Joseph Emlyn Morgan – Mercantile Marine - S.S. Bamse

Second Engineer Joseph Emlyn Morgan – Mercantile Marine, S.S. Bamse

Early Life and Family Background

Birth and Parentage

Joseph Emlyn Morgan was born in 1884 in Trefilan, Ceredigion. According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, he was the son of John and Mary Morgan. Though little else is known about his early years, he later became part of South Wales’s longstanding maritime and engineering workforce.

Marriage and Home in Loughor

Joseph married Rachel Anne Richards, and the couple made their home at 8 Penlan Road, Loughor, reflecting the strong regional movement of skilled engineering workers into Swansea Bay’s port communities.

S.S. Bamse

The S.S. Bamse was a British merchant steamship operating during the First World War, engaged in transporting essential cargoes needed to sustain Britain during the conflict. Like many merchant vessels of the era, she sailed unarmed or only lightly armed and faced serious risks from German submarines and naval mines in the North Sea and Western Approaches.

Joseph served aboard the vessel as Second Engineer, a technically demanding role requiring skill, concentration, and endurance. Working deep inside the machinery spaces, he was responsible for maintaining the ship’s engines, boilers, and auxiliary equipment—critical work that kept the steamship operational on long and often dangerous wartime voyages.

S.S. Bamse
Tower Hill Memorial, London
credit - Benjidog Historical Research Resources:
The Merchant Navy Memorial 

On 18^th April 1918, the S.S. Bamse was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine UB-80, resulting in the deaths of Joseph and several of his crewmates. No remains were recovered.

UB-80

UB-80 was a German Type UB III ocean-going submarine of the Imperial German Navy. Built by AG Weser, Bremen, she was launched in 1917 and commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Max Viebeg. Boats of the UB III class were designed for long-range patrols and carried ten torpedoes along with a deck gun, making them well-suited to attacking merchant shipping far from their bases.

Throughout her wartime service, UB-80 operated with the Flanders I and II Flotillas, where she conducted numerous patrols in heavily trafficked shipping lanes of the British Isles. She was credited with sinking around 20 ships, totalling more than 35,000 tons, and damaging several others—part of Germany’s intensified 1917–1918 campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare.

Among the vessels she sank was the S.S. Bamse on 18^th April 1918, the ship on which Joseph Emlyn Morgan served as Second Engineer. UB-80 survived the war but was surrendered on 26^th November 1918 under the terms of the Armistice, later being allocated to Italy and broken up at La Spezia in May 1919.

Legacy

Joseph Emlyn Morgan’s service reflects the dedication and technical skill of the Mercantile Marine’s engineering personnel during the First World War. As Second Engineer, he held a key role at the heart of the vessel’s machinery, working in extreme heat, confined spaces, and under constant threat of sudden attack. His death at thirty-four ended the life of a young husband and skilled tradesman whose abilities contributed to Britain’s wartime survival.

Joseph’s story represents the sacrifice of the many merchant engineers who kept Britain’s supply routes open, often without recognition and at great personal risk. His courage and professionalism place him among the unsung heroes of the maritime war effort.

Commemoration

With no known grave but the sea, Joseph Emlyn Morgan is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial in London, which honours merchant seafarers lost during both World Wars. His name stands alongside those of his shipmates and the many men of the Mercantile Marine whose sacrifices ensured that Britain remained supplied during its hour of greatest need.