BORN HULL, 09/07/1897. SON OF CHARLES FREDERICK BIRKS (1871-1950) & ELLEN ISABELLA OCKLETON (1872-1940) AT 3 SABINA AVENUE, BALFOUR STREET, HULL (WAR PENSION & CWGC. NAVAL ADDRESS). HE HAD THREE BROTHERS AND FOUR SISTERS. ENLISTED IN THE ROYAL NAVY, ON 27/03/1913. ACCIDENTALLY KILLED, 09/07/1917, AGED 20. COMMEMORATED AT THE CHATHAM NAVAL MEMORIAL.
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.
In terms of loss of life, the explosion on HMS Bulwark remains the second most catastrophic explosion in the history of the UK, killing 738 sailors. 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.
