Dates:
War Service:
Stoker 1st Class JOSEPH JOHN SMITH, died on 1 January 1915 when HMS Formidable was sunk by a U-boat. He was 24 years old.
HMS Formidable was launched in 1898 and commissioned in 1901. On 30 December 1914 she left her base at Sheerness with the rest of the 5th Battle Squadron and sailed to Portland to carry out gunnery exercises. She spent the night of 31 December at sea and at about 2am on New Year’s Day 1915 she was torpedoed by the German submarine U- 24. She was the first British battleship to be sunk in the First World War. Only 199 men were saved out of a complement of about 750.
He is commemorated on the Chatham Naval memorial.
Location of Memorial:
He is remembered on the memorial at St Stephen’s church, Lewisham.
Details:
He was the son of Thomas and Cecilia Smith, of 64, Thurston Road, Lewisham.
Source:
Contributed By: Andy Pepper
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