Joseph Neibla – Mercantile Marine - S.S. Olwen

Engineer Joseph Neibla – Mercantile Marine, S.S. Olwen

Early Life and Background

Birth and Origin

Joseph Neibla was one of Swansea’s foreign-born residents who served with the Mercantile Marine during the First World War. Born in 1883 in Spain, little is known about his early life, and most of the information preserved about him comes from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Family Life in Swansea

Joseph later married Freda Ayre, and the couple settled in Swansea, living at 1 Waterloo Street. Like many who came from overseas to the busy port town, Joseph found work in the maritime trades and ultimately served at sea as an engineer.

Service at Sea

Engineer Aboard S.S. Olwen

Joseph served as an Engineer aboard the S.S. Olwen, a British merchant steamship active throughout the First World War. Merchant vessels like the Olwen carried essential cargoes, including coal, fuel, and supplies, but were highly vulnerable to submarine attack, especially in the closing years of the war.

Last Voyage and Loss of the S.S. Olwen – June 1918

The S.S. Olwen departed Swansea on 6^th June 1918, bound for Cherbourg with a cargo of coal. After leaving port, the vessel was not heard from again.
Her disappearance occurred during a period of intense German U-boat activity, and surviving records indicate that she was almost certainly lost through enemy submarine action. Joseph Neibla was among those who perished, leaving no survivors to report the exact circumstances of the sinking.

The U-boat Threat in 1918

The precise U-boat responsible for the loss of the Olwen is not identified in the surviving wartime documentation, a situation common among merchant ship losses late in the war. Numerous submarines, including UB and UC coastal U-boats and long-range U-cruisers, were active around the Bristol Channel, English Channel, and Western Approaches, where the Olwen would have sailed on her route from Swansea to Cherbourg.

These submarines frequently attacked coal ships, which were vital to Allied logistics. Vessels were often sunk without warning and disappeared without a trace—just as the Olwen did.

Legacy

Although only limited information survives about Joseph’s life, his story stands as a testament to the many foreign-born sailors who became part of Swansea’s maritime community. As an Engineer, he worked in the dangerous environment of the engine room, responsible for the machinery that powered the ship. His loss, along with the disappearance of the Olwen, reflects the constant peril faced by those who kept British shipping moving throughout the war.

Joseph’s life also illustrates the international nature of the Mercantile Marine, where men from many nations worked together during one of the most dangerous periods in maritime history.

Commemoration

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

As Joseph Neibla has no known grave but the sea, his name is inscribed on the Tower Hill Memorial in London. The memorial honours the thousands of merchant seafarers who died during the World Wars without a known resting place.
His name stands among those who gave their lives in service to Britain’s wartime maritime trade, ensuring that his sacrifice—and the loss of the Olwen and her crew—is not forgotten.