CAPON Frederick
Able Seaman, Royal Navy. Lost at sea 12/01/1942. Age 30.
Remembered in Histon Road Cemetery on his parents’ grave and commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
Son of Charles and Edith Capon.
March 2009 Location C22.484
Memorial inscription at C22.484: Curb. On east face of west end, IN EVER LOVING MEMORY OF. On south face of north side, CHARLES CAPON DIED APRIL 10 1942 AGED 66 YEARS. On west face of east end, FREDERICK CAPON LOST AT SEA JAN. 1942 AGED 30 YEARS. On north face of south side, ALSO HIS WIFE EDITH CAPON DIED MAY 4 1946 AGED 68 YEARS.
FREDERICK CAPON LOST AT SEA JAN. 1942 AGED 30 YEARS
Behind the inscription ‘Lost at Sea’ on the curb of his parents’ grave lies the sad story of Able Seaman Frederick Capon and the Steamship Maro. In addition to having escorting naval vessels, merchant ships in Atlantic Convoys were lightly armed and naval ratings were posted to man these small guns. On 2nd January 1942 Frederick Capon was in this role as he sailed from Liverpool on the Maro bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia as part of convoy ON-53.
On the 12th January a severe storm developed in mid-Atlantic, scattering the ships in the convoy. Frederick, in a vulnerable position manning the gun, is recorded as ‘missing presumed killed’ which suggests that he was lost overboard during the storm.
The Maro struggled on almost to Halifax but as a straggler was an easy target. On 20th January she was sunk with the loss of all hands by the U-boat U-552.
Frederick is one of the 24,588 men and women of the Royal Navy who were lost or buried at sea during the two World Wars and are remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial. 36,000 Merchant seamen, including the crew of the Maro, are remembered on the Merchant Navy Memorial, Tower Hill, London.
Sources: www.cwgc.org www.memorialsinportsmouth.co.uk ukcensusonline.com www.uboat.net