- HMS Patrol during the Great War -
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HMS Patrol
16th Dec 1914 Hartlepools Bombarded by Enemy shipsThe Bombardment of the Hartlepools by the German Navy was intended to damage ship building and engineering works in Hartlepool.
German ships, the Seydlitz, Moltke and Blucher were 3 miles off shore flying British Flags, they then changed to German flags and fired on the town just after 8 o'clock in the morning.
Private Theophilus Jones was the first soldier to be killed on British soil during World War One.
The Lighthouse Battery gun hit the Blucher killing nine sailors and damaging the ship and two of its guns. The Captains at the Heugh were awarded the very first pair of Military Medals.
In Victoria dock, a submarine and two light cruisers, tried to attack the German ships but the submarine was hit as soon as it came out of the harbour, blocking the other ships. The cruiser HMS Patrol, based at Hartlepool, put to sea but was holed and just managed to reach safety in the Tees. 4 of the crew died and 7 were injured.
That night 3 trawlers sank with heavy loss of life after striking mines laid by the attacking cruisers.
The first civilian to be killed on British soil in the First World War was Hilda Horsley, she was seventeen and worked as a tailoress. She was on her way to work when she was killed by a shell. Thirty four children under the age of sixteen were killed in the attack. The Dixon family lost three children.
As more shells were fired on Hartlepool, the people gathered in Ward Jackson Park and the villages of Hart, Elwick & Dalton Piercy. The attack took only forty minutes, but four hundred people were wounded and one hundred and twenty seven people were killed including nine soldiers of 18th DLI who were manning the trenches on the sea front and guarding the docks, engineers works and railway lines.
After the bombardment the men of the 18th DLI were sent to the Borough Hall and detailed into rescue parties, stretcher bearers and guards.
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
Want to know more about HMS Patrol?
These include information on officers service records, letters, diaries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
Those known to have served in
HMS Patrol
during the Great War 1914-1918.
- Bruce . Capt.
- Butcher Albert Reuben. Able.Sea.
- Collins Reg.
- Cummings Ernest Charles. Able Seaman.
- Hook R. W.. Ldg Seaman. (d.16th Dec 1914)
- Martin G. C.. (d.16th Dec 1914)
- Sheridan P. James. ERA 1st Class. (d.16th Dec 1914)
The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List
Records of HMS Patrol from other sources.
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Did you know? We also have a section on World War Two. and a Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
Recomended Reading.
Available at discounted prices.
Dawn Raid: Bombardment of the HartlepoolsJ M Ward
An excellent account of the naval bombardment on the 16th of December 1914.More information on:Dawn Raid: Bombardment of the Hartlepools
Guns of the Northeast: Coastal Defences from the Tyne to the HumberJoe Foster
A detailed study of the coastal defences of North East England, including accounts of the bombardment of the East coast in 1914, with many excellent photgraphs and diagrams.More information on:Guns of the Northeast: Coastal Defences from the Tyne to the Humber
Bombardment: The Day the East Coast BledMark Marsay
A well researched book with many personal accounts of the events of the 16th of December 1914More information on:Bombardment: The Day the East Coast Bled
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