Ordinary Seaman D/JX 239600 John Roskruge CONSTANCE.
Royal Navy H.M.S. Matabele (F26).
17 Jan 1942 aged 24.
Plymouth Naval Memorial, Panel 67, Column 1.
Son of John Arthur Roskruge Constance and Mabel Constance, of Heaton Mersey, Lancashire.
In Jan 1942 she formed the screen, with H.M.S. Somali, for the cruiser H.M.S. Trinidad on Convoy PQ-8 from Iceland to Murmansk. The convoy departed on 11 Jan 1942, and came under torpedo attack on 16 Jan 1942. On 17 Jan 1942 H.M.S. Matabele was hit by a torpedo from the German Type VIIC U-454 (Kapitänleutnant Burckhard Hackländer) and sank almost immediately.
Only two out of her complement of 238 survived. Many who were able to leave the stricken ship succumbed in the ice-cold water before rescue was possible. The two survivors were picked up by the minesweeper H.M.S. Harrier.
H.M.S.Matabele
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