Walter Lewis Jenkins – Mercantile Marine - S.S. Tangistan

 Third Engineer Walter Lewis Jenkins – Mercantile Marine, S.S. Tangistan

Early Life

Walter Lewis Jenkins was born in Swansea in 1883, though few records survive to shed light on his early life or family background. Like many men from South Wales during the late Victorian period, Walter grew up surrounded by the industrial and maritime activity that defined the region.

Drawn to the sea, he trained as a marine engineer, a profession that required technical skill, precision, and resilience. Marine engineers like Walter worked below decks, maintaining the engines and machinery that powered the great merchant steamers — a demanding and dangerous role that became even more perilous during wartime.

Service and Loss

By the outbreak of the First World War, Walter Jenkins was serving as Third Engineer aboard the S.S. Tangistan, a British cargo vessel operated by the Ellerman & Bucknall Steamship Company. The ship was part of Britain’s vast merchant fleet, carrying essential goods and supplies across the seas during a time when enemy submarines posed an ever-present threat.

On 9^th March 1915, the Tangistan was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine SM U-12 in the North Sea, off Scarborough, Yorkshire. The attack occurred early in Germany’s campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare. The explosion was devastating, and the vessel sank rapidly, claiming the lives of most of her crew — among them, Third Engineer Walter Lewis Jenkins.

The S.S. Tangistan

S.S. Tangistan

The S.S. Tangistan was a British steam cargo vessel, built in 1906 for the Ellerman & Bucknall Steamship Co. Ltd. (later part of Ellerman Lines). Designed for long-distance trade, she was employed in the transport of vital wartime cargoes such as coal, machinery, and general goods between Britain and its international ports.

On 9^th March 1915, while voyaging north along Britain’s east coast, she was torpedoed without warning by SM U-12. The ship went down quickly off the coast of Scarborough, taking with her much of the crew. The loss of the Tangistan marked one of the early tragedies in the growing German U-boat offensive against Allied merchant shipping.

Her sinking, and the deaths of men like Walter Jenkins, reflected the mounting dangers faced by civilian mariners who continued to sail Britain’s supply routes — even as the seas became a deadly battleground.

The German Submarine SM U-12

The SM U-12 was a Type U 9-class submarine of the Imperial German Navy, constructed at the Kaiserliche Werft, Danzig. She was launched on 6 May 1910 and commissioned on 13^th August 1911. The vessel displaced approximately 493 tons surfaced and 611 tons submerged, and measured about 57 metres in length.

She was armed with four torpedo tubes — two forward and two aft — and carried six torpedoes. Manned by a crew of around 29, the U-12 was capable of reaching speeds of 13 knots on the surface and 8 knots submerged.

During her service, U-12 patrolled the North Sea and English Channel, targeting Allied merchant and naval vessels. Her career was short but active, sinking and damaging several ships before meeting her own end. On 10^th March 1915, just one day after the sinking of the Tangistan, U-12 was rammed and shelled by the British destroyer HMS Ariel near the Firth of Forth. She sank with heavy loss of life, although a handful of her crew were rescued.

The parallel destruction of the Tangistan and the loss of U-12 highlight the deadly and unpredictable nature of early submarine warfare — a new and ruthless form of combat that would claim the lives of thousands of sailors on both sides before the war’s end.

Commemoration

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

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

Third Engineer Walter Lewis Jenkins is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial, London, which honours the officers and men of the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets who died during both World Wars and have no known grave but the sea.

Legacy

Though only limited details survive about his life, Walter Jenkins represents the thousands of Swansea men who served at sea during the First World War. His dedication and ultimate sacrifice reflect the courage and quiet endurance of Britain’s merchant seamen — men whose daily work underpinned the nation’s survival in its darkest hour.

His name, carved into the Tower Hill Memorial, stands as a lasting tribute to those who kept the world’s ships moving through danger, ensuring that their service, though often unseen, would never be forgotten.