Frederick William Forbes was the son of James and Anne Forbes. He was born about 1880 in at North Shields, Tyne and Wear. During the war, Frederick William Forbes was Chief Engineer on the Mercantile Marine steam cargo ship, S.S. Myrtle Branch (Sunderland). Myrtle Branch was a 3,741 GRT steam cargo ship. The Maple Branch was captured by the German cruiser Karlsruhe in the Atlantic in September 1914 and he spent seven weeks as a prisoner of war. Myrtle Branch was sunk on 11th April 1918 by a torpedo approximately nine nautical miles north of Inistrahull, County Donegal. Chief Engineer Frederick William Forbes, Mercantile Marine, died at sea on 11th April 1918. He was 38 years old.
The Tower Hill Memorial commemorates men and women of the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets who died in both World Wars and who have no known grave. It stands on the south side of the garden of Trinity Square, London, close to The Tower of London.
