World War I - Naval Casualties 1915 - 1918
NB. The list below is not exhaustive
H.M.S. Formidable
(Torpedoed 1st January 1915)
Two men from Northbourne served on H.M.S. Formidable, Seaman George Brading and Chief Petty Officer Walter Horton aged 41. Their names are commemorated on the War Memorial in St. Augustine's Church, Northbourne.
The battleship was launched November 17th 1898 at Portsmouth and served in the Mediterranean Fleet up to April 1908 when she was transferred to the Channel Fleet. In 1912 she formed part of the 5th Battle Squadron, which consisted of eight battleships and two cruisers, and was serving with this squadron at the outbreak of World War I in 1914. The ship left Sheerness 30th December 1914 to take part in a firing exercise off Portland. On Friday 1st January 1915 she was struck by a torpedo from German U-boat U 24 (Kapitanleutnant Rudolph Schneider). The torpedo struck the starboard side abreast of her foremost funnel; the ship sank with the loss of 547 lives from her complement of 780 (233 survived). U-boat U 24 surrendered at the end of the war and was eventually broken up at Swansea in 1922.
H.M.S. Formidable's armament consisted of four 12inch guns, twelve 6 inch
guns, sixteen 12 pdr guns, two 12 pdr guns, six 3 pdr guns, 2 maxims
and four torpedo tubes. Displacement: 15,000 tons. Speed: 18
knots.
The Deal walmer and Sandwich Mercury on 9th January 1915 reported
the career details of 12 local men, below is an extract from the report,
which included a photograph of Walter Horton wearing his two service medals:
NoteIn all, so far we have been able to ascertain, 12 men from Deal, Walmer and the district perished in the ship. These were:
Arnold, Lewis T., Pte. R.M.L.I.
Bennett, William, Pte. R.M.L.I.
Fuggles, George Fredk. Corpl. R.M.L.I.
Horton, Walter, W.O., R.N.
Huxtable, E., Pte. R.M.L.I.
Lee, Frederick Arthur, Pte. R.M.L.I.
May, Henry George, Pte. R.M.L.I.
Newing, Percy David Signaller Boy, R.N.
Royes, F. L., Pte. R.M.L.I.
Stiggant, Walter H., Pte. R.M.L.I.
Whiddett, W., Pte. R.M.L.I.
White, Thomas Henry, Sergt. R.M.L.I.
W.O. WALTER HORTON, R.N. was a Northbourne man, son of the late Leonard Horton, of that parish, and Mrs. Bowles, now residing at 111, West-street, Deal. Educated at Northbourne School, he entered the navy as a boy at the age of 16, and in November last completed 24 years service. He was 40 years of age, and was looking forward to retiring on a pension, which he would have done before this but for the war. W.O. Horton was married, and had his home in Gillingham, where he leaves a widow and two children aged 18 months and 2½ years, and two step-children, aged 5 and 8. He had a medal for war service in connection with the operations against the Mad Mullah[1] and also the long service and good conduct medal.
[1] - Mohammed Abdullah Hassan (The "Mad Mullah" 1864-1920), an Islamic teacher, orator and a poet, who for 20 years led armed resistance to the British, Italian, and Ethiopian colonial forces in Somaliland. In 1889 he gathered an army called the dervishes. No decisive actions were fought until 1902, and the British forces suffered several set-backs. A reinforced force under Major-General Sir Charles Egerton (The Fourth Somaliland Expedition) inflicted a decisive defeat on the Somalis at Jidballi in 1904 ending hostilities until the resumption of dervish raiding in 1909, which continued until his death in 1920.
H.M.S. Clan McNaughton
(Sunk 3rd February 1915)
Frederick Edward Johnson, aged 17 son of William
and Ann Johnson of Ham Ponds in Ham was aboard H.M.S. Clan McNaughton when
it went down. His older brother John Johnson,
aged 35, a private in the East Kent Regiment was killed
later in the war in 1917. They are both commemorated on the Ham War Memorial.
