Ellissen, Francis Lyon Gordon, son of Arthur Victor Ellissen, member Lond. Stock Exchange, of Richmond, Surrey, and Irene Maude Mary, d. of George Lyon Begbie; b. 26 May 1918; adm. Jan. 1932 (A); left. July 1935; RNVR in WW2; lost in the sinking by enemy action of SS Laconia 12 Sept. 1942.
Francis Lyon Gordon Ellissen was born at Richmond, Surrey on the 26th of May 1918 the son of Arthur Victor Sampson Ellissen MC MP, a barrister at law, and Irene Maude Mary (nee Begbie) Ellissen, an artist, of 6, Cardigan Road, Richmond. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Ashburnham from January 1932 to July 1935. On leaving school he worked as a commercial artist.
Following the outbreak of war he enlisted in the Royal Navy, was trained as a gunner and was attached to the 19,695 ton passenger liner SS Laconia.
The SS Laconia, under the command of Master Rudolph Sharp OBE, sailed from the Middle East bound for Liverpool, and stopped at Capetown before setting sail for Freetown. She was unescorted and was carrying 136 crewmen, 80 civilians, 268 military personnel, including nurses, and 1,809 Italian prisoners guarded by 160 Polish troops; she was also carrying 200 tons of general cargo.
At 10.20pm on the 12th of September 1942, the SS Laconia was sailing some 360 miles to the north, northeast of the Ascension Islands when she was struck by a torpedo which had been fired by the U-Boat U-156, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Werner Hartenstein. The torpedo struck her in the hold on the starboard side, killing many of the Italian prisoners in the explosion. She began to list to starboard and, as Captain Sharp was regaining control of her, she was struck in her Number 2 hold by a second torpedo. With the forecastle now awash, Sharp issued the order to abandon ship with the women, children and the wounded taking to the lifeboats. 32 lifeboats had been destroyed by the explosions. At 11.11pm the ship sank by the bow leaving hundreds of survivors in the water. Although estimates vary, between 1,658 and 1,757 passengers and crew are thought to have lost their lives in the attack.
He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Memorial Panel 68, Column 1.
