Saddest story is uncovered by
STANLEY SIMPSON PROGRESSED THROUGH THE RANKS OF THE ROYAL NAVY AND WITNESSED THE BIGGEST EVER
One of the saddest Wearside stories to emerge from the First World War was that of Stanley Simpson. Ironically, he survived the famous Battle of Jutland in 1916. He was 22 at the time and had been in the midst of the action which saw the Royal Navy clash head on with the German fleet. It was a battle in which 250 ships were directly engaged – and Leading Seaman Stanley Simpson survived it all. Yet a year later, he and 843 men out of 845 on board HMS Vanguard died in the most unusual circumstances imaginable. Researcher and former South Hetton man Kevin Dance explains more.
HMS Vanguard had played a valiant role at Jutland. The St Vincent class battleship was part of IV Battle Squadron during Jutland in May 1916, and despite being involved throughout the action, she was not damaged and suffered no casualties. It was great news for the crew yet disaster soon struck. “Beyond the Battle of Jutland the ship was involved in very little significant action,” said Kevin. But on July 9, 1917, Vanguard was anchored in Scapa Flow. “Nothing seemed amiss,” said Kevin. But at 11.20pm, the entire ship was destroyed in an instant by an internal explosion. Neighbouring ships were showered with wreckage. Out of 845 men on board, only three survived the explosion. They were Lieutenant Commander ACH Duke, Marine J Williams and Stoker 1st Class FW Cox. But Lieutenant Commander Duke later died of his injuries. Perhaps it was a blessing that a number of the officers were at a concert on another ship when disaster struck. The tragedy led to a Court of Inquiry which attributed the cause to faulty cordite in the ammunition storage area. Decades later, in 1975, the Royal Navy’s Command Clearance Diving Team carried out a detailed investigation which showed that the original explosion destroyed virtually all the explosive ordnance on board and blew the ship apart. Kevin added: “The bodies that could be recovered now lie in Lyness Royal Naval Cemetery, Hoy, where there is also a memorial.” As to the wreck itself, it lies in more than 40ft of water to the north of the island of Flotta and to the west of Calf of Flotta. And Stanley is remembered with honour at Chatham Na-