This armed merchant cruiser sank off the north coast of Ireland with
the loss of all 261 on board including the Captain Commander Robert Jeffreys
R.N. Nothing is known about the cause, some wreckage was found and the ship may have struck a mine. His death is recorded in 'Deal Walmer and Sandwich
Mercury' Saturday 6th March 1915:
Ist Class Boy F. E JOHNSON R.N.
One of the crew reported missing from the ill-fated armed merchant cruiser, H.M.S. Clan McNaughton (which has been missing since Feb. 3rd, and is feared to have been lost during the severe gale experienced at the time), was Frederick Edward Johnson, boy 1st class, whose parents reside at Ham Brooks, Eastry. A native of the village, Johnson would have been 17 in June next. He was educated at Northbourne School, and was at one time employed by Mr. A. E. Woodruff, chemist and stationer, Eastry. He had been in the Navy nearly 12 months, and was home on 40 hours leave on the 21st January, it being some consolation to his family that they were able to see him, though for a short a time only, before his last voyage. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have two other sons serving, one in the Buffs and one in the Royal Sussex Regt. The deceased had also five cousins in the Roll of Honour, one of whom went down in H.M.S. Hawke.
Deal, Walmer & Sandwich Mercury on 26 August 1939 records: - Mr and Mrs William Johnson of Ham Ponds, Eastry, will celebrate their diamond wedding on Tuesday, having been married at Waldershare church near Dover in 1879, by Rev. Walter Hamilton. Mr and Mrs Johnson have lived at Ham for well over 45 years. They have had ten children, two of whom were killed in the Great War, 21 grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. They are proud grandparents of the famous quads born at Dunedin, New Zealand in March 1935.
H.M.S. India
(Sunk 8th August 1915)
Corporal Wilfred Arthur Saunders, age 20, R.M.L.I. aboard H.M.S. India, which was torpedoed off Norway. He was referred to as:
A merry-eyed, keen and promising young Marine was lost to the Service when, in the sinking of H.M.S. India, auxiliary cruiser, on the 8th August, 1915, Corpl. Wilfred Arthur Saunders was missing. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. A. G. Saunders, of Mill Lane, Worth, and was believed to be the youngest corporal in the corps. He had been upwards of four years in the R.M.L.I., enlisting at Walmer, and previously was employed as gardener to Mrs. Jackson, of Updown House. At Chatham headquarters he was employed in the staff office, but he had seen sea service in Formidable and Cressy, leaving the latter only a short time before she was torpedoed. He had qualified for promotion to sergeant, and on the India did good work as captain of a 10in. gun team.
H.M.S. King Edward VII
(Sunk 6th January 1916)
A Royal Navy battleship of the King Edward Class, launched 23rd July 1903.
On 6th January 1916 she was mined off Cape Wrath laid by the German
auxilary raider Moewe, both engine rooms were flooded and she capsized
12 hours later.
H.M.S. Arethusa
(Sunk 11th February 1916)
H.M.S. Arethusa, a Royal Navy Light Cruiser, hit a mine near Felixstowe
laid by the German submarine UC 7, and eventually broke in two and sank.
H.M.S. Russell
(Sunk 27th April 1916)
Just before dawn on the 27th April 1916 the battleship H.M.S.
Russell was on duty in the Mediterranean not far from Malta when,
she struck two mines laid by the German submarine U73. The ship caught
fire and sank; 124 of the crew were lost, but thankfully she sank close
enough to Malta for many small boats to rescue 625 survivors. One of
the casualties was seaman Walter May formally
of Northbourne school. His death is recorded in 'Deal Walmer and Sandwich
Mercury' Saturday 6th May 1916:
Lost in The Russell
We regret to hear among those unfortunately lost on the Battleship Russell were at least two local men Pte. Albert Edward Butterworth, R.M.L.I. and Seaman Walter H. May R.N. ........ Seaman May's home was 2 Highfield, Park Road, just in Sholden Parish. A brother Pte. Edward George May of the East Surreys, was recently killed in action at the front. They were the sons of Mr. Walter May, a carpenter and the family had been long resident in Upper Deal.
