William Henry Hughes was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, on the 31st July 1891, the son of Samuel Henry and Alice Hughes (née Gardner). He was one of eleven children, and his father was a cab driver who worked for a carriage company.
At the time of his birth, his family resided at 9. Tranmere Vale, Birkenhead, but some years later were residing at 17. Clarendon Street, where they lived for many years.
On completing his education, William worked as a labourer before becoming a fireman in the Mercantile Marine and joined the Lusitania on the morning of the 17th April 1915 before she left on her last ever voyage out of the River Mersey. It was his second voyage on the liner.
Having completed her voyage to New York without mishap, the Lusitania left that port on the afternoon of the 1st May 1915 for what became her last ever trans-Atlantic crossing. Six days later, on the afternoon of the 7th May, she was torpedoed and sunk within sight of the southern Irish coast by the German submarine U-20, only hours away from her home port. William Hughes was fortunate enough to survive this action, and having been rescued from the sea, he was safely landed at Queenstown. He was aged 23 years at the time.
He managed to return to his home on Sunday, the 9th May, and some days later was interviewed by a representative of the Birkenhead & Cheshire Advertiser: -
…”We came across the Atlantic at full speed,” Mr. Hughes told our representative, “until we passed the Fastnet, when we slowed down to about fifteen knots an hour. We had been ‘firing’ every five minutes across, and after passing the Fastnet, we ‘fired’ every fifteen minutes or so. I was in the engine room to for’ard, and without any warning whatever we were torpedoed. The boilers crumpled up like pieces of paper and everything was pitched into darkness. I groped about to get out, and had to force a ventilator. I got on deck and soon realised what had happened. People were rushing about, but, singular to say, there was practically no panic.
“I saw a young woman with a child, and she was crying for her other baby. I told her to wait and I would go and look for it. When I came back the woman had gone, and soon afterwards the ship took the final plunge. I was watching the captain shouting his orders. I have the greatest admiration for his conduct. He stuck on the bridge to the last, and when the vessel was going down he floated off the bridge and called for help. A member of the crew, John Hughby, of Rock Ferry, shouted, ‘All right skipper. There’s a boat coming.’ I slipped off the Lusitania as she went down and clung to a boat line, and after struggling in the water for about three-quarters of an hour I was picked up by a boat. I saw the captain picked up a little later. …
It is not known who the crew member from Rock Ferry, who William Hughes stated was John Hughby as no person of that name, or a similar name, was listed as a crew member.
Nothing further is known about William Hughes’s life except that in 1921 he was still residing at the Clarendon Street address and that he continued to serve as a merchant seaman until at least 1941.
One of his brothers, 24820 Private David Hughes, 2nd Bn. South Wales Borders, was killed in action at Mesnil Ridge, on the Somme, on the 6th April 1916, aged 21 years. He is buried in Mesnil Ridge Cemetery, Mesnil-Martinsart, France.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Cheshire Diocese of Chester Parish Baptisms 1538 – 1911, 1891 Census of England, 1901 Census of England, 1911 Census of England, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Birkenhead & Cheshire Advertiser, Britain Merchant Seamen 1918 – 1941, PRO BT 351/1/66768, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 17th January 2024.