Battle of Jutland
This is a photograph taken of a group of Lewismen who served on board the battlecruiser HMS Invincible when she was sunk at the Battle of Jutland on 31st May 1916.
They all perished when a shell from the German destroyer Derflinger burst through the Invincible’s Q-turret. The flash went down to the magazine, which immediately exploded, causing the the ship to blow up and sink in a cloud of smoke, breaking in half and leaving the bow and the stern standing in the water like gravestones, marking the spot where over 1000 men lost their lives.
The men pictured above are as follows:
Top Row:
*Finlay Macritchie (46 Lower Barvas), *Norman Macleod (28 Lower Barvas), Angus Maclean (17 Habost, Ness), Donald Smith (11 Cross, Ness), Allan Macsween, (Battery, Stornoway)
Seated:
*Angus Graham (4 Lower Garrabost), Donald Morrison (9 Calbost, Lochs), Murdo Murray (27 North Tolsta), John Macleod (56 North Tolsta)
Those marked with * have not been verified.
There were at least twelve Lewismen on board the HMS Invincible when she was sunk at the Battle of Jutland on the 31st of May, 1916. They all perished in the blast. There were only six survivors from the crew of over a thousand men.
A very informative video can be viewed on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0TK1azBi68
The bow and the stern standing in the water like gravestones