SS Western Head (Nassau), Canadian Merchant Navy May 28, 1942  On May 28, 1942 the unescorted SS Western Head was approximately fifty miles east of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba sailing from Kingston, Jamaica to Montreal,  in Canada with a cargo of raw sugar.  At 7:17 pm  the ship was hit by two torpedoes from U-107 and sank immediately.    The SS Western Head had a crew of thirty, including the Captain.  Twenty-four crew members were lost. The master and five crew members were picked up by a US Navy patrol ship and landed at Guantanamo Bay.  The Captain, Joseph Everett Faulkner was from Falmouth, Nova Scotia. With the outbreak of war, he came out of retirement to join the Canadian Merchant Navy.   Nova Scotia Casualties of the SS Western Head Buchanan, Willard John Able Seaman, SS Western Head Canadian Merchant Navy Age at Death: 18   Son of Mr. and Mrs. John Buchanan, of Liverpool, Nova Scotia. Listed on the Halifax Memorial Commemorated on Page 103 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance Cochrane, Leo Fireman, SS Western Head Canadian Merchant Navy   Cumberland Co., NS Age at Death:  18 Listed on the Halifax Memorial Commemorated on Page 114 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance Hoben, James Robert Third Mate, SS Western Head Canadian Merchant Navy Son of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson W. Hoben, of Fox River, Nova Scotia. Age at Death:  36 Listed on the Halifax Memorial Commemorated on Page 155 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance MacDonald, John Albert   Chief Steward, SS Western Head Canadian Merchant Navy Brother of Elizabeth MacDonald, of Arichat, Nova Scotia Richmond Co., NS Listed on the Halifax Memorial Commemorated on Page 179 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance   Mahar, Daniel Able Seaman, SS Western Head Canadian Merchant Navy Son of Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Mahar, of Diligent River, Nova Scotia Cumberland Co., NS Age at Death: 32 Listed on the Halifax Memorial Commemorated on Page 179 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance Mahar, Douglas Third Engineer, SS Western Head Canadian Merchant Navy Husband of Mrs. Douglas Mahar, of Fox River, Nova Scotia. Cumberland Co., NS Listed on the Halifax Memorial Commemorated on Page 182 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance              Sources: Commonwealth War Grave Commission Canadian Virtual War Memorial shipwreck.eu uboat.net

SS Western Head (Nassau), Canadian Merchant Navy May 20, 1942