Thomas Scandlon was born on 19 August 1891 at Penarth, Cardiff, the eldest of four surviving children of Thomas Scandlon, a foreman labourer and ship rigger, and his wife Mary.  Both his parents came from Youghal, County Cork, and the family settled at Barry, South Wales, where his father worked in the shipyard.  Both Thomas (son) and his next younger brother, John, are recorded in the 1911 census as Marine Engineer apprentices.

On 29 April 1915, Thomas Scandlon was Third Engineer on the SS CHERBURY, an Admiralty Collier carrying 5000t of coal from Barry to Cromarty via the West of Ireland, when she was attacked by U-30.  After an unsuccessful torpedo attack, the CHERBURY sought to evade the submarine, but was eventually caught. The 21-strong crew were ordered to take to boats and the ship was boarded and scuttling charges placed. The crew had to row some 13 miles to Eagle Island Lighthouse, County Mayo.

This experience may have led to Thomas Scandlon’s decision to enrol in the Royal Naval Reserve as an Engine Room Artificer on 10 May 1915, when he stated his date of birth to be 19 August 1892. After a short time at HMS VIVID at Devonport, he joined the armoured cruiser HMS BERWICK from June to November 1915. On 13 January 1916 he joined HMS DOLPHIN, and in April 1916 transferred to HMS TITANIA (for G3 or G5 – his RNR record is not clear).  HMS TITANIA was depot ship for the Eleventh Submarine Flotilla based at Blyth, Northumberland. However, a month later he was returned to HMS DOLPHIN and a few weeks later on 7 June 1916 he was discharged medically from RN Hospital Plymouth as unfit owing to pulmonary tubercle, a disease noted on his RNR record as ‘attributable’.  He died on 26 December 1916 in Cardiff; his record also mentions ‘as a result of gas poisoning’.  Payments of Naval Prize Money were made to his parents in 1920 and 1923.

He is commemorated, along with his brothers John and William, who also saw service with the Merchant Marine during WW1 and died of illness in 1916 and 1921 respectively, at St Helen’s Catholic Church in Barry, and in the Barry Memorial Hall. He is not recorded by CWGC.