Oliver Jones – Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, S.S. Boscawen

Able Seaman Oliver Jones – Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, S.S. Boscawen

Early Life

Oliver Jones was born in 1889 in Pontardawe, the son of Morgan Jones.

Royal Naval Service

Oliver served as an Able Seaman with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during the First World War. Like many RNVR sailors, he was assigned to serve aboard merchant vessels that had been armed for self‑defence against German U‑boats.

Loss of the S.S. Boscawen

The S.S. Boscawen was a defensively‑armed British cargo steamer of 1,936 grt, employed in coastal and short‑sea trade around the British Isles during the war. Although not a warship, she carried a small naval detachment—including men like Oliver—to operate her defensive armament and protect her from submarine attack.

On 21^st August 1918, while sailing in ballast from Birkenhead to Barry, the Boscawen was travelling down the Welsh coast when she was attacked. At a position 23 miles WNW of Bardsey Island, North Wales, she was torpedoed without warning by the German submarine UB‑92, part of the Flanders U‑boat flotilla operating aggressively in the Irish Sea during the final months of the war.

The torpedo struck with devastating effect. Despite being a relatively small vessel, the Boscawen sank quickly. Remarkably, almost the entire crew survived the attack and were rescued.

Only one life was lost—that of Able Seaman Oliver Jones, the ship’s sole fatality. His death stands as a stark reminder that even when a ship survived long enough for most of her crew to escape, the danger to those on watch or stationed near the point of impact was immediate and often fatal.

Commemoration

Oliver Jones
Plymouth Naval Memorial, Plymouth
credit - findagrave

Oliver Jones
Plymouth Naval Memorial, Plymouth
credit - findagrave

As Oliver’s body was not recovered, he is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial, which honours Royal Navy and Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel who have no known grave but the sea