This picture appeared in the edition of the Eastern Evening News dated Friday, October 2, 1914. The attached caption read:-
ABLE SEAMAN ROBERT WINN, of Fakenham, who was on the ill-fated Cressy and was drowned. He entered the Navy in 1900, and served nine years, being invalided out in 1909. He joined the Reserve Fleet early in 1913.
Able Seaman WINN, ROBERT CHARLES
Service Number;………………213622
Died:………………………….. 22/09/1914
(RFR/CH/B/9831). H.M.S. "Cressy."
………………………………….Royal Navy
Commemorated at CHATHAM NAVAL MEMORIAL
Source: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/3050426/winn,-robert-...
The WW1 Naval Casualties database records that A.B. 213622 Robert Charles Winn, Royal Navy, was “killed or died as a direct result of enemy action” on the 22nd September 1914 whilst serving aboard HMS Cressy. His body was not recovered for burial. Robert was born Fakenham, Norfolk, on the 16th May 1884. The next of kin informed of his death was his wife Olive, of Leigh Cottage, Oaks Street, Fakenham.
The Register of Seamans Services Record for 213622 Robert Charles Winn, born Fakenham Norfolk on the 16th May 1884, is held at the National Archive under reference ADM 188/374/213622
Source: discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D6718242
In summary this reads that he joined up for 12 years on the 16th May 1902 – his 18th birthday, having initially served from the 5th February 1901 as a Boy Sailor. His civilian occupation was Painter.
His service was
Ganges………05/02/01 – 12/09/01…Boy 2nd Class
Minotaur……..13/09/01 – 30/10/01….Boy 2nd Class (1st Class 05/10/01)
Ganges………31/10/01 – 25/01/02….Boy 1st Class
Minotaur……..26/01/02 – 25/05/02….Boy 1st Class (Ordinary Seaman 16/05/02)
Pembroke……26/05/02 – 13/06/02…Ordinary Seaman
Galatea………14/06/02 – 26/08/02…Ordinary Seaman
Pembroke……27/08/02 – 11/11/02…Ordinary Seaman
Venerable……12/11/02 – 31/07/05…Ordinary Seaman (Able 01/10/03)
Pembroke I…..01/08/05 – 19/01/06…Able Seaman
Actaeon………20/01/06 – 11/05/06…Able Seaman
Pembroke I….12/05/06 – 30/09/06….Able Seaman
Pembroke II…01/10/06 – 31/05/07….Able Seaman
Actaeon……..01/07/07 – 16/09/07….Able Seaman
Pembroke…..17/09/07 – 05/03/08….Able Seaman
Charybdis……06/03/08 – 06/04/08…Able Seaman
Pembroke……07/04/08 – 21/08/05…Able Seaman – line noted D.S.Q.
Pembroke……26/08/08 – 05/10/08…Able Seaman
Achilles………06/10/08 – 08/02/09….Able Seaman
Pembroke……09/02/09 – 19/02/09…Able Seaman
Actaeon………20/02/09 – 23/04/09…Able Seaman
Trafalgar……..24/04/09 – 05/09/09…Able Seaman – line noted D.S.Q.
He was then invalided out on the 7th October 1909, but the reason is very difficult to make out – it could be “Surplus + defective (illegible)” of “Sickness + defective (illegible)”. He was awarded a pension from the 19th October 1909.
He joined the Royal Fleet Reserve on the 28th June 1913. He was mobilised and posted to the Cressy from the 2nd August 1914. His Date of Death is given as the 22nd September 1914 and the cause as “Drowned in the North Sea when H.M.S. Cressy was sunk by German submarine.
He qualified for a War Gratuity.
He would have qualified for the 1914 Star, the Victory Medal and the British War Medal, although I could not track him down on the Naval Medal Roll.
There is a Naval Pension Ledger entry for him, but that shows his wife at the time of his death as an Edith C. Spence, which doesn’t tie in with the first names of the next of kin on the WW1 Naval Casualties database.
He is briefly mentioned in De Ruvignys mutli-volume Roll of Honor, but other than restating he was Royal Navy and was drowned in the North Sea on the 22nd September 1914 while serving on HMS Cressy, it adds nothing new.
