Name: Clyde Prescott Crowell Rank: Fireman and Trimmer Service Number: Unknown Service: SS Florian, Merchant Navy Date of Birth: March 25, 1894 Place of Birth: Digby, Nova Scotia Marital Status: Single Date of Death: January 20, 1941 Age: 46 Cemetery: Halifax Memorial, Nova Scotia Reference: Panel 18 Commemorated on Page 119 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on the following on March 11 and August 8 Clyde Prescott Crowell was the son of Thomas Nickerson Crowell (1864-1940) and Minnie Leslie Crowell (1867-1916), of Barrington, Shelburne, Nova Scotia. Clyde’s father was born in Shag Harbour in the Municipality of Barrington in Shelburne County, NS, and his mother was born in Barrington Passage in Shelburne Co. Clyde served as a merchant seaman and was a fireman and trimmer on the SS Florian, an Ellerman Lines cargo steamship that was launched in 1939 and completed in 1940. A U-boat sank the SS Florian with all hands in 1941 in the Battle of the Atlantic. On April 17, 1940, Florian left Middlesbrough on the first voyage. The ship sailed to the Eastern Mediterranean via Hull, Southend, Gibraltar, and Malta and visited ports in Egypt, Palestine, and Cyprus in May 1940 before returning via Gibraltar to Liverpool. Apart from time in the Mediterranean, the Florian sailed mostly in convoys. After France capitulated in June 1940, Florian was transferred to transatlantic service. On July 3rd, the Ship left Liverpool for New York, and there arrived on July 16th. The Florian then made two round trips between New York and Hull, sailing in the HX convoys HX 61 and HX 75 from Halifax, Nova Scotia to the Firth of Forth for the eastbound crossings. Florian spent Christmas 1940 and saw in the New Year 1941 in Hull. On January 9, 1941, the ship left the Humber in ballast for New York, and with Convoy FN 378 from Spurn to the Forth and Convoy EN 56/1 and from the Forth around the north coast of Scotland, but then sailed independently to cross the Atlantic. The Florian left Oban, Scotland, in ballast on January 18, 1941. Early on the evening of January 19, 1941, enemy submarine U-94 started to chase Florian. Heading for New York, United States, the ship was torpedoed on the 20th, at 0:42 am by U-94 140 miles (225 km) west-south-west of the Faroe Islands, position 61°14'N/12°05'W. Her captain, 41 crew members and two gunners lost their lives. The Florian sank in 42 seconds by the stern. With no known grave and lost at sea, Fireman and Trimmer Clyde Prescott Crowell is remembered on the Halifax Memorial in Point Pleasant Park in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Source: Canadian Virtual War Memorial findagrave