...Able Seaman Carl Webb was a crewman on the SS Golden Sun in November 1934. Research showed that he was born around the same time as Carl (Charles) Webb who has been claimed, without concrete evidence, to be the Somerton Man...
In numerous discussions with others about the likelihood of AB Carl Webb being the Somerton Man, a wiser man than I, let's call him David, made a really interesting observation, he said if this AB Webb is the Carl (Charles)Webb, where are the tattoos?
It would seem that by far the vast majority of merchant seamen at the time had tattoos. But, the Somerton Man didn't have any.
Read More About Tattoos Here...
Well, here is yet another possible piece of evidence for us. the recording of markings and tattoos on Merchant Seaman records is the norm. Thus when the long-awaited response from the US arrives and the record of their Carl Webb shows that he was indeed born in Footscray and that further he was 5' 8" in height additionally he had tattoos which is something that is not just concrete evidence, it's double reinforced concrete evidence that Carl Webb was not the Somerton Man.
But, at this stage, we don't have the information but at least we know it is coming.
For the record in researching this particular crewman, I searched the Birth and Death records in the US and the UK and could not find a Carl Webb with the same date of birth as Carl (Charles) Webb. True to say there were many of the same name but none with matching DOB.
It's important to note that whilst the research was thorough, I cannot say with absolute certainty that I didn't miss one.