Military History

The Reverend Robinson lost his life on New Years Day 1915 when he went down with the Captain and other Crew members after his ship, HMS Formidable, was sunk by a U Boat off the Coast of Devon.

The Sinking of HMS Formidable - Courtesy Wikipedia

Under the command of Vice-Admiral Commanding, Channel Fleet, Sir Lewis Bayly, the 5th Battle Squadron spent 31 December participating in gunnery exercises off the Isle of Portland, supported by the light cruisers Topaze and Diamond. The squadron received no escort of destroyers for the operation. After the exercises, that night the fleet remained at sea on patrol even though submarine activity had been reported in the area. Visibility that night was good, though the sea was rough enough to make detection of a submarine difficult. Bayly suspected no danger from submarines, and so steamed his ships in line ahead formation at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). Formidable was the last battleship in the line, followed only by the two cruisers. Unknown to the British, the German submarine U-24 stalked the squadron while it was exercising all afternoon, trying to find a suitable attack position.

HMS Formidable - Courtesy Royal Marines History

At around 02:20 on 1 January 1915, U-24 launched a torpedo at Formidable, striking her on the starboard side abreast of the forward funnel. Formidable's commander, Captain Loxley, hoped to save the ship by bringing her close to shore; the other British ships were at that point unaware of what had happened, but after Formidable turned out of line, Topaze increased speed to determine what she was doing. By the time Topaze closed with Formidable twenty minutes later, the latter vessel had already taken on a list of 20 degrees to starboard, and Loxley had issued the order to abandon ship. Men attempting to save the vessel remained aboard and through counter-flooding reduced the list, though Formidable was by then very low in the water.

At around 03:05, U-24 launched another torpedo at the stricken Formidable, hitting her again on the starboard side close to her bow. Topaze, joined by Diamond, began the rescue effort, but the heavy seas made it very difficult to bring men aboard. Formidable remained afloat for another hour and forty minutes, and at 04:45 began to capsize and sink by the bow. She remained afloat, with her stern in the air, for a few minutes before sinking. Loxley was last seen on the bridge calmly overseeing the evacuation of the ship. Diamond picked up thirty-seven officers and crew from the water. The Brixham trawler Provident picked up 73 members of Formidable's crew from the battleship's launch at around midday, while Formidable's pinnace managed to reach Lyme Regis after 22 hours at sea, saving another 47 men.

A total of 35 officers and 512 men were killed in the sinking.