BECKETT James
BECKETT James
Died 29 February 1916 Age 22
Remembered on Plymouth Naval Memorial
BECKETT James
Service Record
47WTS Royal Navy Reserve wireless operator.
He was lost at sea and at the time was on HMS Alcantara which formerly a cruise ship which was in 1915 acquisitioned by the Admiralty and became an armed merchant cruiser.
On 29th February 1916 on route back to Liverpool to refuel with coal after being part of a blockade of German ports, a report of enemy ships near Shetlands made HMS Alcantara change course where they spotted a Norweigan flagged ship Rena. Initially assumed to be non-hostile, a party was sent to inspect the Rena at which point guns were uncovered on the Rena and HMS Alcantara was attacked. The boat was SMS Greif. or Grief (both spellings identified during research).
Due to damage to HMS Alcantara possibly from a submarine, the Captain Thomas Wardle at 11am ordered abandon ship. It sank with 69 crew on board. The two ships exchanged fire for only approx 15 minutes.
https://lostinwatersdeep.co.uk/hms-alcantara.html
More details can be found on the leaflet from the Carnforth Poppy Trail
The 1911 census shows he lived at 4 Midland Terrace with his parents John and Margaret and his brother Robert and sister Laura.
The data is the editor's interpretation of documents from:
The National Archive
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Find My Past