Alaw Francis Dalton – Merchant Navy, S.S. Empire Springbuck
Third Officer Alaw Francis Dalton – Merchant Navy, S.S. Empire Springbuck
Early Life
Alaw Francis Dalton was born in 1919 in Swansea,
the son of Walter Francis Dalton and Irwin Tasmania Davies, who
had married in 1918, also in Swansea.
Family
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| 1921 Census |
The 1921 Census records the Dalton family living at 38 Bath Road, Morriston. Alaw appears under the name Alan and is listed as a “nephew”, a clerical inconsistency occasionally found in census returns. His father, Walter Francis Dalton, aged 28 and born in Ireland, was employed as a Sea‑Going Engineer with The National Oil Refiners, Skewen, while his mother Irwin, aged 30, was at home caring for their young son, Alan Francis, then aged 2.
Service in the Merchant Navy
Alaw later joined the Merchant Navy, serving as a Third
Officer, a responsible deck officer role involving navigation, watch‑keeping,
and the safe operation of the vessel. His recorded home address at the time of
his service was “Rhiw Gollen”, Tan‑y‑Lan Road, Morriston. The Merchant
Seamen Deaths register also records that his wife was Jean Dalton,
residing at the same address.
Sinking of the S.S. Empire Springbuck – 9th–10th September 1941
The S.S. Empire Springbuck was a 5,591‑ton
British steam merchant ship, originally built in 1918 in Seattle as Westmead
before entering British service and being renamed. By 1941 she was operated by W.A.
Souter & Co. Ltd., Newcastle‑upon‑Tyne, and was engaged in the
hazardous transatlantic supply routes vital to Britain’s survival.
In early September 1941, the vessel was part of Convoy SC‑42,
which had sailed from Sydney, Cape Breton, carrying steel and
phosphates to the United Kingdom. Heavy seas and the strain of convoy
manoeuvres caused several ships to fall behind, and the Empire Springbuck
became a straggler—a perilous situation in the mid‑Atlantic, where
German U‑boats patrolled aggressively.
On 9th September 1941, the ship was
sighted by the German submarine U‑81. In the early hours of 10th
September, the U‑boat launched a torpedo attack. The torpedo struck the Empire
Springbuck with devastating force.
The explosion tore through the vessel, and she sank rapidly
in the cold North Atlantic. All 39 men on board were lost—there were no
survivors. No distress signal was recorded, and no wreckage or bodies were
recovered. The loss of the Empire Springbuck was one of several suffered
by Convoy SC‑42 during one of the most intense convoy battles of 1941.
Among those who perished was Third Officer Alaw Francis
Dalton, whose duties would have placed him on the bridge or in navigational
oversight at the time of the attack.
Death and Commemoration
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| Merchant Seamen Deaths |
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| Alaw Francis Dalton Tower Hill Memorial, London credit - Benjidog Historical Research Resources: The Merchant Navy Memorial |
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