John Matthews RIP

Kyt · Feb 14, 2008

globeandmail.com: Survivor of U-boat attack off Nfld. coast dead at 84

A man believed to be the last living crew member and one of the last known survivors of a German U-boat attack on the S.S. Caribou off Newfoundland in 1942 has died.

John Matthews, 84, passed away in hospital last Thursday after years of lung-related complications.

"For me, as a child growing up, it wasn't something he talked about a great deal," his daughter, Diane Thistle, said in an interview. "He found it too painful, it was usually a teary subject and he tried to avoid it as much as possible."

At 19, Mr. Matthews was a deck-watch hand aboard the passenger ferry that ran between Port aux Basques, Nfld., and North Sydney, N.S.

In the early morning hours of Oct. 14, 1942, it was attacked by the German submarine U-69. A torpedo ripped a hole in the vessel, sinking it and sending all aboard into the frigid waters of the Cabot Strait. There were 137 casualties in one of the most devastating sea disasters off the coast of Newfoundland.

The sinking was said to have erased the feelings of security that Newfoundlanders felt despite the war raging around the world.

Mr. Matthews related the story to family of how he woke his bunkmate and friend after the torpedo hit, but shortly afterward realized they were separated. He never saw him again.

He also told the story of pulling another survivor out of the water - W. J. Lundrigan, a well-known businessman and founder of the Lundrigan construction empire.

After being rescued, the Port aux Basques native ended his career at sea, but he stuck with the Newfoundland railway, spending 44 years as a conductor.

With fewer than half of those aboard the S.S. Caribou surviving the disaster, Ms. Thistle said she has always felt lucky even to have been born.
Click to expand...

caribou

Antipodean Andy · Feb 14, 2008

The Last Voyage of the S.S. Caribou - Chapter 1
The Last Voyage of the S.S. Caribou - Chapter 2

..and so on.

Antipodean Andy · Feb 14, 2008

A song:
The S.S. Caribou

Clearly, the sinking was something that really hit home with Canadians.

Good looking ship:
SS Caribou, ca. 1920s - 1940s

Appears to have ice-breaking qualities by that bow.

Hugh · Feb 15, 2008

Andy in West Oz said: ↑

Clearly, the sinking was something that really hit home with Canadians.
Click to expand...

Yes and the website goes into a lot of detail, obviously quite well researched.

Regards
Hugh

spidge · Mar 14, 2008

Very well researched. It is important to have all this history in the open as there was so much "blacked out" during the war.

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John Matthews RIP

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