Arthur John Griffiths – Merchant Navy, S.S. Empire Wagtail

Able Seaman Arthur John Griffiths – Merchant Navy, S.S. Empire Wagtail

Early Life

Arthur John Griffiths was born in 1919 in Swansea, the son of Alfred Griffiths and Susannah Lovering, who had married in 1913 in Swansea.

1921 Census

By the time of the 1921 Census, the Griffiths family were living at 38 Crymlyn Street, Port Tennant. Alfred, aged 43 and born in Staffordshire, was employed as a Cutter with G. Cohen & Sons Shipbreaking Co., while Susannah, aged 31, managed the home. Their children were Susannah (6), Arthur J. (1), and baby Alfred, less than a month old. Arthur grew up in a busy industrial district of Swansea, surrounded by the docks and shipbreaking yards that shaped much of the town’s working life.

Marriage and Adult Life

In 1942, Arthur married Beatrice Florence Spokes, beginning his own family life shortly before he entered wartime service.

The S.S. Empire Wagtail

S.S. Empire Wagtail 
credit - wrecksite

The S.S. Empire Wagtail was a 4,893‑ton British steam merchant ship, originally built in 1919 by Todd Drydock & Construction Corp., Tacoma, Washington. Launched as the Ossining for the U.S. Shipping Board, she was renamed Point Lobos in 1933 under the Gulf Pacific Mail Line of San Francisco.

In 1941, the vessel was transferred to the British Ministry of War Transport and renamed Empire Wagtail, operating under the management of Smith, Hogg & Co. Ltd., West Hartlepool. Measuring 380 feet in length and powered by a triple‑expansion steam engine, she carried vital wartime cargoes across the Atlantic. On her final voyage, she was laden with 3,857 tons of coal, a critical resource for Britain’s wartime industries and naval operations.

Attack on Convoy ONS 154 – 28^th December 1942

On 28^th December 1942, the Empire Wagtail was sailing with Convoy ONS 154 in the North Atlantic. This convoy came under a coordinated assault by German U‑boats operating in wolf‑pack formation, one of the most feared tactics of the Battle of the Atlantic.

During the attack, the Empire Wagtail was torpedoed and sunk by U‑260. The impact was devastating. Heavily laden with coal, the ship sank rapidly, giving the crew almost no chance to escape into the freezing winter seas.

All 44 men on board were lost. There were no survivors.

The destruction of the Empire Wagtail formed part of the heavy losses suffered by Convoy ONS 154, one of the most tragic convoy battles of late 1942, occurring at a time when the U‑boat threat was at its peak and Allied escort resources were stretched thin.

Death and Commemoration

Merchant Seamen Deaths

Arthur John Griffiths
Tower Hill Memorial, London
credit - findagrave

The Merchant Seamen Deaths register records that Able Seaman Arthur John Griffiths, of 18 Tynmawr Street, Swansea, lost his life on 28^th December 1942 when the Empire Wagtail was sunk.

As he has no known grave, his name is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial, London, which honours the thousands of Merchant Navy personnel who died at sea during both world wars.