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Age-17

64, Carlyle Road, Ealing

Kviberg Cemetery, Sweden

The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle fought between the Royal Navy and the German High Seas Fleet on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland in Denmark. It was the largest naval battle of the the war. The German plan was to use their fast scouting group of battlecruisers to draw Vice-Admiral Beatty’s battlecruiser  squadron onto the main German fleet and there, destroy them. The two opposing forces met on the afternoon of 31st May 1916. A running battle ensued, during which the Royal Navy lost two battlecruisers, until the main German fleet was seen.  At this point Beatty’s battlecruiser squadron turned back and brought the pursuing German ships towards the main British fleet of Admiral Jellicoe. That night these two main fleets of 250 ships engaged each other twice before the Germans, recognising that they were outnumbered, broke off the engagement and returned to port. Both sides claimed victory. The British lost more ships (14) and three time as many sailors (6,000), but the Germans never brought out their main fleet again, preferring to concentrate on submarine warfare. Over 500 of those who were killed were men from London.

HMS Shark was an Acasta class destroyer of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla attached to Beatty’s battlecruiser fleet at Jutland. In the early evening she led HMS Acasta, HMS Ophelia and HMS Christopher in an unsuccessful torpedo attack on German cruisers of their 2nd Scouting Group. She managed to fire of one torpedo but was then smothered by fire from the German cruisers and their escorting destroyers. Despite a valiant effort to keep fighting, inspired by the captain, Commander Jones who was awarded a posthumous VC, HMS Shark was doomed and eventually sank. Only six members of the ship’s crew out of ninety two survived. One of those who was killed was A J Cownden.