Great Britain: Royal Naval Long Service and Good Conduct Medal to 199744 F.W. HORNER, P.O. 1CL., H.M.S. IRRESISTIBLE.

Great Britain: Royal Naval Long Service and Good Conduct Medal to 199744 F.W. HORNER, P.O. 1CL., H.M.S. IRRESISTIBLE.

Includes paperwork.

Chief Petty Officer Frederick William Horner was born circa 1882 and died 10/11/1920 due to war related causes. He qualified for a memorial death plaque.

This medal is named to H.M.S. Irresistible. 

Sunk on the 18/3/1915: Irresistible joined the fray at 14:39, shortly after the French battleship Bouvet was mined and sunk in the straits; she and several other battleships attempted to suppress Ottoman guns that were firing on boats that were picking up survivors from Bouvet. Irresistible engaged the "Namazieh" Battery, which at that time was not actively firing. She quickly came under heavy fire from the "Hamidieh I" battery, which targeted the ship with four-shell salvos.

At 15:14, Irresistible was rocked by an explosion, and by 15:32, had begun to take on a list, prompting de Robeck to order her to withdraw to avoid further damage. At 16:15, Irresistible, having idled her engines, struck a mine that caused extensive damage to the ship. The mine detonated under her starboard engine room, flooding it and killing all but three of the men on duty there. The bulkhead that divided the starboard from the port engine room collapsed under the sudden weight of water, disabling that engine as well. Unable to manoeuvre, with a list of 7 degrees to starboard, and down by the stern, Irresistible became an attractive target for the Ottoman gunners. She drifted helplessly into range of Turkish guns, which laid down a heavy fire on her. Her main gun turrets began to malfunction, and she was obscured by smoke and spray. De Robeck ordered the battleship Ocean to take her under tow and pull her out of range of the Ottoman guns, and the destroyer Wear came alongside and rescued most of the crew?28 officers and 582 men despite the punishing Ottoman shelling. A group of ten men remained aboard to try to secure a line from Ocean. By the time Ocean had arrived it had become clear that Irresistible could not be saved. Her list had increased and the fire from the Ottoman guns had become very heavy, so the remaining men were evacuated and Ocean began to withdraw. Irresistible had drifted closer to shore and suffered further severe damage from their shore batteries before sinking at about 19:30. Irresistible's crew suffered about 150 casualties during her sinking.