More about David Millar Williamson

David M Williamson was the son of Mr Richard and Mrs Annie Ferguson Williamson of 101 Ancrum Road, Lochee. He was a Millworker when, in 1901, he volunteered to join the Royal Navy as a Boy Second Class and carried out his initial Naval training onboard HMS Northampton, an old sail and steam armoured cruiser and then HMS Calliope, a tender to the Northampton. After a spell in the Naval Barracks in Portsmouth he joined HMS Vengeance in April 1902 as an Ordinary Seaman. Further sea drafts sent him to HM Ships Barfleur, Cochrane, Actaeon, Victorious and Lord Nelson. He was advanced to Petty Officer in 1914 whilst back at Chatham Barracks. On the outbreak of war in August 1914 he was drafted to the cruiser HMS Hogue. The Hogue, along with the cruisers Aboukir and Cressy, was sunk by the German submarine U-9 in the early days of the sea war. The submarine sighted the three ships about 6am and torpedoed the Aboukir in the engine room which caused total power failure. She capsized and sank in half an hour. The other two ships closed to pick up survivors assuming the Aboukir had hit a mine. The Hogue was hit next, followed by the Cressy. Almost 1500 men died in the sinkings. David Williamson is named on the Chatham Naval Memorial in Kent. The wreck of the Hogue was only declared protected in March 2017.

On 6 October 1914, The Courier reported that P.O. David Millar Williamson, H.M.S. Hogue, missing since 22 September, was now officially reported as having been killed in action.
The eldest son of Richard and Annie Ferguson Williamson, 101 Ancrum Road, David had been in the Royal Navy for some thirteen years.
On the morning of 22 September, Hogue, an armoured cruiser of some 12,000 tons, and her sister ships, Aboukir and Cressy, encountered the submarine U-9. Aboukir was torpedoed at 06.20 but her Captain was under the impression that she had struck a mine. As Hogue closed to assist she was struck by two torpedoes at 06.55, capsizing ten minutes later. Cressy unsuccessfully attempted to ram the submarine, and resuming rescue attempts was also torpedoed at 07.20. In all, 62 officers and 1,397 men were lost.
P.O. Williamson is commemorated on the Chatham Memorial, Kent.

LOCHEE HOME MOURNS LOSS OF SON WHO WENT DOWN WITH H.M.S. HOGUE. A Lochee home is mourning the loss of a son who went down to his death with the ill-starred cruiser Hogue.
After a fortnight’s anxious waiting Mr Richard Williamson, 101 Ancrum Road, Lochee, has received a message from the Admiralty that, as no news has been heard of his son David, who was a leading torpedoman on board H.M.S. Hogue, it must be concluded that he went down with the ship.
Leading Torpedoman Williamson was a splendid type of the British navyman. Broad shouldered and genial, he was a favourite wherever he went. Amongst his shipmates he was especially respected.
He joined the Navy thirteen years ago, at the age of seventeen. At the time of the recent manoeuvres he was undergoing training on H.M.S. Vernon at Portsmouth for a torpedo-instructorship. During the manoeuvres he was transferred to the Hogue, and he had not left that vessel when war was declared.
He was a first class petty officer.
Much sympathy is being expressed with his parents in his loss. His younger brother Andrew is also in the Navy. The Courier, Tuesday, 6 October 1914, 4.