Schwann joined the Royal Navy in 1892,[1] and was a lieutenant when in July 1902 he was posted as junior staff to HMS Vernon, naval torpedo school ship at Chatham dockyard.
[2] In 1910 Schwann was selected to assist Captain Murray Sueter who was conducting pioneering naval aviation work with airships.
[3] In November 1912, after Schwann had qualified as a pilot, he was appointed assistant director of the Air Department at the Admiralty,[4] making him deputy to Murray Sueter.
[4] He retired from the RAF for the second time in July 1940 and afterwards worked as the Air Liaison Officer for the North Midland Region.
[4] Swann died only three years after the end of the Second World War on 7 March 1948 at his home in Littleton, Guildford.