Robert is remembered on the War Memorial at Fakenham.
16th May 1884 – Birth…………………
(Source – WW1 Naval Casualties databses and his entry in the Register of Seamans Services).
The birth of a Robert Charles Winn was registered with the Civil Authorities in the Walsingham District of Norfolk in the April to June quarter, (Q2), of 1884.
His mothers’ maiden name was Oakes.
1891 Census of England and Wales
The 6 year old Robert C Winn, born Fakenham, was recorded living at Roseberry Terrace, Rosemary Lane, Fakenham. This was the household of his parents, John, (aged 38, a Tailor, born Sculthorpe, Norfolk), and Hannah M., (aged 32, born Hampnall). The couples other children living with them are:-
Lillian M……….aged 5……born Fakenham
Walter W(?)……aged 4……born Fakenham
Daisy C…………aged 1…...born Fakenham
1901 Census of England and Wales
The 16 year old Boy 2nd Class Robert Chas Winn was recorded as part of the complement aboard HMS Ganges on the night of Sunday, March 31st 1901. He was born Fakenham, Norfolk.
His parents were still recorded living at 2 Roseberry Terrace, Fakenham. As well as parents John, (48, Tailor) and Hannah, (42) and older children ‘Lilian’, (15, Bookbinder), Walter, (14, Ironmongers Errand Boy) and Daisy, (11), the family had grown with the addition of Albert, (9), Ivy, (7), Ernest, (4) and Frank, (1) – all born Fakenham.
1911 Census of England and Wales
The 26 year old Robert Chas Winn, unmarried and working as an “Under-Boots” was recorded as a live in servant at the Crown Hotel, 150 High Street, Lowestoft.
His parents were now recorded living at Leigh Cottages, Oak Street, Fakenham – the address given for Roberts’ wife on the WW1 Naval Casualties database. John, (58, Tailor) and Hannah, (52 – now shown as born Pulham St Mary, Norfolk), have been married 27 years and have had 9 children, of which 8 were then still alive. Still single and living with them are Ernest, (14, General Outfitters Apprentice) and Frank, (11).
1913 – Marriage…………………..
The marriage of a Robert C Winn to an Edith O. Wearing was registered in the Walsingham District of Norfolk in the October to December quarter, (Q4), 1913.
I could not find a birth record for Edith so cannot confirm that middle name was Olive. If it was then makes sense of the wifes first name on the WW1 Naval Casualties database, (“Olive”) and raises the possibility of a typo on the Naval Pension Ledger, (“O” instead of “C”).
On the day…………………………………
The Action of 22 September 1914 was a German U-boat ambush that took place during the First World War, in which three obsolete Royal Navy cruisers, manned mainly by reservists and sometimes referred to as the livebait squadron, were sunk by a German submarine while on patrol.
Approximately 1,450 sailors were killed and there was a public outcry in Britain at the losses. The sinkings eroded confidence in the British government and damaged the reputation of the Royal Navy, at a time when many countries were still considering which side they might support in the war.
The cruisers were part of the Southern Force (Rear-Admiral Arthur Christian) composed of the flagship Euryalus, the light cruiser Amethyst and the 7th Cruiser Squadron (7th CS, also known as Cruiser Squadron C, Rear-Admiral H. H. Campbell), comprising the Cressy-class armoured cruisers Bacchante, Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy, the 1st and 3rd Destroyer flotillas, ten submarines of the 8th Oversea Flotilla and the attached Active-class scout cruiser, HMS Fearless. The force was assigned patrol duties in the North Sea, supporting destroyers and submarines of the Harwich Force to guard against incursions by the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial German Navy) into the English Channel.
