KNAPP, Cedric Gordon

Cedric was born 1921 in Newport, to Gordon & Theresa of Newport. He served aboard the Destroyer Tender HMS Hecla.

In the early hours of the morning on 12 November 1942, Hecla was torpedoed by U-515. The submarine fired a spread of 4 torpedoes at its target, though only 1 hit. That hit, in the engine room, was not immediately fatal to the ship. The submarine followed its first 4 shots with 3 additional torpedoes, sinking the ship approximately 180 miles west of Gibraltar. The sinking resulted in the loss of 281 crew, including Cedric, whose body was never recovered.

Cedric is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial to those Lost at Sea together with nearly 15,000 of his Second World War shipmates.

Cedric is also remembered on the Newport Borough War Memorial.