More about James Whyte Swanston

James W Swanston was the son of Mr John and Mrs Annie Swanston and was born in Dundee. He was married to Mrs Helen Swanston of 304 Morningside Road, Edinburgh. James Swanston had been the Master of this Clan MacFarlane since July 1914. This ship was a 4,800 ton steam cargo ship completed in 1898 for the Clan Line Steamers. She was sunk on 30 December 1915 by torpedo fired by the German submarine U-38 at a position approximately 65 miles South-East of Cape Martello, Crete. She was en route from the Clyde and Liverpool to Bombay with a general cargo. The attack took place at about 3:45 PM with the crew abandoning the ship in six boats which were tied together for security, but two boats broke loose on the second day and the captain’s boat two days later. None of these was ever seen again. They contained, beside the captain, third officer and third engineer, all the British seamen. The three boats that survived carried 37 persons of whom six were British officers, the remainder being lascars. On January 7th 1916 these boats were sighted by the SS Crown of Aragon having been adrift for 9 days. Thirteen of the lascars had died, leaving only 24 survivors from the 75 persons who had formed the crew. James Swanston is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial in London and in the Dundee Western Cemetery.

For reasons unknown this man was not listed on the original Dundee Roll of Honour, but is remembered on the Tower Hill Memorial.

U-38 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Max Valentiner fired at least one torpedo at the 7,974 ton passenger ship SS Persia of the P&O Line. The Persia was hit in the port boiler room by the torpedo, within a couple of minutes one of the boilers exploded and the ship rolled over and sank. The whole episode took five minutes. Just a few hours later and only five miles from where the Persia had gone down, the U-38 found and torpedoed the SS Clan MacFarlane. She had a crew of 75 who all apparently made it into six lifeboats, but three lifeboats were never found. Valentiner would end up on the British list of war criminals. Read more at wrecksite: https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?58047

James Whyte Swanston   Captain Clan Macfarlane.

THE CAPTAIN OF THE CLAN MACFARLANE.

An Erroneous Report.

On the 17th instant it was reported by a Press Association telegram that the captain (Swanston) and five of the crew of the Clan Macfarlane had been picked up and landed at Marseilles.  This has, unhappily, proved to be erroneous, information to a contrary effect having been received from both the Clan Company and the Admiralty.  Captain Swanston was a son of the late Mr John A. Swanston, solicitor, Dundee.  He was educated at Dollar Institution, and served his apprenticeship to the sea in the Barrie Line, Dundee.  He had been connected with the Clan Line for 16 years, and sailed as captain for five years.  His wife and children reside in Edinburgh, while his mother is resident at Sunnybrae, Kirkcaldy.

It may be remembered that the Clan Macfarlane was torpedoed without warning, on 30th December, the day after the steamer passed Malta, and two hours after the Persia.  Six boats were lowered, and all got off safely.  Three boats were picked up, and their occupants landed at Malta on the 10th inst.  The men on board these arrived at Marseilles by the steamer Lotus on the 16th January.  This is assumed to be the foundation for the erroneous report that the captain and five of the crew were landed at Marseilles on the same day.

Dundee Evening Telegraph 21st January 1916