IN LOVING MEMORY OF:

Stephen (Sonny) King 31-May-16


First Name: Stephen (Sonny)
Last Name:King
Rank: Petty Officer Stoker
Regiment: Royal Navy
Military Number:283056
Place of Birth:Claddagh
Place of Death:HMS Warrior (Jutland)
Date of Death:31-May-16
Age:
Additional Information:

Killed in Action: (Jutland) 31 May 1916.

Supplementary Notes: Enlisted: August 1896. Served in the Boxer Rebellion. He had four brothers and one sister.

Two of his brothers served with the Royal Navy, and both survived.

Born: Claddagh, Galway.

Remembered: Plymouth Naval Memorial-Devon-United Kingdom (14).

KING, STEPHEN, Petty Officer Stoker (no. 283056), HMS Warrior, Royal Navy, †31/05/1916, Memorial: Plymouth Naval Memorial

 

The last shipwreck from the Battle of Jutland 1916, the British cruiser HMS Warrior, was found on August 24, 2016 in the northern North Sea in 83 meters of water a century after it sank. HMS Warrior was heavily damaged during the battle in which 71 crew members lost their lives.

The surviving crew of 743 were transferred to HMS Engadine, who also tried to tow HMS Warrior back to Britain. Because of the extensive damage and bad weather HMS Warrior had to be abandoned, and it sank at an unknown position in the North Sea during the 1st of June 1916. The find was made on an expedition with M/S Vina from JD- Contractor A/S for Sea War Museum in Thyborøn in collaboration with Dr. Innes McCartney, Bournemouth University, UK.

One of the tasks of the expedition was to find HMS Warrior. Hence, the search was based on the towed route and the official positions of the abandonment. In total 30 wrecks on the route were found and investigated, and HMS Warrior was the 27th wreck investigated. It was found at a distance of 19-27 miles from the official positions. A multibeam survey of the wreck was conducted and video recordings were made with a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) circumventing the wreck.

The huge wreck is lying well preserved in an upside down orientation. The ROV-footage starts at the stern of the vessel, where the two large ship propellers are visible together with the very thick shafts. Along the side of the ship in several places it is possible to see the deck, where the base of several of the big gun turrets are visible. One of the ship’s masts is lying on the seabed on the ships’ port side. The mast was broken during the collision with the seabed, and the top part of the mast is folded under the wreckage. Thus, it was quite evident that the ship had hit the seabed upside down, and that the ship had sunk down onto the mast.

Along the side of the ship was also the remains of one of the ship’s boats, where both the propeller and the shaft could be seen. Out by the bow of the ship the big anchors remained in position and a number of port holes were visible. A number of large fishing trawls were stuck in the wreckage, and at one point the ROV’s umbilical was wedged under a large wreck section.

On the footage you can see that there is not much fouling on the wreck. There is however a lot of cod and other fish in and around the wreck. The depth to the seabed is 83 meters and the minimum depth above the top of the wreck is 68 meters.

Unlike the other wrecks from the Battle of Jutland, which show varying degrees of environmental damage and commercial salvage, HMS Warrior remains as an untouched time capsule with all of its contents still present, entombed in the upturned hull. The old armoured ship is for now, at least retaining its itegrity and is the last Jutland wreck in an untouched condition.

Attached is a scan of the wreck. On our YouTube channel both an animation and an underwater video CAN BE FOUND. This is also available for the media and others free of charge provided that Sea War Museum Jutland and JD-Contractor A/S is duly credited.

See our multibeam scanning of the wreckage on:

http://youtu.be/IBPyP0MYjwEyoutu.be/IBPyP0M YjwE

See our video sequences from the wreckage on:

On September 8, 2016

Gert Normann Andersen Director Sea War Museum Jutland & JD-Contractor A/S


Royal Navy

royal navy

HMS Warrior

HMS Warrior

HMS Warrior

HMS Warrior

Plymouth Naval Memorial - Devon- United Kingdom.(15)

Plymouth Naval Memorial-Devon- United Kingdom. (15)