HMS Irresistible

[Sue Light]

Can anyone tell me the number and extent of casualties on Irresistible in March 1915. I understand that the majority of the crew were safely evacuated, but how many men were killed during the naval battle, and how many remained 'missing' afterwards.

I am trying to trace the movements of one of the crew, who appears on our local war memorial, but of whom I can find no evidence of death.

Thanks

Sue

[Terry Denham]

CWGC lists fifteen men from HMS Irresistible - all on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial to the missing.

[Sue Light]

Thanks Terry, but this man, William Lawrence, has proved a real problem!. He appears in newspaper reports on 20th March 1915 as among the crew of Irresistible, but as he is not listed on CWGC, I assumed he lived to fight another day. However, some local information I received recently states that he was 'missing' that day, and never re-appeared, being declared dead in 1918. His name appears on Lancing War Memorial.

I'm not sure that all this has the ring of authenticity, but just wondered if any other men were 'missing' but not accounted for by the CWGC figures. Although a Lancing resident, I can find no record of him being born locally, and having no age and place of birth it makes a difficult search of the service records - a lot of William Lawrences - but probably the only way to find him?

Sue

[Terry Denham]

I expect you have checked this but the GRO Naval Deaths Index does not list any William Lawrence (or Laurence) from the Irresistible at all.

Nor are there any Lawrences from the Irresistible with any other initials.

[kin47]

Hello

A bit of fine tuning on IRRESISTIBLE loss.

Only 12 appear on the Portsmouth Memorial associated with her loss. A thirteenth, Stoker Harry Watson, died three days before her loss.

Numbers 14 and 15 died of wounds: one in April 1915 at Malta and the other in August back in the UK.

There are no William Lawrences associated with IRRESISTIBLE. There was one lost in HOGUE and another in FORMIDABLE.

don

[Sue Light]

Thanks - in some ways the 'negatives' do help.

Yes, I've checked the Naval deaths - in fact I re-check them on a regular basis just in case any more have been discovered

But they haven't...

William Lawrence is the only one of 104 men that I've failed to trace, so perhaps I should be grateful for the other 103, but I would still like a 'full house.' Perhaps he is one man who just decided not to return home after the war - there must have been quite a few of those - and preferred to start a new life.

Sue