BORN HULL 19/07/1899. SON OF GEORGE & FANNY DOBSON GOSFORTH, NEWCASTLE, NORTHUMBERLAND. (NAVAL RECORDS). HE IS COMMEMORATED ON CHATHAM NAVAL MEMORIAL. AGED 16.
The eighth HMS Vanguard of the British Royal Navy was a St Vincent class battleship, an enhancement of the ´dreadnought´ design built by Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness. She was launched in April 1909, commissioned into the Royal Navy at Devonport in October 1910, and spent her life in the Home Fleet. At the outbreak of World War I, she joined the First Battle Squadron at Scapa Flow, and fought in the Battle of Jutland as part of the Fourth Battle Squadron. She was a part of the action from beginning to end, but did not suffer any damage or casualties. Just before midnight on Monday, July 9, 1917, Vanguard suffered an explosion in one of the two magazines which served the amidships turrets P and Q. She sank almost instantly, killing 677 men. The most deadly explosion in British history was that of HMS Vanguard, caused by a stokehold fire detonating a magazine, at Scapa Flow in 1917.
