John
Firstname
Niven
Middle Name
Low
Surname
Date of Birth
School Years:
Date of Death:
1922 - 5
Family
Father: William Augustus John Low
Mother: Annie Cook Low (nee Snowball)
Wife: Margery Russell Walling
School Record
Following his school career he joined the Scholarship Training vessel HMS Worcester and then served with P. & O. and the New Zealand Shipping Company.
Branch of Service:
Royal Navy
Service Number:
Rank:
Decorations:
Service Record
Lieutenant
MC and campaign medals
Post War Career
He transferred to the royal navy in 1937 and was a regular serving officer on board H. M. S. Unity. It was a U-Class submarine built by Vickers Armstrong and launched on 16th February 1938. She served in home waters in the North Sea. On 29th April 1940, she sailed from Blyth to patrol off Norway. At the same time a Norwegian Freighter S. S. Atle Jarl was on her way from Scotland to the Tyne . Visibility was poor. Unity spotted the other ship 46m away on a collision course off the Tyne entrance. There was time to shut the bulkhead doors and order the engines astern before Atle Jar rammed the submarine. Lt. Francis John Brooks RN gave the order to abandon ship and Unity sank 5 minutes after the accidental collision.
After the order to abandon Unity was given Lt. John Low and able seaman Henry Miller remained behind in the control room and calmly assisted all the other members of the crew to escape. Neither of them survived. 2 other members of the crew of 29 drowned. Low was initially posthumously awarded the Empire Gallantry Medal which was recorded in the London Gazette for 1st January 1941.but later exchanged for the Military Cross. The award was stated to be for supreme gallantry.
Burial Information
John Low's name is recorded on Portsmouth Naval Memorial in Panel 37, Column 1.
Additional Information
There is a full description of him and his exploits in an article written by his wife in the School Magazine Volume 24 of 1976 at pages 74 and 75. It seems that his death might have been prevented but his wife states:- "But this not important. What matters is that in the highest tradition of the Royal Navy, they stayed behind to carry out their Captain's orders without any thought for their own safety".
Other Pictures