The Northbourne listings also include a John Spinner, a 1st
class Boy aboard the Russell and I assume he survived.
H.M.S. Russell, a Duncan class battleship, was built
in Hull in 1901. On a local note, before WWI, the battleship was often
in the English Channel and on the 25th July 1909 witnessed Louis Blériot
become the first man to fly the Channel.
The commander of the German U-boat U73 (Gustav Siess) survived the war, although the submarine was scuttled in the Adriatic on October 30 1918.
H.M.S. Vanguard
(Exploded 9th July 1917)
William George Storkey, aged 38, was a Chief Petty Officer aboard H.M.S. Vanguard. Son of Samuel and Annie Storkey, of Cottington Cottage, Deal, Kent. He was educated at Sholden School and entered the Navy at the age of 15; training on H.M.S. Lion He was with the Naval Brigade in the South African War and received the Queen's Medal. He also had the King of Italy's medal for services rendered in connection with the Messina earthquake. Among the vessels on which he had served were the gunboat Dwarf, on the coast of Africa, the destroyer Landrail, at Zanzibar, the Agincourt, Majestic and Duncan, going to the Vanguard in April 1914. He was 38 years of age and unmarried, and had nearly completed 21 years' man's service in the Navy. His name is commemorated on the War Memorial in St. Augustine's Church, Northbourne and also on the memorial in St. Nicholas' Church Sholden.
Walter Attwood from Ham also perished
and is commemorated on the Ham War Memorial.
He joined the navy after leaving school and joined H.M.S. Vanguard in
1914, before the start of the war and had served five years before his
death.
H.M.S. Vanguard was anchored on the North Shore of Scapa Flow. At 5 p.m.
the ship left the North Shore and proceeded, at about 12 knots, to
her berth in the Fleet anchorage and anchored at 6.30 p.m. About 11.20
p.m. on Monday, 9th July 1917, the battleship suddenly blew up, taking
over 800 of her crew down with her. It was a magazine explosion in
one of the two magazines which served the amidships turrets 'P' and
'Q'. A definitive reason for the cause of the cordite explosion has
never been found. The most likely cause was a fire in an adjacent coalbunker
which smouldered away undetected, long enough for some cordite near the
adjoining bulkhead to overheat to dangerous levels. Because of the
smoke no witness observed the ship actually to sink.
H.M.S. SIRIUS
(Blown up 23rd April 1918)
Light Cruiser H.M.S. Sirius was blown up and sunk as a blockship at Ostend
on 23rd April 1918.
H.M.S Otranto
(Sank 6th October 1918)
Towards the end of the war on 6th October 1918 during a heavy storm
the H.M.S. Otranto, an auxiliary cruiser and troop ship, collided with
another troop ship, H.M.S. Kashmir and sank in Machir Bay on the west coast
of Islay, Scotland. It was transporting over 1000 American troops to Glasgow
and Liverpool. Although the destroyer H.M.S. Mounsey managed to take off
several hundred soldiers and crewman 431 died.
Stoker Ernest George Ellen
(25 November 1918)
Stoker Ernest George Ellen, R.N., aged 27, whose home was in Middle Street Deal, died at the Naval Hospital, Gosport, on 25th November 1918, from pneumonia following influenza, after only seven days illness. He had been home on leave early in the month. He was second son of Mr. Henry Ellen of Finglesham and was educated at Goodnestone School and was with Mr. Harvey, farmer, before joining the Navy. He married a daughter of Mrs. May, 15 Dolphin Street, Deal, and left a son of three years.
While serving in T.B. 92 at Gibraltar, his boat captured two German merchantmen. A few months before the Armistice, he had a narrow escape; when his vessel, patrol boat 23, was badly damaged in a collision.