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Letters
Raymond L Gover, was a survivor of the HMS Mourne that was sunk by U-767 Hi Mac, My grandfather, CPO Raymond L Gover, was a survivor of the HMS Mourne that was sunk by U-767. I believe there were only a few survivors from this sinking. My Grandfather was a boiler stoker and had just finished his shift when he came up top for some fresh air. I was reading a book written by Captain Donald Macintyre RN (U-Boat Killer – Avon Publications New York 1956) who was Commander of the Escort fleet that HMS had recently joined. One chapter in this book talks about the sinking of Mourne. It describes people on the Mourne seeing the torpedo run down the side of the ship, which was only doing a few knots so as to avoid any major acoustic noise. Once the torpedo had passed they increased their speed which in turn created propeller wash and more noise, that the torpedo picked up on and turned around to hit them, presumeably in the stern. My mother has done more research on this subject and has a photo of the Mourne taken only weeks before it’s sinking from a plane. We have also got a copy of the log book from the ship right up until it’s sinking, showing a “suspected sabotage in the engine and boiler room” dated 16.5.42 I see you have had a couple of other letters from other Mourne contacts. I would be interested in getting in touch with them and sharing the photo’s that I have. I would appreciate any assistance with getting in touch with them Kind Regards Auckland PS Posted on the eve of Anzac day!! Getting the kids all ready to go off to Auckland's main Dawn Service tomorrow morning.
Thank you for your letter about the sinking of HMS Mourne. The person who wrote about his Father being killed in that ship did not identify himself, so I do not have an address for you. My only other correspondent was a friend in Queensland who was adding to my information about that frigate. I would like to have a copy of your photo of Mourne please, and we will put it up on that reference to her on AHOY. Intersting comment about the Gnat that finally sank the ship, in some cases the quickest to reach the propellor noise for the homing torpedo was to home onto her bows, I believe this torpedo was probably developed to knock off the Convoy escorts and so make it easier for U-Boats to get amongst the convoy ships themselves. In this case, the ship was unlucky to suddenly speed up, and cause her own demise. I went to our dawn service at the Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance yesterday, to join 30,000 others, a moving time. Look forward to hearing from you again. Best regards, back to letters index
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