William Schofield was born on 17 June 1888, the son of Mr and Mrs J C Schofield, and joined the Royal Navy in May 1903.

He joined submarines as a Lieutenant in September 1909. In October 1912 he was appointed to command HMS A12. This was followed in March 1913 by command of HMS C29.

On 29 August 1915, C29 ran into an unexpected minefield off of the River Humber, while working with the trawler ARIADNE, and was lost with all hands. At the time, the submarine was being towed whilst dived and was in contact with the trawler when the mine exploded.

William Schofield was the husband of Catherine Mary Schofield. He is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval War Memorial on Panel No. 7.