David Ferguson Welsh second from left standing

Naval List 1914

UK Government HMS Aboukir at Malta

David was born on the 20th August 1882 in South Charlton, Northumberland to Andrew Scott Welsh, born in 1848, and Margaret (nee Fairbairn), born in 1849. He was educated at the Church of England Aided school in Embleton. Andrew Scott Welsh married Margaret Fairbairn in Alnwick in 1875. According to the Electoral Registers, the family resided in Embleton in 1889. Andrew Scott Welsh was a relieving officer and registrar of births and deaths for the Embleton district.

Andrew Scott Welsh was born in Rennington, Northumberland to Daniel, born in 1812, and Jane Welsh, born in 1814. However, by 1851, Jane was already a widow. Daniel Welsh married Jane Scott on the 24th May 1835 in Alnwick, Northumberland, and Daniel was a joiner. Andrew’s father, Daniel, died on the 28th August 1849 at only 37 years of age. Andrew’s mother, Jane, died in January 1892 aged 78 years.

Margaret Fairbairn was born in Embleton to Robert and Sarah Fairbairn, and Robert was born in Scotland in 1822 and he was a shepherd. Robert married Sarah Mattison (also called Mathison), born in 1824, in 1846 at Glendale, Northumberland. Margaret had several siblings, Jane Fairbairn, born in 1847, Thomas Mathison Fairbairn, born in 1851, died 6th August 1920, Elizabeth Isabella Fairbairn, born in 1854, married William Buddle, died 29th April 1898, John Mathison Fairbairn, born in 1856, died 6th March 1859, Andrew Fairbairn, born in 1858, died 20th May 1880, aged 22, and John Mathison Fairbairn, born in Dec 1863, died 13th January 1864. Margaret’s father, Robert, died in Alnwick on the 2nd February 1880 and is buried in Warkworth Cemetery. Margaret’s mother, Sarah, died on the 2nd July 1900 and is buried at Warkworth Cemetery with her husband and other members of her family.

David’s siblings were, Mary Welsh, born 1836, married George Easton in, died 12th November 1872; Elizabeth Welsh, born 1838, died 22nd April 1909, aged 70, Thomas Welch, born 1840, died 3rd March 1871; William Welch, born 1844 and Sarah Welch, born 1849, died 1863, aged 12.

In 1911, David was boarding with Grace Borthwick Ferguson at 93, Redheugh Road, Gateshead, and he was an engine fitter’s apprentice. David’s father, married brother, Andrew, and wife, Edith Annie, were residing at Falloden Mill, Christon Bank, Hexham, Northumberland. Young Andrew was a farmer.

David was initiated into the St Oswin’s Lodge of Freemasonry on 16th March 1914 at North Shields. He classed himself as a Marine Engineer. The Lodge became constituted on 4th November 1889 and meetings were held at either the Grand Hotel, Sea Banks, Tynemouth, or the Masonic Hall, Norfolk Street, North Shields, Northumberland.

David joined the Royal Naval Reserve on the 2nd September and served on the H.M.S. Aboukir, ship number 108151, from the 5th September. He was described as five feet nine and three quarters inches tall with dark eyes and a fresh complexion with the service number 1198.

H.M.S. Aboukir was a Cressy-class armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy and launched on the 16th May 1900. She was completed on the 3rd April 1902, and assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet, where she was involved in combined manoeuvres with other ships of the cruiser and channel divisions, before escorting the damaged battleship, H.M.S. Hood, from Malta to Gibraltar. She was placed in reserve on returning home in 1912. At the start of World War 1, she was re-commissioned and assigned to the 7th Cruiser Squadron in August 1914. The Squadron was to patrol the Broad Fourteens of the North Sea in support of destroyers and submarines based at Harwich, which protected the eastern end of the English Channel from the German warships attempting to attack the supply route between England and France. H.M.S. Aboukir was part of Cruiser Force ‘C’, in reserve off the Dutch Coast during the Battle of Heligoland Bight on 28th August 1914, and saw no action.

On the morning of the 22nd September 1914, Aboukir and her sister ships, Cressy and Hogue, were on patrol without any destroyers as escort because they had been forced to seek shelter from bad weather. The three ships travelled in line abreast about 2,000 yards apart. They had lookouts posted, and one gun manned on each side, to attack any submarines sighted, although this was not expected. The weather had improved and eight destroyers were en route from Harwich to reinforce the cruisers.
SM U-9, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Otto Weddigen, had been ordered to attack British transports at Ostend but had been forced to dive to shelter from the storm. On surfacing, the British ships were spotted and SM U-9 moved to attack.

SM U-9 was a German Type U9 U-boat, and was one of 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy. She engaged in commerce raiding in World War 1. On 16th July 1914, her crew reloaded her torpedo tubes whilst submerged – the first time any submarine had succeeded in doing so. During her attack on the Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy, nicknamed the ‘Live Bait Squadron’, she fired four torpedoes, reloading while submerged and sank all three in less than an hour. This attack showed for the first time the capabilities of submarines in war.

Aboukir was struck by a torpedo on the port side at 06.20. Her captain, John Drummond, thought he had hit a mine and ordered the other ships to close to receive the wounded men. Aboukir began listing rapidly and capsized at 06.55 despite having counter flooding compartments on the opposite side to right her. By the time the ‘abandon ship’ was ordered, only one boat was available because the others had either been smashed or could not be lowered because there was no steam to power the winches. As Hogue approached, her captain, Wilmot Nicholson, realised there had been a submarine attack and signalled Cressy to look for a periscope. Hogue continued to close on Aboukir as her crew threw overboard anything that would float in order to help the survivors in the water. Hogue stopped and lowered all her boats but was then struck by two torpedoes around 06.55.

The loss of weight from firing the torpedoes meant that U-9 came to the surface and Hogue’s gunners opened fire without effect before U-9 could submerge again.
Hogue capsized about ten minutes later, as all her watertight doors had been open, and sank at 07.15. Cressy tried, unsuccessfully, to ram the submarine and resumed the rescue efforts. She, too, was torpedoed at 07.20. She listed heavily and capsized before sinking at 07.55. Several Dutch ships, along with British fishing trawlers, began rescuing survivors at 08.30. The destroyers eventually arrived at 10.45. 837 men were rescued, and 62 officers and 1,397 enlisted men were lost from the three ships. Aboukir lost a total of 527 men, one of which was David whose body has never been found.

David was awarded the 1914 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.

Acknowledgments: Barney Rice

David Ferguson Welsh is remembered in Embleton on E27.01 and E27.05, in the Alnwick Gazette Almanack page 56, in Tynemouth on T36.14 page 28, and on the Northumberland Masonic Roll of Honour and the Masonic St Oswins Lodge ROH and on our List of Ships’ crews.

The Fallen of Embleton 1914-1919
The CWGC entry for Engine Room Artificer Welsh