Boy 1st Class William A. Plumbridge RN d.26/11/14

[Will O'Brien]

As per CWGC

Name: PLUMBRIDGE, WILLIAM ARTHUR

Initials: W A

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Boy 1st Class

Regiment: Royal Navy

Unit Text: H.M.S. "Bulwark."

Age: 17

Date of Death: 26/11/1914

Service No: J/21897

Additional information: Son of Esther Plumbridge, of 44, The Croft, Hastings; and the late William Plumbridge.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: 3.

Cemetery: PORTSMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL

[Will O'Brien]

& the memorial info

Cemetery: PORTSMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL

Country: United Kingdom

Locality: Hampshire

Location Information: The Memorial is situated on Southsea Common overlooking the promenade, and is accessible at all times.

Historical Information: After the First World War, an appropriate way had to be found of commemorating those members of the Royal Navy who had no known grave, the majority of deaths having occurred at sea where no permanent memorial could be provided. An Admiralty committee recommended that the three manning ports in Great Britain - Chatham, Plymouth and Portsmouth - should each have an identical memorial of unmistakable naval form, an obelisk, which would serve as a leading mark for shipping. The memorials were designed by Sir Robert Lorimer, who had already carried out a considerable amount of work for the Commission, with sculpture by Henry Poole. After the Second World War it was decided that the naval memorials should be extended to provide space for commemorating the naval dead without graves of that war, but since the three sites were dissimilar, a different architectural treatment was required for each. The architect for the Second World War extension at Portsmouth was Sir Edward Maufe (who also designed the Air Forces memorial at Runnymede) and the additional sculpture was by Charles Wheeler, William McMillan, and Esmond Burton. Portsmouth Naval Memorial commemorates almost 10,000 sailors of the First World War and almost 15,000 from the Second World War

No. of Identified Casualties: 24585

[Will O'Brien]

H.M.S. Bulwalk the ship which William Plumbridge served on

[Myrtle]

According to the 1901 Census William's father was a General Labourer and his mother was born in Ashford. William 's brother, Herbert , two years younger was born in Hastings as was their father.

[Will O'Brien]

Some Bulwalk info

HMS Bulwark was a Battleship built at Devonport, Plymouth. It was laid down in March 1899 & completed in March 1902 at the cost of £1,056,816. It was one of five pre-Dreadnought battleships laid down in response to the French shipbuilding program. Bulwalk was also one of the first ships fitted with Marconi wireless telegraph. It served in the Mediterranean fleet from 1902 to 1907 & then after a refit was transferred to the Home Fleet (In October 1907 Bulwark was damaged after being grounded but she was repaired & by August 1908 was back in service). The ship was reduced to the Reserve in March 1910 but recommissioned in 1912 & became part of the 5th Battle Squadron.

Upon the outbreak of war HMS Bulwalk carried out Channel patrol duties but at the time it was sunk the ship was moored to No.17 buoy in Kethole Reach on the River Medway. Tragically as the ship had been moored up for several days many of her crew had been given leave. However they had returned aboard at 7.00am (less than an hour before the explosion) & a full complement of crew was onboard. It is believed the explosion which destroyed the ship was either caused by black powder charges being mishandled during the loading of ammunition or poor storage of the cordite (perhaps it was a combination of the two)

Initially 14 men survived the disaster, but 2 died later from their injuries. None of the Bulwark's officers survived. Many of the casualties whose bodies were recovered are buried at Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham. (Jon Saunders’ neck of the woods)

Sources

The Bulwalk, Albion & Centaur Association website

Battleships & Crusiers.co.uk website

Houghton Mifflin Ships of the World

Sheppey Link website – shipwrecks section

BBC Making History site

[Will O'Brien]

HMS Bulwalk stats

Armaments:

Four 12 inch guns in pairs Twelve single 6 inch guns

Sixteen 12 pounder guns Two 12 pounder guns

Six 3 pounder guns Two maxim guns

Four torpedo tubes

Length: 400ft

Displacement: 15,000 tons.

Speed: 18 knots.

Complement: 750 (789 as flagship).

[Myrtle]

There is an account of the enquiry into the loss of the Bulwark on:

www.bulwarkassoc.plus.com/ships/bulwark1914.htm

[Will O'Brien]

A special thought for William Plumbridge from me tonight who died 56 years to the day before I was born.............He was just a boy who gave his life in the service of his country before he'd had the chance to live.