David John James Williams

Date of birth: 11th March 1904
Place of birth: Bristol, Gloucestershire, England
Previous occupation: Office Boy
Service: Royal Navy
Rank: Able Seaman
Service Number: J95630
Joined Hood: 15th December 1920
Left Hood: 14th May 1923







Biographical Information: David J J Williams joined the RN as a Boy Second Class in HMS Impregnable on 22 July 1919, soon after the end of World War I. He joined Hood in 1920, not long after her commissioning, as a Boy First Class and was advanced twice during his two and a half years on board, first to Ordinary Seaman and then to Able Seaman. David served in the RN until 1934, at which point, as an ex-Regular, he began his service in the Royal Fleet Reserve. This lasted until 1938, at which point he was demobbed, only to rejoin the RN immediately before the outbreak of World War II. For four years, from 1941 until his final date in 1945, David served in the battleship Duke of York, and so he was present at the sinking of the Scharnhorst in the Battle of the North Cape on Boxing Day 1943. His family reports that, in later life, David said very little about his Royal Navy time.

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