16 Wellington Remembers 1914–1918 092 K14751 Leading Stoker
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Wellington Remembers 1914–1918 092 K14751 Leading Stoker John S Jones Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Born on 6 October 1894 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire Lived in Shrewsbury and 37 Urban Terrace, Wellington Died on 5 July 1918 aged 24 on board HMHS China at Scapa Flow Buried in Wellington Cemetery; grave 4.3113 His story John Samuel was the eldest child of John and Martha Jones, late Beamond, formerly Kennitt. He was born at 18 Stanley Terrace, Castle Fields in Shrewsbury. His father was a gardener. In 1901 the family, with four children and Martha’s daughter from her previous marriage, was living at Corporation Gardens, St Mary in Shrewsbury. By 1911, the family had moved to 41 Canal Buildings, Castle Fields in Shrewsbury but John Samuel had left home and was working as a farm labourer at Arscott Farm, Pontesford, 5 miles southwest of Shrewsbury. It appears that John Samuel wanted more out of life than being a farm hand in rural Shropshire and in 1912 he travelled to Portsmouth to pursue a life in the Royal Navy. He enlisted on 16 April 1912 on a 12-year engagement. His medical examination states that he was 5’ 3¼” tall, with dark brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion. It was noted that he had a large brown mark on the right side of his neck and a long scar on the back of his left hand. He gave his occupation as boiler washer, his date of birth as 6 October 1893 and place of birth as Shrewsbury. He was given his navy number of K14751. John Samuel was to train as a stoker. His first training ship was HMS Victory II in Portsmouth and after eight weeks there he was sent to HMS Renown, which was a ship modified for the instruction and training of sailors destined to be stokers. After five weeks there he was sent back to HMS Victory II to complete his naval training as a stoker class II. On 28 August 1912, he joined HMS Latona, a cruiser which had been converted to a minelayer in 1910. He remained a member of the ship’s crew until 4 February 1913 when he was sent to HMS Royal Arthur, a vessel in the Home Fleet and part of the Queenstown Training Squadron. This was to be for only seven weeks because on 1 April he joined HMS Minotaur, an armoured cruiser and flagship of the China Station. He became a stoker class I on 26 April. 16 Wellington Remembers 1914–1918 HMS Minotaur had a ship’s complement of 825 including 64 officers, 285 ratings, 36 boys and 99 marines. The engine room establishment was 266 all ranks. At 14 knots, she consumed 10 tons of coal per hour at 1.67 nautical miles per ton. Full bunkers carried 2067 tons of coal and 700 tons of fuel oil (used to improve burning of the coal). Minotaur was in Wei Hai Wei on 3 July 1914 when most of the ships assigned to the China Station were ordered to assemble at Hong Kong. Shortly after the HMS Minotaur start of World War 1, the ship, together with the armoured cruiser Hampshire and the light cruiser Newcastle sailed for the German- owned island of Yap. They captured the collier Elsbeth on 11 August and destroyed the radio station there with gunfire. They then unsuccessfully searched for the ships of the East Asia Squadron until the light cruiser Emden was reported to have destroyed several ships in the Bay of Bengal in mid September. Minotaur was ordered to the west coast of Sumatra to search for the German warship, but was unsuccessful. She was then ordered to escort a troop convoy from Wellington, New Zealand in late September. The ship was detached from the convoy and ordered to proceed to the Cape of Good Hope and reinforce the squadron there on 6 November, after the Admiralty learned of the defeat at the Battle of Coronel. Upon her arrival Minotaur became flagship of the Cape of Good Hope Station and escorted a South African troop convoy to Luderitz Bay in German South West Africa. The ship was near Table Bay, South Africa when the German East Asia Squadron was destroyed during the Battle of the Falklands in early December and she was ordered home on 8 December 1914. Upon her arrival, Minotaur became flagship of the th7 Cruiser Squadron, based at Cromarty Firth. She received a brief refit in early 1915 and was then assigned to Northern Patrol for the next year. John was promoted to acting leading stoker on 22 July 1915. The Wellington Journal dated 22 May 1915 described him as a native of Wellington, his home address being 37 Urban Terrace. The ship was transferred to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron on 30 May 1916 and participated in the Battle of Jutland on the following day. She remained unengaged throughout the battle and did not fire her 9.2” or 7.5” guns at all during the battle. Minotaur was also present during the attempted interception of the High Seas Fleet by the German Grand Fleet on 19 August although no combat occurred. 17 Wellington Remembers 1914–1918 For the rest of the war, the ship was assigned to the Northern Patrol. On 11 December 1917, together with her sister ship Shannon and four destroyers, she was assigned to patrol the convoy route between Lerwick and Norway, but the Germans successfully destroyed a convoy off the Norwegian coast on the following day and returned home without being spotted. The British ships were only able to rescue survivors and escort the sole surviving ship from the convoy, the crippled destroyer Pellew, back to Scapa Flow. John was promoted to the rank of leading stoker on 13 January 1918. The fleet remained at Scapa Flow. HMS Minotaur was held at short notice for deployment in the safe anchorage of one of the world’s largest natural harbours. Perhaps the years of working in the heat of ship’s boiler rooms took its toll. John fell ill in July 1918 and was transferred to the nearby hospital ship, HMHS China where he died on 5 July from pneumonia. His body was returned to Shropshire where he was buried in the Wellington Cemetery. His parents, John and Martha, were living at 37 Urban Terrace, Millfields, Wellington at the time of his death. His 1914–15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal were sent to his father. Notes: Urban Terrace was on Regent Street, Mill Fields, but the Wellington Journal reported it as Urban Terrace, Watling Street on this occasion. Acknowledgements: Image of HMS Minotaur is in the public domain. 18.