11, 1942 20 Halifax Memorial, Nova Scotia Panel 22 Commemorated on Page 228 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on May 6, October 3, and December 8 Robert Gordon Siteman was the son of Robert Gordon Siteman (1894- 1943) and Julia Odie (Traynor) Siteman (1895-1965) of Ship Harbour, Halifax Co., NS. Existing records provide little information on Robert Gordon (Bobby) Siteman. From one newspaper article Robert Siteman attempted unsuccessfully to join the army before signing on the SS Blink. At age nineteen, he signed on to the SS Blink as a Mess Room Boy on August 12, 1941. On August 18, 1941 the SS Blink departed Halifax for Scotland. Between August 1941 and December 1941 the ship sailed to various ports with in United Kingdom. On December 21, 1942 the SS Blink crossed the Atlantic in convoy ON 49 on January 5, 1942 left the convoy and arrived in Tampa, Florida on January 18. On February 4 the ship departed Tamps for Charleston, South Carolina, arriving on February 8. The following day the ship departed Charleston, sailing independent, to Halifax to join convoy SC 70 for a crossing to Liverpool, England. The ship carried a cargo of 3600 tons of phosphate intended for Ipswich, England. The crew compliment was 30. On February 12, 1942 U-boat 108 torpedoed the ship casing it to sink within a hour. The torpedo explosion apparently killed four crewmen and a gunner and two men, including Mess Room Boy Robert Siteman. Twenty-three of the crew managed to escape the ship; however, bad weather caused the lifeboat to capsize. “The survivors were forced to sit in it with cold water up to their chests and on the next day, only 11 men were left. One by one the others had died, including the master and a gunner. On 14 February, only six survivors were picked up by the American steam merchant Monroe.” (uboat.net) Robert Gordon Siteman is listed on the Halifax Memorial.