Daresbury War Memorial
The Battle of Jutland was the largest naval battle of the entire First World War and took place on 31st May 1916.
THOMAS HENRY DUTTON was employed as a ‘Stoker 1st Class’ which meant that he fed the fires with coal and managed the ships engines. He did this job on the HMS Defence – one of the British battleships which made up the ‘Grand Fleet’, the main fleet of the Royal navy during the First World War.
The HMS Defence was fired upon by German battlecruiser SMS Derfflinger and four dreadnoughts while attempting to engage the disabled German light cruiser SMS Wiesbaden. Defence sustained two direct hits, which caused the rear magazine to detonate. The resulting fire spread via ammunition passages and blew up the ship’s secondary magazines.
At roughly 18:05, HMS Defence exploded in turn. There were no survivors.
Fourteen British ships were sunk, including the HMS Defence, which now resides at the bottom of the North Sea.
The area in and around the battle site is under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. The sea floor harbours the remains of the last major battle in world history to be fought primarily using battleships. The sombre site is where 8,645 men lost their lives, 1,181 men were injured, and 175,600 tons of military combat ship were sunk.
Almost 25 years to the day later...
The Battle of the Denmark Strait was a naval engagement in the Second World War, which took place on 24 May 1941.
The British battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser HMS Hood fought the German battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, which were attempting to break out into the North Atlantic to attack Allied merchant shipping (Operation Rheinübung) through the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland.
ACTING SUB LIEUTENANT NEVILLE HEATHCOTE FRODSHAM served on HMS Hood. Less than 10 minutes after the British opened fire, a shell from Bismarck struck Hood near her aft ammunition magazines. Soon afterwards, Hood exploded and sank within three minutes, with the loss of all but three of her crew. Prince of Wales continued to exchange fire with Bismarck but suffered serious malfunctions in her main armament.
The battle was a tactical victory for the Germans, but its impact was short-lived. The damage done to Bismarck's forward fuel tanks forced the abandonment of the breakout and an attempt to escape to dry dock facilities in occupied France, producing an operational victory for the British. Incensed by the loss of Hood, a large British force pursued Bismarck, resulting in her loss three days later.
These are just two examples of the sacrifice laid down for our tomorrows. We shall always remember them.
To find the cache...
N53 20. A B C W002 37. D E F
Where...
A = how many first names + how many surnames begin with G
B = how many names begin with J
C = how many names begin with S
D = (how many surnames begin with H + how many middle letters) both from the 1st WW
E = how many letters in Chas’s surname
F = how many surnames begin with F
You are looking at victims of both wars unless specified.
Checksum - A to F added up = 34.
(Names are listed differently online - read them off the memorial)
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