Honouring the Men who gave their lives whilst serving in the Merchant Navy
and whose names are on the Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll

S.S. CERAMIC  (Southampton)  -  WW2

S.S. Ceramic was a 18,481 GRT steam passenger/ refrigerated cargo ship that was sunk on 7 December 1942 by three torpedoes fired by German submarine U-515 at position 40° 30' N 40° 20' W (off the Azores). Rescue ships at St. Michaels were unable to put to sea because of the heavy weather and there was just one survivor - Sapper A.E. Munday of the Royal Engineers who was picked up by a German submarine the following day. A total of 656 people dead - most died because of the weather conditions rather than as a direct result of the torpedoes. The loss of Ceramic led to the largest number of deaths for the loss of a ship that is commemorated on the memorial. - benjidog.co.uk

 

The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.)  16-10-1945
STORY OF SS CERAMIC SINKING
Told by Sole Survivor
From Our Own Correspondent in London
The first story of a three-year-old mystery—the sinking of the Ceramic in the Atlantic—has been told by the sole survivor. He is Sapper Eric Alfred Munday, 24, who was aboard the famous liner (which was on the Australian run before the war) when she left Britain for Cape Town on November 26, 1942, with 656 men, women, and children aboard. Ceramic went down off the Azores. For 10 months relatives of passengers and crew heard nothing. Sapper Munday now says that Captain H. C. Elford, who had taken Ceramic through the Atlantic before without an escort, protested to the authorities against taking women and children aboard in that winter of 1942, when U-boats were massed in the Atlantic following the North African landing. Nevertheless, 155 women and children, including 50 nurses, were in the ship when she sailed. On the night of December 6 Ceramic was hit by three torpedoes. She remained afloat for three hours, when everyone aboard was got into boats and on to rafts. At dawn a storm broke. The boats were scattered, many sinking almost at once. Munday's boat with 40 in it capsized, but he and six other soldiers managed to cling on. The others were swept away. After four hours a U-boat surfaced near them. A rope was thrown to them, but waves were lashing over the upturned boat, and only Munday was able to grab it. He was hauled aboard. He pleaded with Captain Henke, the U-boat commander, to save the other six men who were still clinging to the lifeboat, but Henke refused and the U-boat submerged. Munday was sent to a prison camp in Silesia.

Fireman Peter William JOHNSON
Merchant Navy
RMS Queen Mary
Date of Engagement: 14-12-1940 - Sydney, N.S.W.
Died 7-12-1942 at Sea - North Atlantic Ocean onboard S.S. Ceramic aged 21years
Son of Charles George and Eva Emma Johnson, of Pyrmont, Sydney, N.S.W.
Honoured: Tower Hill Memorial, London - Panel 26
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll

Engineer Officer Charles Reginald KERR
Merchant Navy
S.S. Queen Elizabeth
Died 7-12-1942 at Sea - North Atlantic Ocean onboard S.S. Ceramic aged 26years
Honoured: Tower Hill Memorial, London - Panel 26
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll

Greaser Albert Joseph KNOCK
Merchant Navy
S.S. Queen Elizabeth
Died 7-12-1942 at Sea - North Atlantic Ocean onboard S.S. Ceramic aged 52years
Son of John and Elizabeth Knock.
Honoured: Tower Hill Memorial, London - Panel 26
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll

Trimmer Laurence Gregory LUTTON
Merchant Navy
S.S. Queen Elizabeth
Died 7-12-1942 at Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, onboard S.S. Ceramic, aged 17years
Honoured: Tower Hill Memorial, London - Panel 26
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll

Steward Edward MARKEY
Merchant Navy
S.S. Aquitania
Died 7-12-1942 at Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, onboard S.S. Ceramic, aged 36years
Honoured: Tower Hill Memorial, London - Panel 26
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll

Cook Daniel John McGOVERN
Merchant Navy
S.S. Queen Elizabeth
Died 7-12-1942 at Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, onboard S.S. Ceramic, aged 40years
Honoured: Tower Hill Memorial, London - Panel 26
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll

Engineer Officer Keith Alexander McMASTER
Merchant Navy
Died 7-12-1942 at Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, aged 22years
Son of Charles and Ruby May McMaster, of Sydney, New South Wales
Honoured: Tower Hill Memorial, London - Panel 26
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll

Steward John Myer MICHAELS
Merchant Navy
Died 7-12-1942 at Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, aged 44years
Honoured: Tower Hill Memorial, London - Panel 26
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll

Greaser Colin MORRIS
Merchant Navy
Died 7-12-1942 at Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, aged 27years
Son of Melville Arthur and Marjorie Morris, of Melbourne, Victoria
Honoured: Tower Hill Memorial, London - Panel 26
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll

Fireman Douglas Hadley MORRISON
Merchant Navy
S.S. Queen Elizabeth
Died 7-12-1942 at Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, on board S.S. Ceramic, aged 22years
Son of Edward and Ethel Matilda Morrison, of King's Cross, Sydney
Honoured: Tower Hill Memorial, London - Panel 26
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll

Steward Harold Percy NEWNHAM
Merchant Navy
Died 7-12-1942 at Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, aged 39years
Honoured: Tower Hill Memorial, London - Panel 26
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll

Junior Engineer Allan Robert NIVEN
Australian Merchant Navy
S.S. Queen Elizabeth
Died 7-12-1942, at Sea - North Atlantic Ocean, on board S.S. Ceramic
Son of Robert Niven, of Rockdale, Cumberland, New South Wales
Honoured: Tower Hill Memorial, London - Panel 130
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll

Steward Peter PAGE
Merchant Navy
S.S. Queen Elizabeth
Died 7-12-1942, at Sea - North Atlantic Ocean, on board S.S. Ceramic - aged 19years
Son of William Page, and of Ina Frances Page, of Clovelly, New South Wales
Honoured: Tower Hill Memorial, London - Panel 26
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll

Trimmer John Joseph RYAN
Merchant Navy
S.S. Queen Elizabeth
Died 7-12-1942, at Sea - North Atlantic Ocean, on board S.S. Ceramic - aged 24years
Honoured: Tower Hill Memorial, London - Panel 26
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll

Steward William Alfred STEEDMAN
Merchant Navy
S.S. Queen Elizabeth
Died 7-12-1942, at Sea - North Atlantic Ocean, on board S.S. Ceramic - aged 24years
Son of Alfred and Eva Steedman, of Cabramatta, New South Wales
Honoured: Tower Hill Memorial, London - Panel 27
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll

Engineer Officer Cecil Gladstone Samuel WEST
Merchant Navy
S.S. Queen Elizabeth
Died 7-12-1942, at Sea - North Atlantic Ocean, on board S.S. Ceramic - aged 26years
Son of Alfred and Eva Steedman, of Cabramatta, New South Wales
Honoured: Tower Hill Memorial, London - Panel 27
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll