John Byron was born at Church Coppenhall, Crewe, Cheshire on 5 November 1876, the son of John and Ann Byron. He joined the Royal Navy as an Engine Room Artificer Fourth Class on 23 January 1899. He served in the battleships HMS REPULSE and HMS SWIFTSURE and in the cruiser HMS BLENHEIM before he joined submarines on 21 April 1908.

He was drafted to the Submarine Depot Ship HMS THAMES and then HMS BONAVENTURE until 30 May 1913 and he then served in the cruiser HMS BOADICEA, followed by Torpedo Boat No. 115. John Byron re-joined the submarine service on 6 December 1915, serving in the Submarine Depot Ships HMS TITANIA, HMS DOLPHIN, HMS MAIDSTONE, and HMS LUCIA. It is understood that he was drafted to HMS G12 whilst attached to HMS LUCIA as a note on his Service Record dated 15 March 1917 reports ‘Noted for War Service in SM G12’.

John Byron was promoted to Artificer Engineer on 15 March 1917 and appointed on 16 July 1917 to HMS J2 as Engineer. John Byron was loaned to the Royal Australian Navy and appointed to J2 as the Engineer from 25 March 1919 to 1920. His rank was changed to Warrant Engineer with his Seniority as Artificer Engineer. His next appointment was HMS L4 as Engineering Officer to date 23 April 1920. This was followed by a further appointment to HMS L3 as Engineering Officer to date 18 June 1921.

He was appointed to HMS DOLPHIN on 24 May 1922 and to HMS L24 as Engineering Officer on 5 February 1923. L24 was lost with all hands in a collision with the battleship HMS RESOLUTION off Portland on 10 January 1924. No Next of Kin or other family information is available for John Byron.