Canadian Virtual War Memorial
John Daniel Paterson
In memory of:
First Mate John Daniel Paterson
October 19, 1940
North Atlantic
Military Service
50
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Sulaco (Liverpool, England) (147358)
Additional Information
December 26, 1889
Montreal, Quebec
Son of John Paterson and Elizabeth Ann Crighton of Montréal, Québec. Husband of Flora Paterson.
On 20 October 1940, at 2:29 am, the Sulaco was torpedoed by U-124 while sailing with convoy OB-229 360 miles (579 km) west of Rockall, in the North Atlantic, position 57°25'N/25°00'W. The captain, 63 crew members and 2 gunners lost their lives. The sole survivor was rescued by the Canadian destroyer HMCS Saguenay (D79) and landed at Greenock, Scotland, on the 23rd.
Commemorated on Page 208 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 17.
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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