Carpenter Charles Edward ASHTON.
Merchant Navy S.S. Harmala (London).
7 Feb 1943 aged 31.
Tower Hill Memorial, Panel 55.
son of Elizabeth Ashton, of Stockport.
S.S. Harmala was completed in 1938 for J. & C. Harrison Ltd of London. It was part of convoy SC-118 sailing on the Rio de Janeiro - Trinidad - New York - Halifax - Middlesbrough route with 8,500 tons of iron ore.
At 04.11 hours on 7 Feb 1943, Type VIIC U-614 (Kapitänleutnant Wolfgang Sträter) fired a spread of three torpedoes at the convoy 750 miles west of Ireland, the only ship hit was the Harmala, which sank. The master, 31 crew members, ten gunners and one naval signalman were lost. Eleven crew members were picked up by FFL Lobelia and landed at Greenock.
S.S. Harmala (Uboat.net)
