Sidney, a former electricity meter reader, was serving aboard the MV Stork, a British merchant ship carrying cased aviation fuel as part of Convoy OG-71 from Preston to Gibraltar. These convoys were vital to maintaining supply lines during the Second World War but faced constant threats from German U-boats patrolling the Atlantic.
In the early hours of 23 August 1941, northwest of Lisbon, the convoy was attacked by the German submarine U-201. At 02:14, the U-boat fired several torpedoes, sinking both the Stork and another ship, the Aldergrove. The Stork was fatally struck and went down with most of her crew. Of the 22 men on board, only three survived the attack.
Sidney Quarrinton was among the 19 who disappeared that night and were presumed drowned. His name is one of 23,701 listed on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial who have no known grave but the sea.
