An Historically Most Important & Unusually Complete
1914-15 TRIO, PLAQUE, SCROLL & PAPERS.
To:
T.2537.J.BALDWIN. STO: R.N.R.
"HMS CRESSY"
Who was Killed-in-Action, 22nd September 1914
When attacked by German Submarine U-9
JOSIAH BALDWIN
Was born in LIVERPOOL in 1883, the Son of John and Mary Jane Baldwin, also of Liverpool. He married local girl Catherine Brennan at St Sylvester's Catholic Church, Silvester Street, Liverpool on Boxing Day, 26th December 1910. Catherine was living in the same street at 6 Seacombe Buildings. Prior to The Great War he had served as a merchant seaman (Fireman) on several different ships from at least 1911. His N.S.& F.U. membership book runs from 7th December 1911 when he was 28. He is next seen on his 
Continuous Discharge Certificate as serving on several famous civilian cruising vessels which included the infamous SS. LUSITANIA & SS. FRANCONIA, both of which were later lost to enemy action.
Continuous Discharge Certificate as serving on several famous civilian cruising vessels which included the infamous SS. LUSITANIA & SS. FRANCONIA, both of which were later lost to enemy action.Both ships were based in Liverpool. He also served on SS CARMANIA. Interestingly, his CDC book confirms his R.N.R. number of 2537 T on his first voyage in SS CARMANIA to NEW YORK under Captain James C. Barr, on 19th JULY 1913. His final civilian voyage of record was again on SS CARMANIA which left Liverpool for New York on 18th July 1914 and returned to Liverpool just three days after the declaration of war on 7th August 1914. On his return Josiah would have hardly had time to catch his breath as being in the ROYAL NAVAL RESERVE he would have had his call up papers waiting for him when he got home to his home at 8 Furlong Street, Liverpool.
Furlong Street, which was just off the 'infamous' Scotland Road no longer exists as it and the local area was badly damaged by German bombing during the Liverpool blitz in May of 1941.
HMS CRESSY, HMS HOUGE & HMS ABOUKIR were all sunk by torpedoes fired by
German Submarine U-9, in under One Hour on 22nd September 1914 .
"Perhaps the most famous & successful Submarine Action of all time"
[BACKGROUND]
In August 1914, Kapitanleutant Otto Weddigen took command OF U-9 and became world famous when on 22nd September 1914 he sank three 12,000 ton British cruisers in under One Hour and was responsible for the killing of 1,459 men in one single day.
After later sinking of HMS Hawke and other merchant ships he was awarded the Iron Cross and later the Pour Le Merite (The Blue Max)
Previously during trials on 16 July 1914 the crew of U-9 reloaded her torpedo tubes while submerged, the first time any submarine had succeeded in doing so. This development was to have far reaching implications for The Royal Navy in the early part of The Great War at sea.
After later sinking of HMS Hawke and other merchant ships he was awarded the Iron Cross and later the Pour Le Merite (The Blue Max)
THE ACTION
On 22 September, while patrolling the Broad Fourteens, a region of the southern North Sea, the U-9 under (Ltn. Otto Weddigen) found a squadron of three obsolescent British Cressy-class amoured cruisers (HMS Aboukir, HMS Hogue, and HMS Cressy) sardonically nicknamed the "Live Bait Squadron", which had been assigned to prevent German surface vessels from entering the eastern end of the English Channel. The Three vessels were steaming NNE at 10 knots without zigzagging. Although the patrols were supposed to maintain 12-13 knots and zigzag the old cruisers were unable to maintain that speed and the zigzagging order was widely ignored as there had been no submarines sighted in the area during the war.
The U-9 spotted the ships and fired all six of her torpedoes, again reloading while submerged, and sank all three ships in less than an hour. 1,459 British sailors died. It was one of the most notable submarine actions of all time. Members of the Admiralty who had considered submarines "mere toys" no longer expressed that opinion after this event.
The U-9 manoeuvred to attack and at about 06.25 am fired a single torpedo at HMS Aboukir, which stuck her on her port side. HMS Aboukir rapidly suffered heavy flooding and despite counter flooding developed a 20 degree list and lost engine power. It was soon clear that she was a lost cause and Captain Drummond ordered her to be abandoned, although only one boat had survived the attack so most crew had to jump into the sea. At first Drummond thought that HMS Aboukir had been mined and signalled the other two cruisers to close and assist but he soon realised that it was a torpedo attack and ordered the other two cruisers away, but too late as HMS Aboukir rolled over and sank, half an hour after being attacked. U-9 then fired two torpedoes at HMS Hogue that hit her amidships and rapidly flooded her engine room. Captain Nicholson of HMS Hogue had stopped the ship to lower boats to rescue the crew of HMS Aboukir, thinking that as he was the other side of HMS Aboukir from U-9 he would be safe. Unfortunately U-9 had manoeuvred around HMS Aboukir and attacked HMS Hogue from a range of only 300 yards. U-9 subsequently sank HMS Cressy in a similar fashion.Cressy was the last to be torpedoed and the only one of the cruisers to open fire on U-9. A second torpedo fired by U-9 just missed HMS CRESSY and passed about 10 feet astern. About a quarter of an hour after the first torpedo had hit, a third torpedo fired from the submarine just before the starboard beam hit the hull just under the No.5 boiler room. The boilers exploded and many of the stokers were scalded to death by the high pressure super heated steam. It seems likely that Josiah Baldwin was one of these unfortunate men. The time was 7.30 a.m. The ship then began to heel rapidly, and finally turned keel up, remaining so for about twenty minutes before she finally sank, at 7.55 a.m. [PAPERWORK] There is extensive and unusually surviving paperwork with this group, as follows. (1) Continuous Certificate of Discharge Book, No. 737004. (2) Sailors Union Book 20542(3) Royal Navy Life Insurance Certificate. No 728(4) Admiralty Widows Pension Statement 31st December 1914.(5) Duplicate marriage confirmation certificate.(6) Original notification of loss at sea certificate, 25th October 1914.(6) MEMORIAL SCROLL.
THIS IS PROBABLY ( ALMOST CERTAINLY ) THE MOST COMPLETE HMS CRESSY CASUALTY ASSEMBLY EXTANT. (IT WAS THE 100th ANNIVERSARY OF THE SINKING ON MONDAY 22nd SEPTEMBER 2014 !! )Josiah Baldwin is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial.
£1350. Part-Exchanges Welcome