Stoker Petty Officer
William
SWEETMAN
Royal Navy
29
William Sweetman was born in Manchester on 7 January 1911, the third child of William and Gertrude (née Angell) Sweetman, with Frederick (1902), Gertrude (1905), Ethel (1913), John (1917) and Beatrice (1920) completing the family unit living in Hulme, South Manchester, Lancashire.
His service documents record that he was a van boy (horse) and had also joined the RNVR. He joined the Royal Navy on 30 July 1929 at HMS VIVID II as a Stoker Second Class. Drafted to the Submarine Depot Ship HMS LUCIA on 2 January 1930, he was maybe immediately attracted to the submarine service as he volunteered for submarines on 2 February. On 1 June 1930 he was advanced to Stoker First Class.
Between July 1931 and March 1933 he served in the light cruisers HMS COLOMBO, HMS DELHI before being drafted to Malta for HMS BEAGLE. Returning to the UK in August 1933 with drafts to VIVID II then HMS DRAKE, the Devonport Naval Barracks, on 1 June 1934 he was drafted to HMS DOLPHIN, presumably for submarine training as on 16 October he was drafted to the depot ship HMS MEDWAY as HMS ORPHEUS ship’s company where, on 12 May 1935, he was rated Acting Leading Stoker. On 1 October 1935 he had a move to HMS OLYMPUS where he was confirmed as Leading Stoker on 12 May 1936.
On 1 October 1936 he was drafted to HMS REGULUS then on 15 April 1937 to HMS DOLPHIN where on 4 September he was assigned to HMS SEAWOLF. On 22 April 1939 he was drafted to HMS MEDWAY as ship’s company, where he was rated Acting Stoker Petty Officer on 31 May 1939, then to LUCIA on 25 October 1939, being assigned to HMS ODIN which he joined at Colombo on 20 January 1940.
After a prolonged war patrol in the Indian Ocean, HMS ODIN transited to the Mediterranean in April 1940. On 4 Jun ODIN departed Malta for her first Mediterranean war patrol. She was attacked and may have been sunk by Italian destroyers and torpedo boats on the night of 13/14 June, or she may have subsequently run into a mine, however ODIN failed to return from patrol and was lost with all hands.
William Sweetman was officially declared dead, along with the rest of ODIN’s crew, on 27 June 1940. He was the husband of Alice Evelyn Cuff, of Oldham, Lancashire, whom he had married in the Autumn of 1937 and Alice gave birth to son William in Gosport in the Spring of 1938.
He is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial on Panel 40, Column 2.
One Response
William was my grandfather, I have his documents and medals, my family are very proud of him. I lived with my grandmother (Alice) when I was younger and she very rarely spoke of him, however we know she missed him very much.