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Able Seaman James Arthur Carroll
A/B CJX374762

Dave Castle- Lost at Sea

We left Belfast to pick up a convoy going through the Irish Channel, but we hit some very bad weather. I was due to go on ‘first watch’ on the ‘B’ gun deck, which was the deck beneath the wheelhouse. I chose to go via the inside of the wheelhouse and down a ladder that was amidships to ‘B’ gun deck.

The weather was atrocious, with the boat running high on a wave then crashing down through the next. When I reached the gun deck, Dave Castle was sitting on the seat behind the gun shield waiting for me. We exchanged greetings and I took over the seat. I watched him as he was making his way to the outside ladder that led down onto the main deck.

About an hour later, colleagues from his mess called me on the intercom to ask if I had relieved him. I told them that he had left over an hour ago and they immediately notified the bridge. A message was sent out over the ship’s tannoy system for him to report, but there was no response.

When we got back to Belfast, an inquiry was held, which decided that he was ‘missing presumed dead’. His family were notified and one of the crew received a letter from his parents asking for more information. They knew he was a good swimmer and just couldn’t accept that he was missing at sea.

It was late at night and very dark. The weather was windy and stormy and I had volunteered to visit Dave’s parents and explain what had happened. I was on leave and they didn’t live far from me in south London. When I got there I just couldn’t bring myself to explain how he had ‘gone’. I convinced myself that it would be harder for them to know, so I turned around and went home.

That thought has stayed with me for 50 years, and I still carry a sense of guilt about not telling them.

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