Every Name a Story
On Tower Hill Memorial is the name of Second Engineer Henry Snaith, serving on S.S. Boynton (London) with the Mercantile Marine who died 24/09/1917.
Angela Conroy has submitted the following which appeared in the Illustrated Chronicle 12/10/1917:
SOUTH SHIELDS U-BOAT VICTIM.
News has just been received by his wife in South Shields of the death of Mr Henry Snaith, chief engineer for thirty years, son of the late Mr John Anthony Snaith, of Burnopfield, and of Borough House, Windmill Hill, Gateshead. He was a brother-in-law of Mr Alfred Howson, of Stocksfield. Mr Henry Snaith who served his apprenticeship under Mr Waller at Messrs Black, Hawthorn and Company, and also worked at Messrs Clark, Chapman and Gurney for some time, was well known on Tyneside. During the war, he had been sailing from west ports. Mr Snaith, who was 54 years of age, was an officer on board a steamship which was torpedoed at 11 o’clock at night when he would be in the engine-room or in his quarters. The vessel sank in a few minutes. There is only one survivor, a fireman, who was picked up three hours later by a patrol boat.
(There is an accompanying photo of Henry Snaith alongside the article.)
Henry Snaith is remembered at South Shields on S86.027 and S86.086, in the Mercantile Marine Roll of Honour 1917 and in our List of Ships’ Crews.