SWEETNAM Cuthbert Benjamin

Listed on the memorial as Cuthbert B. Sweetman.

There is no record of a Cuthbert Sweetman on Commonwealth War Graves Commission, he can be found on their website under the correct spelling of his surname SWEETNAM.

The birth of Cuthbert Benjamin Sweetnam is registered in the June Quarter 1908 under the Cardiff Registration District.  The marriage of Cuthbert B. Sweetnam to Margaret M.S. MacGill is registered in the September Quarter 1940 under the Cardiff Registration District.

HMS Dasher was converted from a cargo ship to an aircraft carrier and commissioned by the Royal Navy in July 1942. In early 1943 the ship returned to Scotland for repairs to some minor damage received during the landings in North Africa and convoy duty. On 27th March 1943, following the repairs, she was undergoing trials in the Firth of Clyde when a catastrophic explosion occurred on board the ship, believed to have been an accidental explosion of aviation fuel. She sank within 8 minutes with the loss of 379 men, killed by the explosion, by hypothermia from being in the icy waters of the Clyde or by the burning oil that spread across the surface of the sea. The loss of the ship was kept secret by the government until 1945 due to wartime restrictions.

Cuthbert Sweetnam has no known grave, the photograph available shows his name as C. Sweetnam on Plymouth Naval Memorial.