A Battle of Coronel, H.M.S. Monmouth casualty 1914-1915 Star, Victory Medal and Great War Memorial Plaque awarded to Ordinary Seaman A.T. Saunders, Royal Navy who was killed in action on 1st November 1914 during the Battle of Coronel and having no known grave is now remembered on the Chatham Naval Memorial.
Group of 3: 1914-1915 Star; (SS.4669 A.T. SAUNDERS. ORD. R.N.) Victory Medal; (SS.4469 A.T. SAUNDERS. ORD. R.N.) Great War Memorial Plaque; (ARTHUR THOMAS SAUNDERS.)
Condition: Nearly Extremely Fine
Arthur Thomas Saunders was born in Plumstead, Kent, and giving his trade as a Cabinet Maker’s Assistant joined the Royal Navy on 26th January 1914, he would be serving as an Ordinary Seaman aboard H.M.S. Monmouth when she would be sunk o 1st November 1914 during the Battle of Coronel. Having no known grave he is now remembered on the Chatham Naval Memorial, and is noted as the son of John George and Rosanna Saunders of 4 Osborne Grove, Walthamstow, London. HMS Monmouth was the name ship of her class of 10 armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. The ships were also known as the County Cruisers (each being named after a British county).
She was assigned to the 1st Cruiser Squadron of the Channel Fleet upon completion in 1903. She was transferred to the China Station in 1906, and remained there until she returned home in 1913 and was assigned to the reserve Third Fleet. When World War I began in August 1914, the ship was recommissioned and assigned to the 5th Cruiser Squadron in the Central Atlantic to search for German commerce raiders and protect Allied shipping. She was detached upon arrival to patrol the Brazilian coast for German ships, and was later ordered to the South Atlantic to join Rear Admiral Christopher Cradock's squadron in their search for the German East Asia Squadron. He found the German squadron on 1 November off the coast of Chile. The German squadron outnumbered Cradock's force and were individually more powerful; they sank Cradock's two armoured cruisers in the Battle of Coronel. Monmouth was lost with all hands.
