INFO ON THIS SHIP

[garydevine1995]

My great great uncle robert mcallum sinclair died in 1940 while serving in the navy i dont no if it was the merchant or royal but in 1940 his ship struck a mine and he died. this is what i have on him

NAME: Robert McCallum Sinclair
OFFICIAL No: 165981
AGE: 32
BORN: Glasgow
DEATH: falmouth bay
CAUSE: suppose drowned
DATE: 13.11.40
PROFESSION ON BOARD: greaser
SHIP NAME: Leon Kartin

i would like know if there are any pictures of the ship or info on the sinking in 1940. just so i can show my gran

[AndrewP]

Hi Gary,

Looks like he was in the Merchant Navy.

From the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website:
http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_det ... ty=2797039

• Name: SINCLAIR, ROBERT MCCALLUM
  Initials: R M
  Nationality: United Kingdom
  Rank: Greaser
  Regiment/Service: Merchant Navy
  Unit Text: M.V. Leon Martin (Glasgow)
  Age: 32
  Date of Death: 13/11/1940
  Additional information: Son of Peter and Sarah McCallum Sinclair, of Glasgow.
  Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
  Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 64.
  Memorial: TOWER HILL MEMORIAL

Or from the Scottish National War Memorial website:
http://www.snwm.org

• Surname SINCLAIR
  Firstname Robert McCallum
  Service number
  Date of death 13/11/1940
  Decoration
  Place of birth Glasgow
  Other M.V. "LEON MARTIN"
  SNWM roll MERCHANT NAVY & FISHING FLEETS (Part 1)
  Rank Greaser
  Theatre of death Unknown

All the best,

AndrewP

[AndrewP]

Hi Gary,

For more info and a couple of pictures of the Leon Martin, see http://www.aukevisser.nl/france/id72.htm

All the best,

AndrewP

[garydevine1995]

wow just got quite emotional there hahaha thank you so much they must of typed the name of the ship wrong. cant belvive that his names is on the tower hill memorial down at london, i went to london 2 to years ago and i was walking through the small building loking at peoples names i think thats what go tme a little. thank you very much is there a list at all of the crew to see who he was with ?

[Currie]

Hello Gary,

“Down to the Ships in the Sea” by Harry Grossett, 1954, has a story about attempts, in December, 1940, to salvage the Leon Martin. (Pages 194 to 197) http://books.google.com.au/books?id=sqN ... CDQQ6AEwAg

I’ll send you some more by PM, but here are a couple of paragraphs that makes reference to the exploding mine and the damage caused:

“When I got to Falmouth I reported to Commander Rippon, who introduced me to the staff and showed me round the stores. Then I met Commander Kennelly, who introduced me to Captain Lewer of the French tanker Leon Martin. The tanker had been mined, and Captain Lewer and a boy were the only survivors. The chief engineer had been blown up through the engine-room skylight, but had died soon after. The other sixteen members of the crew had been trapped in their quarters aft and were still down in the ship. The Leon Martin had been sunk by an acoustic mine. This type of mine had come after the magnetic mine, and was first used by the Germans in the autumn of 1940. Its firing mechanism was set off by the sound of a ship's propellers travelling through the water. Our counter-measure was to equip our minesweepers with a device that emitted the right sort of noise to detonate the mines at a safe distance.”

“I was shown the plans of the tanker, and Captain Lewer gave me more information about the lay-out of the various tanks, valves, and so on. Then I went out and made a survey of the damage done to the hull, and made a drawing of the fracture. The acoustic mine had struck— as they always do — at the centre of the vibration, the propeller. The ship's counter had taken the full force of the upward blast, while the weight of the engines and boilers — situated right aft, as in all oil tankers — tended to hold the keel down, so that the breaking point was between the counter and the engine-bed. The rudder was bent upward and the hull was split, from and including the stern post, to a distance of about 35 feet forward on both sides.”

This publication is available used at quite a high price.
http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/Searc ... in+the+sea

I think the Leon Martin casualties would be listed together at Tower Hill. I don’t know whether that’s online anywhere but you can get some of the names from various searches and here’s the CWGC info.

