Jutland veteran’s 1914-1915 Star awarded to Blacksmith’s Mate, later Chief Blacksmith L. Davies, Royal Navy, who spent the majority of the Great War aboard the battleship H.M.S. Hercules and was aboard her during the Battle of Jutland on 31st May – 1st June 1916. He would serve 22 years in the Royal Navy and would be pensioned on 10th February 1935 with the rank of Chief Blacksmith.
1914-1915 Star; (M.5737 L. DAVIES. BLK. MTE. R.N.)
Condition: couple of small patches of verdigiris, otherwise better than Very Fine
Leonard Davies was born in Chester in June 1894 and giving his trade as Blacksmith joined up for 12 years on 11th February 1913. He would serve aboard the Battleship H.M.S. Hercules from 2nd September 1913 until 23rd June 1918.
Between 17 and 20 July 1914, Hercules took part in a test mobilisation and fleet review as part of the British response to the July Crisis. Arriving in Portland on 25 July, she was ordered to proceed with the rest of the Home Fleet to Scapa Flow four days later to safeguard the fleet from a possible surprise attack by the Imperial German Navy. In August 1914, following the outbreak of World War I, the Home Fleet was reorganised as the Grand Fleet, and placed under the command of Jellicoe. Most of it was briefly based (22 October to 3 November) at Lough Swilly, Ireland, while the defences at Scapa were strengthened. On the evening of 22 November 1914, the Grand Fleet conducted a fruitless sweep in the southern half of the North Sea; Hercules stood with the main body in support of Vice-Admiral David Beatty's 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. The fleet was back in port in Scapa Flow by 27 November. The 1st Battle Squadron cruised north-west of the Shetland Islands and conducted gunnery practice on 8–12 December. Four days later, the Grand Fleet sortied during the German raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, but failed to make contact with the High Seas Fleet. Hercules and the rest of the Grand Fleet conducted another sweep of the North Sea on 25–27 December.
Jellicoe's ships, including Hercules, conducted gunnery drills on 10–13 January 1915 west of the Orkneys and Shetlands. On the evening of 23 January, the bulk of the Grand Fleet sailed in support of Beatty's battlecruisers, but Hercules and the rest of the fleet did not participate in the ensuing Battle of Dogger Bank the following day. On 7–10 March, the Grand Fleet conducted a sweep in the northern North Sea, during which it conducted training manoeuvres. Another such cruise took place on 16–19 March. On 11 April, the Grand Fleet conducted a patrol in the central North Sea and returned to port on 14 April; another patrol in the area took place on 17–19 April, followed by gunnery drills off Shetland on 20–21 April.
The Grand Fleet conducted sweeps into the central North Sea on 17–19 May and 29–31 May without encountering any German vessels. During 11–14 June, the fleet conducted gunnery practice and battle exercises west of Shetland and more training off Shetland beginning on 11 July. On 2–5 September, the fleet went on another cruise in the northern end of the North Sea and conducted gunnery drills. Throughout the rest of the month, the Grand Fleet conducted numerous training exercises. The ship, together with the majority of the Grand Fleet, conducted another sweep into the North Sea from 13 to 15 October. Almost three weeks later, Hercules participated in another fleet training operation west of Orkney during 2–5 November.
On 19 March 1916 the ship completed repairs to her turbines, which had kept her at Scapa for nearly six weeks. On the night of 25 March, Hercules and the rest of the fleet sailed from Scapa Flow to support Beatty's battlecruisers and other light forces raiding the German Zeppelin base at Tondern. By the time the Grand Fleet approached the area on 26 March, the British and German forces had already disengaged and a strong gale threatened the light craft, so the fleet was ordered to return to base. On 21 April, the Grand Fleet conducted a demonstration off Horns Reef to distract the Germans while the Imperial Russian Navy relaid its defensive minefields in the Baltic Sea. The fleet returned to Scapa Flow on 24 April and refuelled before proceeding south in response to intelligence reports that the Germans were about to launch a raid on Lowestoft, but only arrived in the area after the Germans had withdrawn. On 2–4 May, the fleet conducted another demonstration off Horns Reef to keep German attention focused on the North Sea.
In an attempt to lure out and destroy a portion of the Grand Fleet, the High Seas Fleet, composed of 16 dreadnoughts, 6 pre-dreadnoughts, and supporting ships, departed the Jade Bight early on the morning of 31 May. The fleet sailed in concert with Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper's five battlecruisers. The Royal Navy's Room 40 had intercepted and decrypted German radio traffic containing plans of the operation. In response the Admiralty ordered the Grand Fleet, totalling some 28 dreadnoughts and 9 battlecruisers, to sortie the night before to cut off and destroy the High Seas Fleet.
On 31 May, Hercules, now under the command of Captain Lewis Clinton-Baker, was the twenty-third ship (or second from the rear) from the head of the battle line after deployment as part of the 6th Division of the 1st BS. During the first stage of the general engagement, the ship was straddled by five shells fired by a German dreadnought at 18:16. Shortly afterward, she fired at the crippled light cruiser SMS Wiesbaden around 18:20. Hercules engaged a German dreadnought beginning at 18:25 with seven or eight salvos of her own. The poor visibility greatly hampered her return fire and was a problem for the entire battle. At 19:12, the ship opened fire at the battlecruiser SMS Seydlitz, and probably scored two hits. One of her high-explosive (HE) shells penetrated through the upper superstructure and caused minor splinter damage. The second HE shell burst on hitting the upper hull armour, which dished in the armour plates and caused moderate flooding. About five to ten minutes later, she engaged several German destroyer flotillas with a few salvos from her main armament without result. Hercules was then forced to turn away to avoid several torpedoes, one of which was believed to have passed very close. Marlborough, flagship of the division, was hit by a torpedo and forced to reduce speed, which caused the division to fall behind the main body of the Grand Fleet. They did not rejoin until the afternoon of 1 June, as the fleet was headed for home. Hercules received no damage and fired a total of 98 twelve-inch shells (82 HE, 4 armour-piercing, capped, and 12 common pointed, capped) and 15 shells from her four-inch guns during the battle.
After the battle, the ship was transferred to the 4th BS and became the flagship of its commander, Vice-Admiral Sir Doveton Sturdee. The Grand Fleet sortied on 18 August to ambush the High Seas Fleet while it advanced into the southern North Sea, but a series of miscommunications and mistakes prevented Jellicoe from intercepting the German fleet before it returned to port. During this foray, Hercules carried out the first test of a towed kite balloon (without observers). Two light cruisers were sunk by German U-boats during the operation, prompting Jellicoe to decide to not risk the major units of the fleet south of 55° 30' North due to the prevalence of German submarines and mines. The Admiralty concurred and stipulated that the Grand Fleet would not sortie unless the German fleet was attempting an invasion of Britain or there was a strong possibility it could be forced into an engagement under suitable conditions.
On 24 April 1918, Hercules were ordered north to Orkney to support the dreadnought Agincourt and the 2nd Cruiser Squadron when the High Seas Fleet sortied north for the last time to intercept a convoy to Norway. They enforced strict wireless silence during the operation, which prevented Room 40 cryptanalysts from warning the new commander of the Grand Fleet, Admiral Beatty. The British only learned of the operation after an accident aboard the battlecruiser SMS Moltke forced her to break radio silence to inform the German commander of her condition.
Having left Hercules, the majority of the remainder of his career saw him stationed at various shore establishments. He would sign up on 15th January 1925 to complete 22 years service and would finally be pensioned on 10th February 1935 ending his career as a Chief Blacksmith.
