A good Officer of the Order of the British Empire, O.B.E., Military Division, 1st type for Gallantry and Great War 1914-1915 Star trio awarded to Engineer Commander J.S. Constable, Royal Navy who was serving aboard the pre-dreadnought battleship H.M.S. Irresistible in the Dardanelles when she hit a mine and was subsequently abandoned on 18th March 1915, later being sunk by Turkish gunfire. Constable suffered internal head injuries in the incident and would later be employed ashore at Milford Haven, being appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the London Gazette of 1st January 1919 for his actions during the mining and loss of Irresistible as well as his good service at Milford Haven. He would placed on the retired list on 24th October 1922 with the rank of Engineer Captain.
Group of 4: The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Officer, O.B.E. 1st type, Military Division, hallmarked ‘C’ for 1918. 1914-1915 Star; (ENG. CR. J.S. CONSTABLE. R.N.) British War Medal and Victory Medal; (ENG. COMMR. J.S. CONSTABLE. R.N.)
Condition: Nearly Extremely Fine
James Sandford Constable was born at Portsea, Hampshire in October 1873. His father and mother were master and matron of the Workhouse in Portsea. He trained as a Royal Naval Engineer at the Royal Navy college in Plymouth and was serving as an Engineer in HMS Majestic at the time of the Census in 1901. By the census of 1911 he was an Engineer Lieutenant serving overseas on the Australia Station in HMS ‘Pyramus’. He became an Engineer Commander on 1st April 1911 and remained in HMS ‘Pyramus’ until his appointment to HMS Irresistable on 26th May 1913.
At the outbreak of WW1 HMS Irresistible, a Formidable class pre-dreadnought battleship saw immediate service and like the rest of her class, in August 1914 she was part of the 5th Battle Squadron, helping to defend the British Expeditionary Force as it crossed the channel to France. In late August she was used to carry the Portsmouth Battalion of Marines to Ostend as part of a naval attempt to save that port. In October she was at Dover, under the command of Admiral Hood. During the German raid on Gorleston of 3rd November she was ordered to sea but did not come into action. On 1st February 1915 she set sail for the Dardanelles, in company with H.M.S. Majestic. There she formed part of the 2nd Division of the battleship fleet during the early bombardments, and then part of the 3rd Sub-Division of Division II of the Battleship Squadron. She was one of four British battleships chosen to take part in the attempt to force the narrows on 18 March (Ocean, Vengeance, Albion and Irresistable). At 4.15pm she was taking part in a bombardment of Turkish forts, from a distance of 11,000 yards. She was drifting with her engines stopped, and ran onto a submerged moored mine. Thus hit under the bilge of the starboard engine-room., very near to the centre line of the ship. The engine room flooded and only three men escaped. The water pressure then broke down the midship bulkhead, and the port engine-room also flooded.
Engineer Commander Constable received severe head injuries at this time and was lucky to have survived the explosive impact of the mine & his eventual evacuation from the flooded area and eventually the stricken ship. Irresistible was now listing at seven degrees, with her stern down and the engines gone. She then came under heavy Turkish fire. Captain Dent ordered the crew to abandon ship. Despite being under heavy fire, HMS Wear managed to rescue 28 officers (including the badly injured Constable) and 582 men from the Irresistible. Ten volunteers and Captain Dent remained onboard in an attempt to get a towing wire across to HMS Ocean, but these efforts failed and at 5.50pm the ship was finally abandoned. She was still afloat, and it was hoped to return after dark with destroyers and minesweepers to rescue her, but when that attempt was made, the Irresistible had disappeared. After being abandoned she had drifted back into range of the Turkish forts and had been sunk by gunfire at 7.30pm
Constable was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the London Gazette of 1st January 1919, a brief recommendation reading:
Engineer Commander of HMS Irresistible when that vessel was torpedoed. Sustained internal injuries to head. Served at Milford Haven since May 1915 in spite of breakdowns in health. Stores and transport well organised under his capable management.
He would be placed on the retired list at his own request on 24th October 1822 with the rank of Engineer Captain. He died in Thanet, Kent in December 1960
