In Memory - HMS Royal Oak

2nd Clarinet · In Memory - HMS Royal Oak

14 October 1939

On the 14 October 1939, the following members of the Royal Marines Band Service gave thier lives while serving onboard HMS Royal Oak.
Bandmaster F.C. Golding
Band Corporal W.C. Bonner
Musicians C.N. Treleaven, R.S. Webb and R. Green.

I have posted below, the circumstances of that day.

His Majesty's Ship Royal Oak was a Revenge-class battleship of the Royal Nay, torpedoed at anchor by the German submarine U-47 on 14 October 1939.

First World War
Launched in 1914 and completed in 1916, the First World War had been under way for almost two years when Royal Oak was commissioned. She was assigned to the Third Division of the Fourth Battle Squadron of the British Grand Fleet, and within the month was ordered, along with most of the fleet, to engage the German High Seas Fleet in the Battle of Jutland. Under the command of Captain Crawford Maclachlan, Royal Oak left Scapa Flow on the evening of 30 May in the company of the battleships Superb, Canada and Admiral Jellicoe’s flagship, Iron Duke. The next day's indecisive battle saw Royal Oak fire a total of thirty-eight 15-inch and eighty-four 6-inch (150 mm) shells, claiming three hits on the battlecruiser Derfflinger, putting one of its turrets out of action, and a hit on the cruiser Wiesbaden. She avoided damage herself, despite being straddled by shellfire on one occasion.

Between the wars
The peacetime reorganisation of the Royal Navy assigned the Royal Oak to the Second Battleship Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet. Modernised by the 1922–24 refit, she was transferred in 1926 to the Mediterranean Fleet, based in Gibraltar and Grand Harbour, Malta. In early 1928, this duty saw the notorious incident the contemporary press dubbed the "Royal Oak Mutiny". What began as a simple dispute between Rear-Admiral Bernard Collard and Royal Oak's two senior officers Captain Kenneth Dewar and Commander Henry Daniel over the band at the ship's wardroom dance, descended into a bitter personal feud that spanned several months.

Spanish Civil War
During the Spanish Civil War, Royal Oak was tasked with conducting 'non-intervention patrols' of the Iberian Peninsula. On such a patrol and steaming some 30 nautical miles (56 km) east of Gibraltar on 2 February 1937, she came under aerial attack by three aircraft of the Republican forces. They dropped three bombs (two of which exploded) within 3 cables (555 m) off the starboard bow, though causing no damage. The British chargé d'affaires protested the incident to the Republican Government, which admitted its error and apologised for the attack. Later that same month, while stationed offshore of Valencia on 23 February 1937 during an aerial bombardment by the Nationalists, she was accidentally struck by an anti-aircraft shell fired from a Republican position. Five men were injured, including the Royal Oak's Captain, T.B. Drew.

Second World War
In 1938, Royal Oak returned to the Home Fleet and was made flagship of the Second Battleship Squadron based in Portsmouth. On 24 November 1938, she returned the body of the British-born Queen Maud of Norway to a state funeral in Oslo. Paying off in December 1938, Royal Oak recommissioned the following June, and in the late summer of 1939 embarked on a short training cruise in the English Channel in preparation for another 30-month tour of the Mediterranean. As hostilities loomed, she was instead despatched north to Scapa Flow, and was at anchor there when war was declared on 3 September.
In October, Royal Oak joined the search for the German battleship Gneisnau, which had been ordered into the North Sea as a diversion for the commerce-raiding pocket battleships Deutschland and Graf Spee. The search was ultimately fruitless, particularly for Royal Oak, whose top speed, by then less than 20 knots (37 km/h), was inadequate to keep up with the rest of the fleet.

On 12 October, Royal Oak returned to the defences of Scapa Flow in poor shape, battered by the North Atlantic storms: many of her Carley floats had been smashed and several of the smaller calibre guns rendered inoperable. The mission had underlined the obsolescence of the twenty-five year old warship.

Concerned that a recent overflight by German reconnaissance aircraft heralded an imminent air attack upon Scapa Flow, Admiral of the Home Fleet Charles Forbes ordered most of the fleet to disperse to safer ports. The Royal Oak however remained behind, her anti-aircraft guns still deemed a useful addition to Scapa's otherwise scarce air defences.

HMS Royal Oak was anchored at Scapa Flow when she became the first of the five Royal Navy battleships and battlecruisers sunk in the Second World War.

The loss of life was heavy: of Royal Oak's complement of 1,234 men, 833 were killed that night or died later of their wounds.

The raid made an immediate celebrity and war hero out of the U-boat commander, Günther Prien, and on his return to Germany he became the first Kriegsmarine officer to be awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

To the British, the raid demonstrated that the Germans were capable of bringing the naval war to their home waters, and the shock resulted in rapidly-arranged changes to dockland security.

Now lying upside-down in 30 m of water with her hull 5 m beneath the surface, Royal Oak is a designated war grave.
In an annual ceremony to mark the loss of the ship, Royal Navy divers place a White Ensign underwater at her stern.

To those named above and the ships crew who also died.....R.I.P.

lesbryan

May they rest in peace
There was an old hand in our association division on the pegasus at the time !.The pegasus was the main rescuer .We used to sit on meeting night from time to time while he used to relate the sad story of the sinkiing of the royal oak .It was all first hand very interesting !!

Hornblower

RIP

admin

Great post!

lesbryan

http://www.hmsvictoriousassociation.com/demise.php
The above is a very apt memoriam to all who served most( of what were lost ) of the ships mentioned must have had bandsmen as guns crews etc (especialy the big ships
MAY THEY ALL REST IN PEACE
I salute them everyone

euphless

If I remember correctly, Bandmaster Golding's widow worked in the NAFFI at HMS St Vincent in the early 60's. She was not overly fond of young bandies.

RIP gentlemen.

MrJpig

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/a...battleship-800-comrades-died.html

sticky blue

Rest in Peace to all -

eastney hooker

My late father - in - law was training with the army independent commando company at Scapa Flow on that fatal night. He always said it was one of his worst memories of the war. RIP to all.

Len

The mutiny mentioned is the subect of a terrific book... the bandmaster concerned was B/M Barnacle, and he was criticied in front of the band and most of the Officers during a cocktail party on board. he Admiral had insisted that "all young ladies present will be asked to dance by the officers". some of the officers stayed in the wardroom getting dutch courage, and when the Admiral saw that not many ladies were dancing, he blamed the music that the band were playing. He shouted that the bamndmaster was not fit to be in his position and called for the ships jazz band... who were in fact also trained by BM Barnacle.

B/m Barnacle retired and ran a pub in the Plynouth area.

RIP

2nd Clarinet

MrJpig

Hi all

I was over at Scapa Flow today for the 70th Anniversary of this tragic event involved in search team duties as The Princess Royal was in attendance.
A few pics below. There are big display boards within the memorial garden one of which has the names of all those killed early that morning. I don't think the bugler was mentioned before?

http://www.hmsroyaloak.co.uk/index.htm

A pic (taken from above link) of the ensign placed last year. This happens every year and a framed copy of this pic was presented to The Princess Royal today.

2nd Clarinet

A nice update Andy, especially the Bugler name..........Well done!