Regiment/Service: Royal Naval Reserve, H.M.S. Willamette Valley.
Regiment/Service: Royal Naval Reserve, H.M.S. Willamette Valley.
Inscription
At 00.12 hours on 29 June 1940 the unescorted HMS Willamette Valley (X 39) (LtCdr R.E.D. Ryder, RN), disguised as Edgehill, was hit amidships by one torpedo from U-51 about 250 miles west-southwest of Cape Clear. The ship stopped but did not sink due to her buoyant cargo. The U-boat surfaced and fired a coup de grâce at 01.06 hours, but it needed a third torpedo at 01.24 hours to let the vessel sink slowly by the stern and capsizing to port. 23 survivors in a lifeboat were picked up by the French trawler Donibane on 4 July and landed at Penzance the next day. The commander rescued himself on a piece of flotsam and was rescued by a passing ship on 2 July and eventually landed at Plymouth. Another crew member was also rescued from a piece of debris on 6 July.
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