Chief Engine Room Artificer
James Anderson
DOW
Royal Navy
40

James Dow was born in Forfar, Angus, in Scotland on 16 January 1878, the third son of Thomas Dow and Elizabeth Dow (née Anderson) of Idvies Farmhouse, Kirkton, Forfar. After leaving school he trained as and qualified as a fitter and turner. By the 2nd Quarter of 1899 he was living in Leicester when he was married to Miss Lizzie Maud Cave and, in the 1901 Census, he was listed as a ‘fitter and turner – steam engine maker’ living with his wife at 87, Hazel Street Leicester.
James Dow joined the Royal Navy as a Direct Entry Acting Engine Room Artificer 4th Class at HMS PEMBROKE II on 19 November 1901. After basic training he was drafted to the pre-Dreadnought battleship HMS JUPITER (Channel Fleet) on 10 June 1902 and served in that ship until 27 January 1903 when he returned to HMS PEMBROKE. He next served in the cruiser HMS TOPAZE (Channel Fleet) from 5 December 1904 and then in the cruiser HMS ADVENTURE from December 1906 to August 1909.
After a brief return to HMS PEMBROKE, James Dow joined submarines in HMS THAMES at Portsmouth on 1 September 1909. The 1911 Census lists James Dow as serving in HMS THAMES and his family living at 19, Chester Road, Gillingham, Kent. He joined the Submarine Depot Ship HMS BONAVENTURE at Harwich on 15 October 1912 and then served in HMS THAMES ‘for Submarine C5’ from 5 August 1914 to 3 April 1915 having been advanced to Chief Engine Room Artificer 2nd Class on 15 January 1915.
On 4 April 1915 James Dow returned to HMS DOLPHIN and was then sent to the Canadian Vickers Shipyard in Montreal to ‘Stand By and Commission’ HMS H10 and ‘for passage to UK’ between 1 July 1915 and 21 October 1915. On arrival, H10 was attached to the Submarine Depot Ship HMS ALECTO at Yarmouth from 20 August 1916. H10 sailed on a North Sea patrol in January 1918 and failed to return. It is believed that she was lost with all hands in a German minefield on or about 20 January 1918.
James Dow married to Lizzie Maud Dow who was living at No. 33, Dock Road, Gillingham, Kent with their three children – Marguerite Emily, William Anderson and James Archibald. He is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial on Panel 29.
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Remembering JA Dow, CERA. He was my great-grandfather, and has not been forgotten. RIP.
Resurgam