J.44055 J. Swift. Tel. R.N.
Joseph Swift, the son of George and Fannie Swift, was born on 15th March 1899 at Dalziel, Motherwell, Lanarkshire, Scotland. The nine members of the family - George (42), Fannie (36), John (20), Hannah (18), Elizabeth (16), Mary Ann (14), George Ernest (7), Charlotte (4) and Joseph (2) - are recorded on the 1901 Census as living at 76 Brandon Street, Motherwell. George Swift was listed on the 1891 Census as a widower and living at 14 Warson Street, Hamilton, Dalziel, with five of his children. George Ernest, Charlotte and Joseph were the children of his second marriage to Fannie.
In April 1904, the parents and their seven younger children took a 2nd class cabin on the S.S. Laurentian, which was embarking on a voyage to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and New York. The family were contracted to land at the former port with their final destination being New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.
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At some point, Joseph must have returned to the United Kingdom because in September 1915 he joined the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class. His Service Record describes him as having black hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion. His occupation is given as a clerk. His initial service was at H.M.S. Ganges, a shore base and boys' training establishment. Then, in July 1916, he joined H.M.S. Maidstone, which had led the 8th Submarine Flotilla to its war station at Harwich in the 1914 mobilisation and remained the principal depot ship for the offensive submarine force at Harwich for the duration of the war. In September 1916, Joseph, now rated as a Boy Telegraphist, transferred to H.M.S. Dolphin, another submarine depot ship.
On 29th January 1917, at Gareloch in the west of Scotland, Submarine K13, which had been built by the Fairfield Company at their Govan shipyard, was ready to undergo her final sea trials before being formally taken into the Royal Navy. This fatal day was to see Britain's worst submarine disaster with 32 men losing their lives and a 57 hour struggle to rescue the survivors.
Submarine K13 would normally have had a complement of 6 officers and 55 ratings but on this day, there were 80 men on board. These included 53 Royal Navy men, the youngest of whom was 17-year-old Boy Telegraphist Joseph Swift. The others were 14 employees from the Fairfield engine and shipyard depots, 5 Admiralty officials, 5 sub-contractors, a River Clyde pilot and Commander Francis Herbert Goodhart DSO and Engineering Officer Lieutenant Leslie Rideal, both of whom were from the crew of Submarine K14 and were aboard as observers.
As the submarine's sea trials began and the vessel slipped beneath the waters of the Gareloch, water began flooding into the engine room. This was due to the engine room ventilators not being fully closed. Lieutenant Commander Godfrey Herbert gave orders to close the watertight doors and blow the ballast tanks in an attempt to return to the surface but the vessel continued to sink, coming to rest on the bed of the Gareloch. The rear section was completely flooded and over 30 men were drowned there. Anyone who wants to read the details of this tragedy and how the 44 men who managed to survive the next 57 hours were finally rescued can find a full account here and here.
After this nightmarish experience, Joseph Swift could be forgiven had he never wanted to see the inside of another submarine but in March 1917, he was back with H.M.S. Maidstone and later served in Submarine E41. This was another "unlucky" vessel and in August 1916 had been involved in a collision and subsequent sinking in which 16 crew members had died. Joseph stayed with E41 until 1919 and was invalided from the service the following year, having been issued with a Silver War Badge.
Submarine K13 was raised on 15th March 1917, refurbished and taken into the service as Submarine K22. Never again would the Admiralty give a submarine the "unlucky" number 13.
In later life, Joseph Swift never forgot his shipmates who had died in Submarine K13 and the local Motherwell paper often reported on his annual pilgrimage to the Gareloch on the anniversary of the tragedy. By the mid 1970s, only two survivors were still alive and on 11th February 1977, the Motherwell Times reported that: Ill health prevented Mr Joseph Swift, Anderson Street, from journeying to a cemetery on the banks of the River Clyde at Gareloch last week to pay silent tribute to the memory of 32 men who were drowned 60 years ago as the result of a submarine disaster.
The following year, on 14th July 1978, the Motherwell Times reported as follows:
Submarine Survivor Dies
The last survivor of the ill-fated submarine K-13, which sank in 50 feet of water in 1917, has died. Motherwell man, Joe Swift, who was a boy telegraphist aboard the vessel, died on Thursday morning, aged 78.
Until recently, Mr Swift, who lived in McClurg Court, had undertaken a yearly pilgrimage to Gareloch, to visit the graves of his colleagues. Mr Swift was a member of Motherwell United Services Club and was a civil servant for 47 years. He served in Motherwell Tax Office.
