MacDONALD Walter James

NAME             MacDONALD      Walter James                                                                                                                                   Canadian Merchant Navy
RANK             Captain (Master) 
SHIP               SS Rose Castle                                                                                                                      Residence      Toronto - Ontario                                                                                                                          Born                circa 1898                                                                                                                                    Died                November 2, 1942     44 years
Memorial         Halifax Memorial - Halifax - Nova Scotia
                       Panel 20
Wife:               Mrs. Mary Marcella MacDonald - Toronto _ Ontario

Captain MacDonald attended Knox Presbyterian Church when his ship happened to be in Goderich.
The SS Rose Castle was registered with Dominion Shipping of Halifax which was her home port and her GRT was 7,803. She was 456' in length and was an ore carrier. He bridge was midships with two large holds - one fore and one aft. There were derricks positioned in the centre of each hold for loading and unloading.
In the daylight hours of October 20, 1942, the Rose Castle was steaming with convoy WB-9 when she was
struck by a torpedo that failed to explode. This attack was from U-69.
On November 2, 1942 the Rose Castle was anchored off of Lance Cove - Belle Isle in Conception Bay, Newfoundland when she was struck by two torpedoes. Her position when she sank was 047.36N and 052.58W. She was loaded with 10,000 tone of iron ore.
Rose Castle sank with the loss of her Master, 22 crew members and a gunner.

U-518 under the command of KPT Friedrich-Wilhelm Wissman had entered the anchorage by the western
passage and went to the surface 1,000 yards south of Rose Castle and she was anchored 1,400 yards
offshore and in the east end of the cove. He attacked on the surface and fired two bow torpedoes and one
stern torpedo. The first torpedo missed but the second hit the stern and she immediately began to settle. U-
518 made her way away from the scene at high speed toward the western passage. This was the first patrol
for U-518 and on April 22, 1945 she was sunk with all hands.
Even today, the Rose Castle sits upright on the bottom in 150 feet of water and one gets the feeling she is
getting ready to get up steam and sail. Lines running to her mast are still taut and her Marcone Room is still
awaiting messages. Deep inside her hull you can still see the personal effects of the crew. The 4.7” guns are
still sitting on her stern. Her bridge is intact, the forecastle is in good shape but the main attraction for divers and those on the surface is the unexploded German torpedo still lying on the seabed about 100' from the stern.                                                                                                                                                                                    During the summer of 2019 Canadian Forces divers made a number of dives onto the wreck of the SS Rose Castle. Their objective was to remove unexploded ordnance off of the ship.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Walter is honoured and remembered on the Goderich - Ontario Cenotaph and on the Memorial Plaque of Knox Presbyterian Church. He is also honoured and remembered on the Halifax Memorial - Panel 20 - Halifax.
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pictures of her on web