|
They made the Ultimate Sacrifice
WRIGHT, Keith Francis, SLt, O-80060, RCNVR, MPK - 13 Sep 1942, HMCS OTTAWA - Son of Athol C. Wright, and of Olive E. Wright, of Ottawa, Ontario.
Sub-Lieutenant Wright died when HMCS OTTAWA H60 was torpedoed and sunk by U-91 on 13 Sep 1942. Of her crew of 175, plus 50 survivors they had picked up, there were only 69 survivors.
Sub-Lieutenant Keith F. Wright, Ottawa naval engineer, sailing on the Royal Canadian Navy destroyer that bore the name of his home city, lost his life in the sinking of the "Ottawa" along with three ratings from the district. A list of the casualties issued by Naval Service Headquarters here contained these Ottawa and district names missing and believed killed: Sub-Lieutenant Keith Francis Wright, R.C.N.V.R, 22, naval engineer, son of Mrs. Athol C. Wright of 85 Grove Avenue. Sub-Lieut. Keith Wright, a native of Ottawa, attended Glebe Collegiate Institute, graduating from the Jasper, Alberta high school where he resided with his family while his father, the late A. C. Wright was superintendent of Jasper National Park for five years. He had written his third-year examinations at McGill University when he enlisted with the R.C.N.V.R. as naval engineer on March 5, 1941, as a naval engineer, just 2 months after his father passes away. He passes his training courses at Kings College, Halifax and is designated as a probationary Sub-Lt., RCNVR in December 1941. He sails on HMS Mauritius to Singapore and South Africa before being assigned to HMCS Ottawa (H60) in 1942. On September 9, 1942, HMCS Ottawa is assigned to westbound convoy 127, departing Liverpool for Halifax and onwards to New York. Protecting 32 merchant ships are both Canadian destroyers Ottawa and St. Croix as well as 3 RCN Corvettes and another British. On September 14, 1942, 500 nautical miles east of St. John's, two torpedoes fired by U-91 slammed into HMCS Ottawa at 02:05 hrs. A third torpedo fired 10 minutes later finishes off the Ottawa. Of the 181 men aboard, 114 are killed and 67 survive and picked by other ships, after spending up to 5 hours in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic. One of those killed in action on HMCS Ottawa that night is Sub Lt. Keith Wright, last seen by the ship's captain in the ward room when the destroyer was first attacked. Convoy ON127 lost 8 ships, another 7 were damaged, proceeding on to port. The family were advised 4 days later of his being lost at sea, a month later confirming that he was now killed in action. His body was never recovered. Sub Lt. Keith Francis Wright, 22 years young, is remembered at Glebe Collegiate and at McGill University. In June 1943, at St. Matthew's Church in a service presided by the Bishop of Ottawa, a brass memorial processional cross was dedicated in the memory of chorister Francis Wright and donated to the church by his mother. The mother of 3 servicemen, a RCMP Constable and husband to a World War 1 veteran, Mrs. Wright stated in the Ottawa Journal, "My feeling of pride in his service and sacrifice over-shadows my sorrow. I am so proud of my boy because he has not lost his life but has given it, and in giving it, he has saved others." Sub Lt. Keith Francis Wright, HMCS Ottawa, is remembered at Halifax's Naval War Memorial. His name is engraved alongside 2,000 other Canadian Navy veterans who lost their lives at sea. As well, on his World War 1 Army Father's Ottawa headstone, Keith is remembered as well. (Researched by Kevan Pipe)
Ships served in: MONTREAL DIVISION RCNVR - Enlisted 05 Mar 1941 * Commenced Active Service 01 May 1941 as a Probationer Sub-Lieutenant, RCNVR HMCS STADACONA - Appointed to STADACONA 18 May 1941 HMS CERES - Appointed to CERES 19 Aug 1941 HMS MAURITIUS - Appointed to MAURITIUS (not dated) for E.R. Training HMS EXCELLENT - Appointed to EXCELLENT 20 May 1942 for Ordnance and Gun Mounting Course HMCS OTTAWA - for passage
Service File for Keith Wright Library and Archives of Canada
Second World War Casualty Index
|
