Arthur Bowden – Mercantile Marine, S.S. Don Arturo

Wireless Operator Arthur Bowden – Mercantile Marine, S.S. Don Arturo

Birth and Family Background

Arthur Bowden was born in 1897 at Neath, the son of Herbert and Elizabeth Bowden. Despite searches of available records, no official civil or census documentation relating directly to Arthur has been identified. His parents are known to have resided at 28 Ysgol Street, St Thomas.

Mercantile Marine Service and Death

During the First World War, Arthur served in the Mercantile Marine, holding the rank of Wireless Operator aboard the S.S. Don Arturo.

The S.S. Don Arturo was a British merchant steamship of 3,680 gross register tons, built in 1906 by Craig Taylor of Stockton-on-Tees, England, for the Buenos Aires & Pacific Railway Company Ltd. (Dodd), London.

On 25^th June 1917, while on a voyage from Algiers and Oran to the River Tees, Don Arturo was torpedoed by the German submarine UC-62. The ship was sunk approximately 90 miles west-south-west of the Scilly Isles.

Arthur Bowden
Tower Hill Memorial
credit - Benjidog Historical
Research Rescources:
The Merchant Navy Memorial

Arthur Bowden
Tower Hill Memorial
credit - Benjidog Historical
Research Rescources:
The Merchant Navy Memorial

Arthur Bowden was among those who lost their lives in the sinking. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial, London, which honours members of the Merchant Navy who died during the First World War and have no known place of burial.