Commemorated: | |||
| 1. Memorial: | Portsmouth Naval Memorial | Hampshire | |
| 2. Book: | The (1921) Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918 | Pg.116 | |
| 3. Memorial: | The (1940) Scroll - WW1 Roll of Honour | 23D GQS | |
Awards & Titles: | |||
Service Life:
Campaigns:
- The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.
| Unit / Ship / Est.: HMS Invincible |
Class and type: Invincible class battlecruiser Displacement: 17,526 tons Length: 567 ft (173 m) Beam: 78 ft 6 in (23.9 m) Draught: 25 ft (7.6 m) normal; 29 ft 7 in (9.0 m) deep Propulsion: Parsons geared steam turbines producing 41,000 shp; 4 shafts Speed: 25.5 knots (47.2 km/h) Range: 2,270 nautical miles (4,200 km) at 23 knots (43 km/h) 3,090 nautical miles (5,720 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h) Complement: 784 (up to 1000 in wartime) Armament: 8 ? BL 12-inch (304.8 mm) Mk X guns (4?2) 16 ? QF 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mk III guns (16?1) 7 ? Maxim machine guns (7?1) 5 ? 18 inch (45.7 mm) torpedo tubes (4 broadside, 1 stern) 1 ? 3 inch anti aircraft gun (added 1914) |
| Action : Jutland - HMS Invincible (sinking of) |
HMS Invincible was a battlecruiser of the Royal Navy, the lead ship of her class of three, and the first battlecruiser to be built by any country in the world. In March 1913, she collided with the Submarine C-34. At the beginning of the First World War, she took part in the action at the Battle of Heligoland Bight on 28 August 1914, before being sent along with her sister HMS Inflexible to the South Atlantic where she fought in the first Battle of the Falkland Islands on 8 December 1914. In this battle, she fired off 513 12 inch shells at the enemy. At the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916, she was the flagship of the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron. She was hit in her Q turret by a salvo from Luetzow, which blew the roof off the turret over the side. It was either this shell hit which caused a flash down the magazine or a second shell in the same salvo that penetrated the armour and exploded in the magazine, causing a massive explosion. The ship broke in two and sank with the loss of all but six of her crew of 1,021. One of the survivors, Gunnery Officer Hubert Dannreuther, was the godson of composer Richard Wagner, while another was a Royal Marine stationed inside Q turret. Admiral Hood was among the dead.
Of those brethren lost their lives at Jutland, 16 of which were members of UNITED SERVICE LODGE No 1428.
Detail :
Chief Petty Officer William John Best, Royal Navy.
Masonic :
| Type | Lodge Name and No. | Province/District : |
|---|---|---|
| Mother : | Zetland No. 515 E.C. | Malta |
| Joined : | United Service No. 1428 E.C. | Hampshire & IOW |
Initiated | Passed | Raised |
14th April 1902 | 12th May 1902 | 9th June 1902 |
Joined United Service Lodge No. 1428 on the 28th September 1909 from Zetland Lodge No. 515, Malta.
Source :
The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:
- The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
- The (UK) National Archives
- Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
- ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry
Additional Source:
- Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
- Researcher : Bruce Littley