Charles Henry Greenslade
This name is on the St Mark's War Memorial, Kennington Oval, London SE11
(Charles Henry Greenslade)
(Greenslade, Charles Henry)
Service no J/28749
Ordinary Seaman, Royal Navy, H. M. S. "Defence"
Died on 31 May 1916, aged 18
Son of Charles H. and Amelia M. Greenslade, of 17, Loughboro St., Upper Kennington Lane, Kennington, London
Remembered at Chatham Naval Memorial, and at St Mark's
Information from the 1911 census
In 1911 Charles Henry Greenslade was a 13-year-old schoolboy, living with his parents, half-brother and a boarder at 24 Loughborough Street. Charles's father, also called Charles, 44, worked as a telephonist for South-Western Railway. He was born in Bristol. His mother, Minnie Greenslade, 52, was born in Lancashire. Minnie's first son, Albert Carter, 27, worked as a woodchopper; daughter May Greenslade, 17, was a pickle factory labeller; Ernest Greenslade, 7, was at school. Flora Witt, 19, from Ringwood in Hampshire, boarded with the family and worked as a housemaid.
Naval records
Born 25 April 1898
Mother:- Minnie, A. 8 Shephards Place. Upper Kennington Lane, S.E.
Charles Greenslade died on the HMS Defence at the Battle of Jutland.
Information from Wikipedia.
The Defence was the flagship of Rear Admiral Sir Robert Arbuthnot, leading the First Cruiser Squadron at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916. The other ships of the squadron (HMS Warrior, HMS Duke of Edinburgh, and HMS Black Prince) were of a similar outmoded class.
On 31 May, the squadron formed the starboard flank of the cruiser screen, sailing 16 miles ahead of the main battle fleet. The Defence was just to the right of the centre of the line. On the evening of 31 May the Battlecruiser Squadron under Admiral Beatty was being chased by the main German High Seas Fleet, back towards the Grand Fleet, steaming at full speed towards the battle. Part of the First Cruiser Squadron became entangled in the fighting around HMS Lion, Beatty’s flagship.
A German cruiser, the SMS Wiesbaden, had been badly damaged in a clash ahead of the British battlecruisers. While closing for the kill at high speed with the Wiesbaden, drifting and crippled between the German and British fleets, Defence presented a target for the combined firepower of the German battlecruisers, whose proximity was hidden by smoke and mist. After initial damage she was struck by a salvo which blew up her after magazine, triggering explosions on the ammunition rails leading to the broadside 7.5 inch guns. Within seconds, another salvo immediately hit forward, and she blew up in a spectacular explosion, sinking with the loss of Arbuthnot and her entire complement of 54 officers, 845 men and 4 civilians for a total of 903 lives lost.
At the time, it was believed that Defence had been reduced to fragments by the explosion, but the wreck was discovered in 2001 by a diving team and found to be largely intact, despite the incredible violence of her sinking. It lies in around 45m of water upright on an even keel. The cordite had been hit, causing immense smoke and heat, the heat melting her hull. The wreck was designated in 2006 as a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.
Arbuthnot's actions, initially seen as entirely heroic, have remained a matter of historical debate. Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher described the event as "a glorious but not a justifiable death" and Arbuthnot's judgement has been questioned over his manoeuvre prior to the sinking of the Defence: to turn his squadron across the path of the Grand Fleet. This blocked the fire of more powerful British ships, and required Beatty's flagship HMS Lion to change course to avoid collision with HMS Warrior, the two passing each other at under 200 yards).