Able Seaman D/SSX 24889 John KENNY
Royal Navy H.M.S. Hecla (F20)
12 Nov 1942 aged 22
Plymouth Naval Memorial, Panel 65, Column 3.
Son of John and Catherine Kenny, of Cheadle Heath, Cheshire.
At 00:15 hours on 12 Nov 1942, Type IXC U-515 (Kapitänleutnant Werner Henke) fired a spread of four torpedoes at H.M.S. Hecla (Acting Captain G.V.B. Faulkner), which was misidentified as a Birmingham-class cruiser and hit her in the engine room. Two torpedoes were surface-runners and the last also malfunctioned and was a circle-runner. The U-boat then hit the ship with three coups de grâce at 01:28, 01:49 and 02:06 hours, sinking the vessel west of Gibraltar.
At 02.11 hours, U-515 fired two torpedoes and badly damaged H.M.S. Marne which attempted to rescue the survivors. They were eventually picked up by H.M.S.Venomous and landed at Casablanca.
H.M.S. Hecla (photo form uboat.net)
