| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Tom Hunsley was born at Arram the 6 Jun 1897 and baptised at Leconfield Parish Church on 4 Jul 1897, the son of Mark Hunsley, an agricultural labourer and Hannah Elizabeth, who married in 1886, they lvied in Molescroft, then Arram and Leconfield. Tom's parents later lived at Figham Lodge, Beverley. Tom became a labourer before joining the Royal Navy at Portsmouth on 3 Mar 1915, his Royal Naval service documents incorrectly say he was born in 1896.
After training Tom joined HMS Black Prince on 24 Jun 1915 as a stoker 2nd class, promoted 1st Class on 9 Mar 1916. HMS Black Prince was stationed in the Mediterranean but joined the Grand Fleet in the North Sea in Dec 1914. On 31 May 1916, employed ahead of the Grand Fleet as a screening force in the Battle of Jutland, the ship was sunk with the loss of all her 857 crew. Her loss was mysterious as it was not witnessed by any other British naval vessel and it was not clear whether she had been sunk by a German U-Boat or by German surface ships. Later research has shown that HMS Black Prince was struck by at least 12 heavy German shells and sank within 15 minutes.
Tom's body was not recovered and he is remembered on Panel 18 of the Portsmouth Naval Memorial. He is also commemorated on the Leconfield War Memorial and on the East Riding Memorial in Beverley Minster.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |