Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Ralph Cornish
In memory of:
Fireman and Trimmer Ralph Cornish
May 19, 1941
North Atlantic
Military Service
22
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Empire Ridge (Greenock, Scotland) (166997)
Additional Information
January 1, 1919
Vancouver, British Columbia
Son of Frederick Henry Cornish and Alethea Chatterton, of Vancouver, British Columbia.
On 19 May 1941, Empire Ridge was part of convoy HG-61 heading for Garston, Liverpool, England, when she was torpedoed at 3.24 am by U-96. It broke in two and sank approximately 90 miles (145 km) from Bloody Foreland, Ireland, position 54°47'N/11°10'W. Her captain, 29 crew members and three gunners lost their lives. One sailor and one gunner were recovered by HMS Vanquisher (D54), transferred to HMS Legion (G74) and landed at Greenock, Scotland.
Commemorated on Page 116 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.
Burial Information
HALIFAX MEMORIAL
Nova Scotia, Canada
Panel 18.
The HALIFAX MEMORIAL in Nova Scotia's capital, erected in Point Pleasant Park, is one of the few tangible reminders of the men who died at sea. Twenty-four ships were lost by the Royal Canadian Navy in the Second World War and nearly 2,000 members of the RCN lost their lives. This Memorial was erected by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and was unveiled in November 1967 with naval ceremony by H.P. MacKeen, Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, in the presence of R. Teillet, then Minister of Veterans Affairs. The monument is a great granite Cross of Sacrifice over 12 metres high, clearly visible to all ships approaching Halifax. The cross is mounted on a large podium bearing 23 bronze panels upon which are inscribed the names of over 3,000 Canadian men and women who were buried at sea. The dedicatory inscription, in French and English, reads as follows:
1918-1945
IN THE HONOUR OF
THE MEN AND WOMEN
OF THE NAVY
ARMY AND MERCHANT NAVY
OF CANADA
WHOSE NAMES
ARE INSCRIBED HERE
THEIR GRAVES ARE UNKNOWN
BUT THEIR MEMORY
SHALL ENDURE.
On June 19, 2003, the Government of Canada designated September 3rd of each year as a day to acknowledge the contribution of Merchant Navy Veterans.
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