Click here for my current list of individuals on board the S.S. Caribou Oct. 14, 1942.
These are the highest quality photos I’ve found on-line of people who were on the S.S. Caribou on the morning of October 14th, 1942, when the ship was torpedoed. Appearing in random order above are: Leonard Shiers, the only surviving baby, in the arms of Petty Officer Ralph Rogers RCN; Nursing Sister Agnes Wilkie RCNVR (wearing glasses); Seaman Eli Maxwell Bishop RN (blond); Nursing Sister Margaret Brooke RCN; Able Bodied Seaman Wilfred George Poole RN (arms crossed): Seaman Francis Warren RN (seated) with friend Kenneth Gosse, who was not on board; Captain Ben Taverner aboard the Caribou in 1941; Seaman Percy Moores RN and his brother Milton, who was not on board, in the Army uniform. Four of these people survived. To learn more click on my current list at the top of this page. Please post a comment if you have more information, corrections, or better photos. I’d love to hear from you.
Jennifer Lee Morgan 
Mom and I were on the Carson on the last trip over from Port aux Basque to North Sydney before she was sunk. We were down to Harbour la Que and Dad called to tell us to get home because he heard that there was German submarines out in the Gulf . We were lucky.
Hi Jean, do you mean the Caribou? What was your family name?
Hi Jenifer, My Great Uncle Eli Max Bishop was highlighted in your article. I am a relative of Eli and it would be great to get in contact with you.
Hi Sarah, can you e-mail me at morganjlee@hotmail.com?
You did a great job finding these records.
Thanks Joanne, this is just the beginning–I’ve got more information that I haven’t uploaded yet on my other website (it’s a work in progress): https://sscariboumanifest.wordpress.com/
I am interested in information about the passengers and the ship the SS Caribou. My husband’s aunt was one of those who died on board, she was only 24 years old. I have looked at the book the SS Caribou and although there were stories of some of the passengers there was only a small write up about her. I’m hoping you have more information about the people on board.
Sorry for not getting back to you sooner Brenda. What was your husband’s aunt’s name? Does the family have any photos? You can email me at: morganjlee(at)hotmail(dot)com Thanks!!
My paternal Grandfather was John Moore, Chief Stewart for the Reid Railroad who had the very sad job of travelling to Port aux Basques to identify the remains of the bodies of the crew who had died. He passed away however in 1951.
Bev, sorry for not getting back with you sooner. Do you have any photos of your grandfather? I can be reached by email at: morganjlee(at)hotmail(dot)com
Please contact me, I am Arthur F Barry’s granddaughter. He didn’t like to talk about his time in the Navy much but he did tell me about that night. I don’t really remember much of the story he told me anymore, I had it on cassette tape because I interviewed him about it for a school project back in the 80’s but it was lost in the big Fort McMurray fire in 2016 😦 I could provide a photo of Poppy.
Hi Lori! What a shame to have lost something so valuable in the fire. Sorry for not checking my website earlier. I am back in the saddle, getting back to the website for the Caribou passengers and crew. If you have the photo of your grandfather, I’d love to have it. Can you email it to me: morganjlee(at)hotmail(dot)com ??? And anything you remember from the tape…maybe I can phone you?
Hi Jennifer. Edgar Tanner McLaughlin was my uncle. My mother (his sister) told me the story of him being torpedoed when I was young but I didn’t do anything with the information until I started to do my family history. As I recall my uncle told mom the only reason he survived was that he was not asleep in his bunk when the torpedo hit but was on the upper deck playing cards with several other men. He was in the water for quite awhile before being rescued and had health issues there after. I believe he had one son, Gilbert. Unfortunately I never met my uncle but I do have a wedding photograph of him and his wife. He is wearing his Navy uniform in the photo.
Thank you for contacting me Patricia! All I had on your uncle was his initials, rank, and that he survived. I’d love to know his age in 1942 (date of birth?) and where he was from and I’d love to have a copy of that wedding photo. Can you e-mail me at morganjlee@hotmail.com?
Sorry for the long delay in replying …Aa far as I know my Uncle was born in 1910 in Fall River Ma. USA. His rank was Leading Seaman RCN VR…..not sure how he came to be in the Royal Canadian Navy but my grandmother was Canadian. Can you give Gil McLaughlin my email address?
