John L. Davies – Mercantile Marine, S.S. Franz Fischer

Master John L. Davies – Mercantile Marine, S.S. Franz Fischer

Birth and Marriage

John L. Davies was born in 1857 in Swansea. Despite searches of available records, no official civil or census documentation relating to his early life has been identified. He married Letitia Davies, who resided at 1 Rhyddings Park Road, Swansea.

Mercantile Marine Service and Death

S.S. Franz Fischer

During the First World War, John served in the Mercantile Marine, holding the rank of Master aboard the S.S. Franz Fischer.

The S.S. Franz Fischer was built by Irvine & Company, West Hartlepool, in 1881, and at the time of her loss had been requisitioned by the Admiralty, London. She was a British steamship of 957 tons.

On 1^st February 1916, Franz Fischer was on a voyage from Hartlepool to Cowes, carrying a cargo of coal, when she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine UB-17. The sinking occurred approximately two miles south of the Kentish Knock lightvessel. Thirteen members of the crew were lost.

John L. Davies
Tower Hill Memorial
credit - Benjidog Historical Research Resources:
The Merchant Navy Memorial

Note: Some contemporary and later sources attribute the loss of Franz Fischer to an attack by a zeppelin; however, this is now considered incorrect, with submarine action accepted as the cause.

John L. Davies was among those who lost their lives. 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.