Gallantry Casualty group. Merchant Navy BEM. Murdo Macleod. SS Stockport (Grimsby). Torpedoed by U604 with loss of all hands

Civil British empire medal named murdo macleod.

1039 star , Atlantic star and war medal unnamed as issued .

Murdo macleod was a merchant Navy able seaman serving on board ss Stockport a convoy rescue ship he was awarded the bem for gallantry London Gazette 23rd April 1943 see photos of his citation for courage and devotion to duty making exceptional efforts to save life and missing presumed drowned since .

Below are details of the ss Stockport.

SS Stockport was a passenger and cargo vessel built for the Great Central Railway in 1912.[2] During the Second World War she served as a convoy rescue ship until a U-boat sank her in February 1943.
HistoryNameSS StockportOperator

1912–1923: Great Central Railway

1923–1935: London and North Eastern Railway

1935–1943: Associated Humber Lines

Port of registry Grimsby[1]BuilderEarle’s Shipbuilding, HullLaunched15 May 1911FateSunk 23 February 1943General characteristicsTonnage1,631 gross register tons (GRT)Length265 feet (81 m)Beam36 feet (11 m)Depth17.4 feet (5.3 m)

History

The ship was built by Earle’s Shipbuilding of Hull and launched in 1912. In 1923 she passed into the ownership of the London and North Eastern Railway, and in 1935 to the Associated Humber Lines.
On 11 August 1937 she was in collision with the Hull steam trawler Lady Beryl in the Humber off Immingham in thick fog. Both vessels were damaged but not below the water line.[3]
Her convoy rescue service began on 22 October 1941. She rescued 413 survivors from sunken ships while sailing with sixteen convoys, including convoy SC-107.[4]
On 21 February 1943 she was part of convoy ON 166 and went to the assistance of Empire Trader which had straggled behind the convoy in the Atlantic Ocean north of the Azores, Portugal. After U-92 torpedoed and damaged Empire Trader, Stockport rescued all 106 crew men before HMCS Dauphin scuttled Empire Trader following orders received from the Admiralty.[5] However, Stockport had itself now fallen. She was attempting to regain the convoy when on 23 February U-604 torpedoed and sank her at (47°22′N 34°10′W) with the loss of all her crew and the survivors that she had rescued from other vessels.[1]
She is commemorated every February in a parade and commemoration service organised by Hazel Grove Royal Naval Association.
Built as a cargo vessel, it was chartered by the Admirality to be a rescue ship.

From October 1941 until early spring 1943 it took part in 16 convoys.
But at 3.12 am on February 23rd 1943, U-boat, U-604, fired four torpedoes at the Stockport and scored two hits.
The ship sank within three minutes east of Cape Race, Newfoundland
The Stockport had fallen behind a convoy when picking up the survivors from Empire Trader just the day before.

After transferring the survivors to HMCS Dauphin, she tried to rejoin convoy but was torpedoed with the loss of the entire crew of 64.