Donovan, John
Steward
SS Jutland (Cardiff), Mercantile Marine
Died as a result of enemy action on Monday 19 November 1917 (aged 53)
No known grave
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Tower Hill Memorial, London
BIOGRAPHY
John Donovan was born on 16 November 1864 in Bangor and he was a son of James and Mary Ann Donovan (nee Leonard).
James Donovan worked as a Coastguard in Groomsport, then as a publican in Bangor and then as a seaman in Bangor.
James and Mary Ann Donovan (nee Leonard) had at least three children:
John (born 16 November 1864 in Bangor)
James (born 14 August 1866 in Bangor)
Unnamed male child (born 7 November 1870 in Bangor)
John Donovan was a seaman and during the Great War he served aboard the SS Jutland. Built by Joseph L. Thompson and Sons of Sunderland, the SS Jutland was a 2824 gross register tonnage (grt) defensively armed British Merchant Ship.
The SS Jutland was on route from Bilbao to Middlesbrough with a cargo of iron ore when she was torpedoed on 19 November 1917 by the German submarine UC-79 in the English Channel about 18 miles North-East of the island of Ushant, Brittany. Twenty-six lives were lost.
Steward John Donovan was killed just three days after his 53rd birthday and he has no known grave. He is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial in London.