Donald H. Williams of 1st section Drake Division, passed away on 22nd August 2026. He had been in a home with his wife for some time suffering with Parkinsons and the after effects of a bad stroke.
Donald was born in 1942 and came from Morden, Surrey. He did not waste his time at the ‘Mercury’, becoming the Leading Hand of Boats’. He was one of the first to pass G.C.E. Seamanship and won the Seamanship award – a crossed anchor badge. He left ‘Mercury’ in July 1959 to join Reardon Smith Line as a deck apprentice. He spent his entire life at sea working through the ranks to Master at a quite early age. During his leave he joined, as a volunteer, the Brisbane, Queensland, branch of the Australian Coast Guard. There he rose to launch Coxswain for 15 years and even when too old/ill to do that, he continued as a shore based Radio Operator.
He was a salty sailor to the end and his ashes are to be scattered at sea by the Coast Guard Chaplin.
Reported by his brother, Dave Williams (4563) on 26th August 2026