Description
Victory Medal, Chief Stoker Francis George Haskell, HMS Invincible, who was killed in action at the Battle of Jutland on 31st May 1916.
Officially impressed: “300428 F.G. Haskell Ch. Sto. R.N.”
Confirmed, also entitled to a matching 1914-15 Star and British War Medal, the medals were recorded as being issued posthumously to his widow.
With copy service papers.
A detailed article about the ship and it sinking was written by Dr Innes McCartney, Nautical Archaeologist of Bournemouth University, linked below, containing some images of his dives to the ship as well as the Imperial War Museum photographs of the ship as it sunk, including the tragic moment when the magazine exploded and the ship was engulfed in flames.
https://news.bournemouth.ac.uk/2014/08/04/loss-and-survival-at-sea-the-hms-invincible-at-the-battle-of-jutland-1916/
Francis George Haskell was born on 14th September 1879, Christchurch Hants.
He was a Clerk when he looks to have changed up his life by joining the Royal Navy as a Stoker 2nd Class on 8th April 1902.
He rose to Stoker on HMS Camperdown on 22nd April 1903.
Stoker 1st Class on HMS Hindustan, 1st July 1906
Leading Stoker and Victory II on 1st November 1907.
Acting Stoker Petty Officer, HMS Fisgard, 2nd October 1908.
Stoker Petty Officer, HMS Illustrious, 2nd October 1909.
With the outbreak of War, he was posted to HMS Invincible as Stoker Petty Officer, on 13th August 1914.
On 1st September 1915 he was made Acting Chief Stoker on the ship.
He was lost on the ship, along side over 1,000 of his comrades, when the ship was sunk at the Battle of Jutland, only 6 lucky men made it off the ship alive.
His service records stamped: “Discharged Dead 31st May 1916, KILLED IN ACTION”.
A death notice was posted on the front page of the Bournemouth Guardian o 24th June 1916:
“HASKELL – May 31st, on HMS Invicible, in the Naval Battle off Jutland, Francis George Haskell, of 21, Millhams Street, Christchurch.”
Wikipedia has good summaries of their involvement in Heligoland Bight, Falkland Islands and Jutland:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Invincible_(1907)#First_World_War
During his service in the lead up to Jutland, he saw significant action, only 4 weeks after joining the ship, he was involved in the Battle of Heligoland Bight on 28th August 1914, unfortunately for the British fleet the Invincible was the oldest and slowest of the Battlecruisers present firing at least 18 shots at the German Ship Coln but missed them all.
The Invincible would then play an important role in the Battle of the Falkland Islands on 8th December 1914.
The ship would trade heavy blows with the German Fleet, firing 513 shells from her main guns, and had received 22 hits, leaving her with 2 bow compartments being flooded and one big hit on her waterline abreast “P” turret had flooded a coal bunker and temporarily left the ship on a 15 degree list.
In exchange she sank both the Scharnhost and the Gneisenau scoring many hits, giving the Gneisenau as particularly heavy battering once she got slowed down and the Invincible unloaded her whole remaining ammunition into it.
Francis would meet his end when he and most of his crewmates were sunk at the Battle of Jutland on 31st May 1916.
During the battle the Lutzow and Derffliner got the Invincible in her sights and it took only 90 seconds to blast her into the sea, at least one 12 inch shell from the third salvo landed clean in her “Q” turret, blowing off the roof and detonated the midships magazines, this blew the ship in half.
The explosion was believed to have ignited her other magazine, which resulted in the devastating loss of 1026 Officers and Men, including Rear Admiral Hood who was on board.
Only 6 survivors managed to escape and were picked up by the Badger.
The ship now lies 180 feet below the sea in two halves and is a protected site.
