brownag Posted 27 February , 2003 Share Posted 27 February , 2003 Does anyone know how many men were lost in the sinking of HMS 'Cressy' in 1914 at the Broad Fourteens. I know that 1459 men were lost in total between the three cruisers but I am looking specifically for the number for the 'Cressy' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Marshall Posted 27 February , 2003 Share Posted 27 February , 2003 The difficulty in answering this question is that the Cressy was the last to be sunk and by the time she went down she had already rescued men from the Aboukir all her boats were away trying to rescue men already in the water so that left no means to save any men other than jumping into the sea and taking their chances. Maybe someone can tell you how many men sailed with her when she went on patrol. See also this site for some further information http://oldster.future.easyspace.com/ach.html and this one http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1914/u-9.html Regards Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robwilliams Posted 28 February , 2003 Share Posted 28 February , 2003 In all 1400 men went down on the three ships. I will dig out my books to find the complement of each one. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Hesketh Posted 28 February , 2003 Share Posted 28 February , 2003 According to Conway's 'All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921', Cressy "was torpedoed and sunk by U9....while trying to rescue survivors from HMS Aboukir, 560 lives were lost". According to 'Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I', the complement of Cressy Class ships was 700 (Flagship 745). For what it's worth Winston Churchill recorded that the three ships combined had a complement of over 2,000 men. I can also seriously recommend a posting on the following forum (uboat.net). There's an excellent chance of very detailed replies (in my experience), especially if you want extra information on U9 - http://www.uboat.net/forum/list.php?f=23 All the best, Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinWills Posted 28 February , 2003 Share Posted 28 February , 2003 I have looked at at several accounts, not least the Navy League Annual 1915-16 and despatches in the London Gazette (a wonderful on line resource). All tend to enumerate the total losses for which 1459 seems to be correct. Apparently 60 officers were lost and 60 survived plus "almost 1400 men". Rob's figure of 1400 men would match this, but probably omits the officers. This may have been perpetuated because of a strange wording in one report. On another note I have always wondered if the story of the man who struggled in the water following the first torpedoing only to be rescued just in time to be torpedoed a second time and then to be rescued a second time and torpedoed a third (and rescued again) is true. Does anyone know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted 1 March , 2003 Share Posted 1 March , 2003 Typical, I was at the PRO on Thursday and looked up the casualty list for the Aboukir. Its a shame because I could have looked up the Creesy aswell. I do have the notes on the enquiry but haven't had a chance to read them yet. I'll let you know what details are contained within it. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted 1 March , 2003 Share Posted 1 March , 2003 If it is of any help, 73 men from the Marines were lost on her that day! Arthur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownag Posted 2 March , 2003 Author Share Posted 2 March , 2003 Many thanks to all who have replied, you've given me plenty to be gettng on with. Cheers Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted 2 March , 2003 Share Posted 2 March , 2003 I have an unoffical casualty list of the crew members that were lost from HMS CRESSY. However, I am not sure that it is 100% complete! The total number of casualties that I have are: 536 of which 22 of them were officers. Arthur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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