It's unbelievable
that the war was barely 30 hours old and 150 Naval personnel were dead. John Tennent Born 4/1/1887 at Oatlands Glasgow was amongst them.
He was a member of the Royal Marine Light Infantry and was
killed as a result of enemy action when the HMS Amphion was sunk on 6/8/1914.
HMS Amphion was an Active-class scout cruiser of the Royal Navy.
She was launched on 4
December 1911and was the first ship of
the Royal Navy to be sunk during an attack in 1914 during WW1.Her loss sent shockwaves through
the country.
This clip is shared from the BBC commemorating 100 years since the sinking of the Amphion
Her loss sent shockwaves through the country.
The Scout cruiser had previously chased down the Königin Luise which had been
disguised and tossing packages overboard The managed to sink it with 46
survivors from the crew of 100.
Wikipedia includes this about the sinking of the Amphion.
"Amphion continued with the search without further
incident until 03:30 of 6 August, when she began the return course to Harwich.
Unfortunately the allocated course ran very close to where Königin Luise had
laid her mines.
At 06:30, Amphion struck a mine that had been previously laid
by Königin Luise. A sheet of flame enveloped the bridge which incapacitated her
captain. Except for one man, all the forecastle gun crews were killed and many
of the bridge occupants were badly burnt. As the hands were at breakfast, many
were killed or suffocated in the forward messdecks. As soon as he recovered
consciousness, the captain ran to the engine room to stop the engines, which
were still going at revolutions for 20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h). As all the
forepart was on fire, it proved impossible to reach the bridge or to flood the
fore magazine. The ship's back appeared to be broken and she was already
settling by the bows.
The escorting destroyers closed in and took off Amphion's
crew and the few rescued German survivors. Though her engines were stopped, her
momentum carried her back into the minefield and at 07:03, just three minutes
after the last boatload of survivors were taken off, she again struck the same
row of mines. The fore magazine exploded, with debris striking the rescue boats
and destroyers. One of Amphion's shells burst on the deck of Lark, killing two
of Amphion's men and a German prisoner rescued from the cruiser. Amphion then
rapidly sank within 15 minutes of the explosion. Around 150 British sailors
were killed in the sinking, as well as 18 of the crew rescued from Königin
Luise."
His body was never recovered. The site in the North Sea is
now a protected war grave.
His mother was
Margaret who lived at 75 Weir St Sth Side Glasgow.
I believe this man was a relative of mine - but cannot
confirm his birth date as yet He was a
3X removed first cousin. My Great Aunty Jessie
Kerr (Gallagher) (Rayner) lived with the family before she left for
Australia. kanahookarob@yahoo.com.au Even if he isn't a relative.... Lest We Forget.
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