Edgar Tanner McLaughlin was my father do you have any more information on him?
Hi Gil! I’m so excited to hear from you. Can you please e-mail me at morganjlee@hotmail.com? I have very little information on your father–but I have some hunches about his survival that I’d like to ask you.
Hi Jennifer, with the anniversary of the sinking approaching I’ve just come across your site. Howard Yorke was my grandfather, his story about surviving is one our family always reflects on at this time of year; particularly an anecdote about him getting dressed so quickly he realized later that the vest he put on wasn’t his own! Curious if you’ve come across any more information on him?
Hi Tara! Yes, that’s a great story. Your grandfather shared the cabin with John Danson and Adam Sime. According to Douglas Howe in “Night of the Caribou” page 108, your grandfather and Adam left before Danson, who took the time to get dressed in the dark. When Danson and your grandfather met on the rescue boat, John Danson was wearing two vests, one of which belonged to Howard York–and still had a pen and pencil set, keys and money in the pocket. Howard Yorke was working with the Canadian Bank of Commerce, and coming to Newfoundland on business–am I right that this was a business trip? Do you know why he was coming to Newfoundland, and where he was doing business? What did he do after surviving the Caribou? Did he return to Agincourt, Ontario? I’d love to have a photo of him–from 1942 if possible. Please email me: morganjlee@hotmail.com
My grandfather survived this his name was Allan white
Hi Scott, sorry for not checking in with you until now. Can you please contact me, at my email. (morganjlee@hotmail.com) See my reply in this section to Kathie Gilligan–are you related?
Hello. My father was Alan John White. He was a survivor of the Caribou. He lived in St. Catharines Ontario. He spoke very little about the ordeal but my older sister might have information
Thanks for filling in these details Kathie. I’d love to have his birth and death dates also. Can you contact me via my email (morganjlee@hotmail.com)? I’d love to learn more.
Hi Jennifer, my dad was on the Caribou when it went down. He never talked about it to me so the few details I have come from my mother. She and my dad had been married in February of that year and she was going to come on the boat with him but they decided it was best if she went back to stay with her family in Kingston Ontario. My dad was originally listed as missing and her family kept the newspaper away from her so she did not even know about the sinking until they heard he was ok. He was Robert William Caldwell Johns from Radville Saskatchewan and he was an RCAF officer. What my mother told me was that he jumped off the boat as it was going down. He was dressed in his dressing gown. He got on a raft that was partly under water as it was overcrowded. There was a man on the raft with a broken back and there were two babies which were passed around. My dad said that when he was holding one of them the child dug its hails into dad’s chest when they went over a wave and he had the marks for a long time. When he was pulled out a blanket was put around him and he was handed a mug of what he thought was a hot drink but when he took a swig it turned out to be pure rum and it knocked him out. He developed a tubercular infection and spent the next few years, first in Christie Street hospital and then in Sunnybrook when it opened. He had a small military pension for the rest of his life. He died in 1995, ironically at Sunnybrook.
Thank you Patricia! That is really great information. Can you please e-mail me, at morganjlee@hotmail.com? I’d love to have your father’s birth date, and your mother’s name. Was he hospitalized at Christie Street immediately after surviving the Caribou? I found an operations record book reference to Flight Officer R.W.C. Johns (C6078) who had joined the staff of Ground Instruction School, after a tour of duty in Newfoundland, dated December 29, 1942.
I believe Jerome Ryan was a relative.
Is there any info on him?
Hi Walter! Thanks for contacting me. The only thing I know about Jerome J. Ryan is that he was a civilian survivor, from Newfoundland, possibly St. John’s, and was 38. If you know how you might be related–and who his parents were, I could possibly find out about him from the Newfoundland Census. Please email me: morganjlee@hotmail.com Thanks!
http://ngb.chebucto.org/Vstats/death-reg-bk-14-1942-1943-lab.shtml
This is a list of some of the people who died aboard the Caribou. Its the registry of deaths for Labrador district. 1942-1943
Thought if anyone was looking for info.
Thanks so much for giving me the link Norma. I would never have thought to look there. If you are one of the volunteers who work on this site, thank you, “Newfoundland Grand Banks” has been invaluable in my research.