Richard Wrighton "Meteorologist"

RICHARD HENRY ROLAND WRIGHTON

Corporal Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Service Number: 753664

Died 22 June 1941, Age 23 years old

Commemorated at Runnymede Memorial panel 56.

Son of Roland Garland and Ivy Susannah Wrighton of 21 West Hill Way, Totteridge.

SS Arakaka

The loss of the SS Arakaka on 22 June 1941 and the death of Corporal Richard Wrighton marked a tragic intersection of meteorological necessity, U-boat warfare, and Allied codebreaking efforts during the Second World War. Wrighton, a 23-year-old Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) meteorologist, was among 40 personnel who perished when the vessel was torpedoed by Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Schonder’s U-77 in the North Atlantic. This event underscored the strategic importance of weather observation ships and their vulnerability in a theatre dominated by German submarine tactics, while also highlighting the evolving role of intelligence in countering the U-boat threat.

Richard joined the RAFVR’s Meteorological Branch, a civilian-military hybrid unit established in 1939 to support the expansion of weather services for the Royal Air Force. By June 1941, he was stationed aboard the SS Arakaka, a merchant vessel requisitioned by the Admiralty to collect critical meteorological data in the mid-Atlantic. His role involved transmitting weather observations vital for transatlantic aviation routes and naval operations. This task placed him at the forefront of Allied efforts to mitigate the "data desert" created by wartime radio silence.

Heinrich Schonder, a seasoned U-boat commander credited with sinking 14 ships by mid-1941, had departed Kiel on May 29, 1941, for his fourth patrol. Navigating dense fog and rough seas near Newfoundland, U-77 encountered the Arakaka at 21:36 GMT on 22 June. Schonder’s log noted the vessel’s slow speed and erratic movements, likely due to the challenging conditions. Initial attempts to approach for a surface attack were foiled by worsening visibility, forcing U-77 to submerge and fire a single G7e torpedo from 600 metres. The torpedo struck the engine room, triggering catastrophic flooding that sank the ship within one minute.

Surfacing to assess the damage, U-77’s crew found an oil slick, debris, and survivors clinging to an overturned lifeboat. Interrogations led Schonder to misidentify the ship as the Greek merchantman Alexandra, an error attributed to linguistic confusion or deliberate misinformation by the dying crew. This misreporting delayed Allied confirmation of the Arakaka’s fate until cross-referencing wreckage and personnel records.

Ironically, the Arakaka’s demise coincided with Bletchley Park’s breakthrough in decrypting the German naval Enigma’s "Dolphin" cypher in June 1941. This intelligence coup, facilitated by captured codebooks from German weather ships like the München and Lauenburg, allowed Allied forces to reroute convoys away from U-boat "wolf packs. Schonder’s reliance on weather reports, similar to those the Arakaka had provided, created a vulnerability exploited by cryptanalysts like Alan Turing, whose Bombe machines accelerated decryption of U-boat positions. By 1943, this intelligence would contribute to Schonder’s death aboard a new submarine, U-200.

On U-200’s first patrol, Schonder and his entire crew were killed when the submarine was sunk by depth charges from a British RAF Liberator aircraft.   Intelligence used to track and counter U-200 was decoded at Bletchley Park. Bletchley Park’s codebreakers employed techniques and machines, such as the Bombe, which Alan Turing and others developed. They succeeded in breaking the German naval Enigma cypher in June 1941. This breakthrough allowed Allied forces to read U-boat communications, revealing their positions and intentions, which was crucial for protecting convoys and responding to U-boat attacks.

The Arakaka’s sinking prompted the Admiralty to deploy dedicated weather ships with anti-submarine capabilities, such as HMS Grindall and HMS Hoste, by 1944. Following the war, these efforts evolved into the Ocean Weather Ship network, a Cold War-era system crucial for aviation and climate science. Modern meteorologists, trained through programs like the Met Office’s Foundation Operational Meteorologist course, inherit a legacy shaped by Wrighton’s generation.

 Sources:

U-Boat net

CWGC 1532186