BORN HULL, 21/05/1900. SON OF CLAUDE GEORGE COOPER & JESSIE ELIZABETH COOPER, AT 2 ALPHA TERRACE, CHESTNUT AVENUE, HULL AND 133 BROADFIELD ROAD, MOSS SIDE, MANCHESTER (CWGC ADDRESS). ROYAL NAVY BOY SAILOR. KILLED AT SCAPA FLOW WHEN HMS ‘VANGUARD’ INTERNALLY EXPLODED, ON 09/07/1917. HE WAS 17 YEARS OLD.
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.
