Richard William John – Merchant Navy, Fishing Vessel Charmouth

Deck Hand Richard William John – Merchant Navy, Fishing Vessel Charmouth

Early Life and Family Background

Richard William John was born in 1917 in Swansea, the son of Arthur Gwilym John and Mary Tucker, who had married in 1906 at Pontypridd.

1921 Census

By the time of the 1921 Census, the John family were living at 13 Taff View, Abercynon. Arthur was absent from the census return, but Mary Ann, aged 30, was recorded undertaking household duties and caring for her children. Present in the home were Rose, aged 11; Edward, 9; and Glyn George, 7, all attending school, together with the younger children Richard William, aged 3, and Percy Noel, aged 2. The census captures a young family rooted in the industrial communities of the Cynon Valley.

Merchant Navy Service

As an adult, Richard William John entered the Merchant Navy, serving as a Deck Hand, a role involving essential duties in handling gear, maintaining the vessel, and supporting navigation and fishing operations. His service took place during a period when the dangers of wartime had not yet fully receded. Even after the Second World War, merchant seamen continued to lose their lives at sea, as the waters around Britain and Ireland remained hazardous due to wartime mines and the lingering effects of global conflict.

Loss of the Fishing Vessel Charmouth

Merchant Seamen Deaths

According to Merchant Seamen Deaths, Richard—by then of 10 Park View, Abercynon—lost his life following the sinking of the Fishing Vessel Charmouth on 14 November 1946. The FV Charmouth (M242) was a British‑registered trawler operating off the Irish coast. While fishing 20 miles off Ballycotton, County Cork, the vessel picked up a mine in her trawl. The explosion that followed destroyed the ship and resulted in the loss of her crew, including Deck Hand Richard William John. The tragedy illustrates the grim reality that, even in peacetime, the seas remained deadly, with wartime mines continuing to claim the lives of merchant seafarers.

Richard William John
Tower Hill Memorial
credit - Benjidog Histroical Research Resources.
The Merchant Navy Memorial

Commemoration

With no known grave but the sea, Richard William John is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial, London, where his name stands among those of Merchant Navy personnel who lost their lives both during and after the Second World War. Though the surviving details of his life are limited, his service and sacrifice remain part of the maritime story of Abercynon, Swansea, and the wider communities whose men worked at sea.