Noel Gordon Davies – Merchant Navy, S.S. Stone Street

Second Engineer Officer Noel Gordon Davies – Merchant Navy, S.S. Stone Street

Early Life

Noel Gordon Davies was born in 1910 in Wrexham, Denbighshire, the son of Daniel Davies and Frances Hector Mary Ellis, who had married in 1892 at Conway, Caernarvonshire.

Family

1911 Census

The 1911 Census records the Davies family living at The Vicarage, Wrexham. Noel’s father, Daniel Davies, aged 48 and born in Cardiganshire, was serving as a Clergyman in the Church of England. His mother, Frances Hector Mary, aged 43, was born in Ireland. Their children at home were Eric Barncroft (9), Hestor Bronwen (6), and baby Noel Gordon, then 7 months old. Also present were Geroldine Orr (35), a governess, and three servants: Emma Eveson (29), Frances Speck (22), and Gladys Hopwood (21)—a reflection of a well‑established clerical household.

1921 Census

By 1921, ten‑year‑old Noel Gordon Davies was recorded as a pupil at Colet House, East Parade, Rhyl, indicating that he was being educated away from home.

Marriage

In 1942, Noel Gordon married Joan Douthet at Birkenhead, shortly before his final voyage.

Service in the Merchant Navy

Noel Gordon served with the Merchant Navy, rising to the rank of Second Engineer Officer, a senior engineering role responsible for the operation and maintenance of the ship’s engines and machinery. According to the Merchant Seamen Deaths register, his home address at the time was North Star, Mardley Hill, Welwyn, Hertfordshire.

Loss of the S.S. Stone Street – 13^th September 1942

The S.S. Stone Street, a 4,978‑ton British steam merchant ship, was sailing independently in the North Atlantic on 13^th September 1942 when she was sighted by the German submarine U‑91. At 22:55 hours, the U‑boat fired a torpedo that struck the vessel on the starboard side, causing severe structural damage. The ship quickly developed a 45° list to port, with her engines and propeller still running, and she sank at 15:50 hours without being able to send a distress signal.

The master, 39 crew members, and twelve armed guards abandoned ship in a single lifeboat and on a raft. Eleven crew members and two armed guards were lost. After the sinking, U‑91 surfaced and, while manoeuvring, accidentally capsized the lifeboat. The survivors were taken aboard the submarine, questioned, and then—remarkably—given whiskey, food, cigarettes, and matches before being placed onto two rafts. The master was kept aboard the U‑boat as a prisoner.

The remaining survivors managed to right the lifeboat and drifted for several days until 19^th September, when they were rescued by the steam merchant Irish Larch. They were landed three days later at St. John, New Brunswick. Second Engineer Officer Noel Gordon Davies was among those who did not survive the sinking.

Death and Commemoration

Merchant Seamen Deaths

Noel Gordon Davies
Tower Hill Memorial
credit - Benjidog Histroical Research Resources.
The Merchant Navy Memorial

The Merchant Seamen Deaths register records that Second Engineer Officer Noel Gordon Davies lost his life on 13^th September 1942 following the sinking of the Stone Street. As he has no known grave, his name is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial, London, which honours the thousands of Merchant Navy personnel who died at sea during both world wars.