Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Emil Hornfelt
In memory of:
Greaser Emil Hornfelt
January 17, 1942
North Atlantic
Military Service
27
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
MV Nyholt (Haugesund, Norway)
Additional Information
March 10, 1914
Margo, Saskatchewan
Son of Anders Johan Hornfeldt and Maria Margareta Eriksdotter of Gidea, Örnköldsvik, Västernorland, Sweden. Brother of Anna Hornfelt, of Toronto, Ontario.
On 17 January 1941, Nyholt, away from convoy ON-52, was hit by a torpedo at 3:59 am launched from U-87 180 miles (290 km) south of Cape Race, Newfoundland. Four other torpedoes were fired and missed the target. At 8:21 am, another torpedo was fired and hit the port centre of the Nyholt. Four minutes later, another torpedo was launched from the submarine and missed the target, after a chase and an attempt to ram the freighter against the submersible. A final torpedo was launched from the stern tube and lost in the ocean. At 8:26 am, the submarine surfaced and opened fire with its deck gun. Of the 120 shells fired, 70 hit the Nyholt, which sank in position 45°46'N/54°18'W. Around the 21st, the lifeboats were separated by a violent storm. On the 26th, one lifeboat was spotted by a reconnaissance aircraft. The survivors were picked up by the Canadian destroyer HMCS St. Clair (I-65) and landed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the 27th. The tragedy claimed the lives of 20 of the 41 crew members on board.
Commemorated on Page 157 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 21.
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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