WE shall not forget them.
One hundred years ago today, February 3rd 1915, twenty eight men from Thurrock, died on board the HMS Clan MacNaughton.
The loss of H.M.S. Clan MacNaughton 100 years ago on 3rd February, 1915 was, and still is to this day, shrouded in mystery.
She was a pre-war merchant ship, requisitioned in November ,1914 when she returned to her home port of Tilbury. She was then hastily converted into a warship which would have included mounting guns up on deck, well above her normal centre of gravity.
She sailed for patrol duties in the North Atlantic a few days before Christmas 1914, but had to put into Liverpool on the way, seemingly for some problem to be sorted out.
She returned to Liverpool certainly once, perhaps twice before her loss.
She was in radio contact at about 6 a.m. on the morning of 3rd February, 1915 and reported terrible weather conditions, somewhere off the North West Coast of Scotland.
Nothing further was ever heard of her. All 281 souls died.
Some floating wreckage was found about two weeks later in the approximate area of her last known position, but it could not be identified as having come from her.
One theory is that she may have struck a drifting mine, the truth is that no one knows for certain what did happen to her.
This is a list of twenty eight men from Thurrock who perished that day.
We think there may be more.
Thanks to Jonathan Catton for the list of names.
Thanks to Peter Perrin for the research.
Frank Baldwin Ambrose
Hugh Boyle
William Chatting
William Cheeseman
James Clarke
William Curtis
Frederick Leonard Dennis
Roy Dunn
Peter Jackson
Alfred Jones
Frederick Long
Albert Thomas Pryer
Horace Redshaw
Thomas Richards
William Rouse
William Spillway
John Edward Finch
Charles Robert Hardwicke
Adam Hunter
William George Macey
Alfred Arthur Palmer
James William Smith
William Tredwell
Francis Bickford
Samuel Robert Dodge
James Ward
Alfred Bushell
3-Feb AMBROSE FRANK BALDWIN 28 G DROWNED FIREMN MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb BOYLE HUGH 21 G DROWNED TRIMR MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb CHATTING WILLIAM 21 G DROWNED FIREMN MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb CHEESEMAN WILLIAM T. 18 G DROWNED TRIMR MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb CLARKE JAMES 19 G DROWNED TRIMR MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb CURTIS WILLIAM JOHN 21 G DROWNED STEWRD MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb DENNIS FREDERICK LEONARD 21 G DROWNED TRIMR MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON BROTHER ATLANTIC
3-Feb DUNN ROY UK G & TIL DROWNED PAINTER MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb JACKSON PETER UK G DROWNED FIREMN MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb JONES ALFRED 25 G DROWNED FIREMN MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb LONG FREDERICK 24 G DROWNED TRIMR MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb PRYER ALBERT THOMAS 35 G DROWNED L/FMN MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb REDSHAW HORACE 28 G DROWNED FIREMN MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb RICHARDS THOMAS UK G DROWNED FIREMN MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb ROUSE WILLIAM 25 G DROWNED TRIMR MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb STILLAWAY WILLIAM 37 G DROWNED STORE MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON BROTHER ATLANTIC
3-Feb FINCH JOHN EDWARD 28 TIL DROWNED DKYMN MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb HARDWICKE CHARLES ROBERT 38 TIL DROWNED TRIMR MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb HUNTER ADAM UK TIL DROWNED GREASER MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb JAMES WILLIAM GEORGE 25 TIL DROWNED STEWARD MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb MACEY VICTOR 30 TIL DROWNED FIREMN MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb PALMER ALFRED ARTHUR 18 TIL DROWNED STEWARD MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb SMITH JAMES WILLIAM UK TIL DROWNED DKYMN MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb TREDWELL WILLIAM 23 TIL DROWNED FIREMN MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb BICKFORD FRANCIS 19 TIL DROWNED 2/COOK MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb DODGE SAMUEL ROBERT 40 L/TH DROWNED BAKER MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb WARD JAMES 26 L/TH DROWNED TRIMR MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
3-Feb BUSHELL ALFRED 23 STIFF DROWNED FIREMN MERC. MARINE RES. HMS CLAN McNAUGHTON ATLANTIC
22-Feb BLECKWEN HENRY
