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Boy, 1st Class, J/34923, RN, HMS Indefatigable. Died, aged 17, on 31 May 1916 at the Battle of Jutland. One of five Holyhead seamen lost during this battle.
HMS Indefatigable was a 18,800 ton Battlecruiser, built in 1911 and part of the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron. At the outset of war she was serving in the Mediterranean and in November 1914 bombarded Ottoman fortifications on the Dardenelles. She returned to the UK in February 1915.
During the Battle of Jutland she was hit several times in the first minutes of the opening phase of the battlecruiser action. Shells from the German battlecruiser SMS Von der Tann caused an explosion (possibly in 'X' Turret Magazine) ripping a hole in her hull, and a second explosion hurtled large pieces of the ship 200 feet in the air. Only two of the crew of 1,017 survived.
Hugh Walsh was born on 9 October 1898 at Holyhead. He was the son of John and Mary Jane Walsh (nee Williams) of Holyhead. The family was resident at 17 Boston Street, Holyhead in 1901. He had a sister, May (b.1895), living later at 2 Port Street, Waterside, Holyhead. He also had a sister, Nora (b.1900) and an older brother, John (b.1893). His father died in 1906. His mother died two years later.
In 1911 he lived with his maternal grandmother, Mary Williams (71) at 3 Back Bath Street. Also at the house were his siblings John (17), Mary (May?) (16) and Nora (10). Cousins George (10), Hugh (9) and Agnes Ellen Baker (4) were also residents. Mary Williams' son Hugh Williams (38) and daughter Margaret Anne Williams (39) were also at the house.
He joined the Navy on his 16th birthday having been previously employed as a Boiler Scraper. He arrived at HMS Indefatigable from the training ship HMS Powerful on the 14 May 1916, only 16 days before the Battle of Jutland.
Awarded the 1914-15 Star, Victory Medal and British War Medal.
Commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 14.
With thanks to Dawn Cavan for the photograph of her great-uncle. Image of HMS Indefatigable from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HMS_Indefatigable_%281909%29.jpg
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