Although concerns had been expressed about the vulnerability of these ships, particularly to attack by more modern German cruisers, no changes had been made before the events of 22 September; there was less concern about submarine attacks. The War Orders of 28 July 1914, which conformed to pre-war assumptions about attacks by destroyers rather than submarines, had not been modified. The orders required the ships to patrol the area "south of the 54th parallel clear of enemy torpedo craft and destroyers" with the support of Cruiser Force C, during the day. The Harwich Patrol was given two patrol areas, at the Dogger Bank and further south in the Broad Fourteens; usually three of the cruisers were to the north, closer to the Dogger Bank and sailed south during the night. The cruisers shifted area to the Broad Fourteens and reinforced the fourth cruiser there during troops movements from Britain to France. Heading south meant sailing towards German bases and becoming more vulnerable to submarine attack
The U-boat was treated equally lightly by the Imperial German Navy; in the first six weeks of the war, the U-boat arm had lost two boats and seen little result for their effort. On the morning of 22 September, U-9 (Kapitänleutnant Otto Weddigen) passed through the Broad Fourteens on her way back to base. On 16 September, Christian had been allowed to keep two cruisers to the north and one at the Broad Fourteens but had kept them together in a central position, able to support operations in both areas. Next day, the destroyer escorts had been forced to depart by heavy weather, which continued so bad that neither patrol could be reformed. The Admiralty ordered that the ships were to cancel the Dogger Patrol and cover the Broad Fourteens until the weather abated. On 20 September, Euryalus returned to port to re-fuel and by 22 September, Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy were on patrol under the command of Captain J. E. Drummond of Aboukir.
At 06:00 on 22 September, the weather had calmed and the ships were patrolling at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph), line abreast, 2 nmi (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) apart. Lookouts were posted for submarine periscopes or ships and one gun either side of each ship was manned. U-9 had been ordered to attack British transports at Ostend but had been forced to dive and shelter from the storm. On surfacing, she spotted the British ships and moved to attack.
At 06:20, the submarine fired a torpedo at the nearest ship from a range of 550 yd (500 m) and struck Aboukir on the starboard side, flooding the engine room and causing the ship to stop immediately. No submarines had been sighted, so Drummond assumed that the ship had hit a mine and ordered the other two cruisers to close in to help. After 25 minutes, Aboukir capsized and sank five minutes later. Only one boat could be launched, because of damage from the explosion and the failure of steam-powered winches needed to launch them.
U-9 rose to periscope depth from her dive after firing the torpedo, to observe two British cruisers engaged in the rescue of men from the sinking ship. Weddigen fired two more torpedoes at Hogue, from 300 yd (270 m). As the torpedoes left the submarine, her bows rose out of the water and she was spotted by Hogue, which opened fire before the submarine dived. The two torpedoes struck Hogue; within five minutes, Captain Wilmot Nicholson gave the order to abandon ship and after 10 minutes she capsized before sinking at 07:15.
Watchers on Cressy had seen the submarine, opened fire and made a failed attempt to ram, then turned to pick up survivors. At 07:20, U-9 fired two torpedoes toward Cressy from her stern torpedo tubes at a range of 1,000 yd (910 m). One torpedo missed, so the submarine turned and fired her remaining bow torpedo at 550 yd (500 m). The first torpedo struck the starboard side at around 07:25, the second the port beam at 07:30. The ship capsized to starboard and floated upside down until 07:55. Two Dutch sailing trawlers in the vicinity declined to close with Cressy for fear of mines.
Distress calls had been received by Commodore Tyrwhitt, who, with the destroyer squadron, had already been at sea returning to the cruisers, now that the weather had improved. At 08:30, the Dutch steamship Flora approached the scene (having seen the sinkings) and rescued 286 men. A second steamer—Titan—picked up another 147. More were rescued by the two Lowestoft sailing trawlers Coriander and J.G.C., before the destroyers arrived at 10:45, 837 men were rescued while 1,397 men and 62 officers—mostly part-time men from the Royal Naval Reserve rather than regular sailors—had been killed. The destroyers began a search for the submarine, which had little electrical power remaining to travel underwater and could only make 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) on the surface. The submarine submerged for the night before returning home the next day.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_22_September_1914
Postscript………………………….
The marriage of an Edith O. Winn to a William E. Spence was recorded in the Sculcoates District of Yorkshire in the July to September quarter, (Q3), 1915.
Mildly photoshopped to minimise impact of damage present on the original image.