Able Seaman P/J 46739 Thomas CHADWICK.
Royal Navy H.M.S. Royal Oak (08).
14 Oct 1939.
Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 33, Column 2.
Thomas was the only son of three children to Thomas Chadwick and Rose Maud Stephenson, who were married at St.Mary's in Reddish.
At 01:16 hours on 14 October 1939 Type VIIB U-47 (Korvettenkapitän Günther Prien) fired a spread of three torpedoes at H.M.S.Royal Oak (Captain W.G. Benn) and the British seaplane tender H.M.S.Pegasus lying at anchor in the harbour of Scapa Flow, then turned around and fired a stern torpedo at 01:21 hours. Prien claimed a hit on the seaplane tender, misidentified as H.M.S. Repulse, but one of the torpedoes apparently hit the starboard anchor chain of the battleship and both targets were undamaged.
At 01:23 hours, the U-boat fired a second spread of three torpedoes which hit H.M.S. Royal Oak on the starboard side and caused a magazine to blow up. The battleship rolled over and sank in 19 minutes. 386 of the survivors, including the commander, were rescued by the drifter H.M.S. Daisy II which had been tied alongside as tender.
H.M.S.Royal Oak
Correction to information
ReplyDeleteThomas Henry Chadwick was eldest of three sons born to George Henry Chadwick and Alice Platt. Thomas was born 2 Dec 1899 Oldham, Lancashire.
From http://www.hmsroyaloak.co.uk/requests.html
By Steven Chadwick:
I would like to share a little of my family history and connection with HMS Royal Oak. Also provide comment on something that Col. R.C Mitchell (Retd) wrote on your page as well as my brother in law Herb Ilic.
My paternal Grandfather was born in Oldham in 1899 and enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1914, he served on various ships during WW1 and took semi retirement during the late 20's and early 30's from regular service and joined the Navy Reserves. Prior to the commencement of WW2 he was re-enlisted and in or around July 1939 re joined the HMS Royal Oak as a Chief Stoker. I recall my dad saying to me that grandad was pleased going back to the "Old Girl" as he had served on the Oak earlier in his career. I believe that my grandfather may have replaced Col R.C Mitchell's injured father... Unfortunately, my granddad never made it off the Oak and went down with her on that fateful night. (My dad was only 14 yrs at the time).
My father Thomas Chadwick enlisted in the British Army in 1941 (16 yrs, he lied about his age) he spent 6 months in the infantry at which time he and a couple of his mates joined the Royal Welsh Airborne Regiment. My father served with distinction in France, Italy, and Palestine and I believe he was also in North Africa as I have his African Star. Like my brother in law stated on your web site, my father was a cook but carried his Tommy Gun with pride! Dad was one of the first troops to be confronted with the Germans Tiger Tank, he had a few stories about those days I tell you.
During WW2 my mother served in the Land Army as a Nurse, her family took more than its fair share of casualties. Her father William Sale lost all of his 5 younger brothers in Europe and her mother's brother Tom Dolan (pre war Northern England Heavy Weight Boxing Champ) lost his leg and later his life at his own hand.
I never knew what my Grandfather Thomas H Chadwick did as a job in the Royal Navy not until I had enlisted myself and met an officer that showed an interest in helping me research his Service History. Its uncanny that so long from the Oaks fate that I unwittingly followed my grandfather footsteps and became a stoker...
Kind Regards
Steven W Chadwick BCM&E (Hons), MURP, Dip PM
Stoker (retired) - Royal Australian Navy