Name: SCOTT, ROBERT NORMAN
Initials: R N
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Chief Engineer Officer
Regiment/Service: Merchant Navy
Unit Text: S.S. Leon Martin (Glasgow)
Age: 37
Date of Death: 13/11/1940
Additional information: Son of Robert and Margaret Humble Scott; husband of Louise Isabelle Scott, of Dunston, Gateshead.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Sec. 3. Row 44. Grave 1787.
Cemetery: WHICKHAM (GARDEN HOUSE) CEMETERY

Name: VIOLET, SYDNEY AUSTIN
Initials: S A
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Greaser
Regiment/Service: Merchant Navy
Unit Text: M.V. Leon Martin (Glasgow)
Age: 26
Date of Death: 13/11/1940
Additional information: Son of Sydney and Mabel Maisie Violet, of Southborough, Kent. Awarded Greek Nautical Medal, Second Class.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 64.
Memorial: TOWER HILL MEMORIAL

Name: AITCHISON, JOHN MONTGOMERY
Initials: J M
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Mess Room Boy
Regiment/Service: Merchant Navy
Unit Text: M.V. Leon Martin (Glasgow)
Age: 18
Date of Death: 13/11/1940
Additional information: Son of James and Jean Caldwell Aitchison.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 64.
Memorial: TOWER HILL MEMORIAL

Name: HANNAM, FREDERICK DAVID
Initials: F D
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Able Seaman
Regiment/Service: Merchant Navy
Unit Text: M.V. Leon Martin (Glasgow)
Age: 27
Date of Death: 13/11/1940
Additional information: Son of Frederick David and Gladys May Hannam, of St. John's, Jersey, Channel Islands.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 64.
Memorial: TOWER HILL MEMORIAL

Name: HIBBITT, PETER
Initials: P
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Cabin Boy
Regiment/Service: Merchant Navy
Unit Text: M.V. Leon Martin (Glasgow)
Age: 15
Date of Death: 13/11/1940
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 64.
Memorial: TOWER HILL MEMORIAL

Name: REED, LESLIE
Initials: L
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Able Seaman
Regiment/Service: Royal Navy
Unit Text: H.M.S. President III.
Age: 19
Date of Death: 13/11/1940
Service No: P/JX 167651
Additional information: Son of Joseph Tweddle Reed and Phoebe Reed, of Carlisle.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Cemetery: ST. MICHAEL CAERHAYS CHURCHYARD

(H.M.S. President III was apparently a shore establishment responsible for RN personnel allocated to Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships. According to the War Graves Photographic Project, Able Seaman Leslie Reed was lost in M.V. Leon Martin.)

Hope that is useful,
Alan

[AndrewP]

wow just got quite emotional there hahaha thank you so much they must of typed the name of the ship wrong. cant belvive that his names is on the tower hill memorial down at london, i went to london 2 to years ago and i was walking through the small building loking at peoples names i think thats what go tme a little. thank you very much is there a list at all of the crew to see who he was with ?

Hi Gary,

The memorial is mostly arranged alphabetically by vessel name, then the names of the crew lost. From what I can tell online, the crew of the Leon Martin should all be on panel 64 of the WWII memorial - the sunken garden behind the memorial building (WWI). I have not found a picture of that panel online.

A layout plan of the panels at the memorial can be seen at: http://www.cwgc.org/admin/files/cwgc_towerhill.pdf

All the best,

AndrewP

[garydevine1995]

wow thank you both soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much hahaha its wonderful that you have both found information for me i am thrilled about it thank you so much

[Billgen]

You can see a photograph of the LEON MARTIN at http://www.photoship.co.uk/JAlbum%20Shi ... ndex7.html looks like she is flying a French flag.

Billgen

[garydevine1995]

Thanks Billgen never noticed that beforer yes she is flying the french flag haha this must of been taken between 1936-40 then cause thats hwne the french had it then the british got it in 1940 and sank the same year thank you again