Surviving Jutland only to be sunk at the next German Fleet sortie.
Michael Joseph Hanley was was born into a family that saw four of its members serve in the 1914-1918 conflict. The family was luckier than most. All returned alive. In the case of Michael he served as a Stoker First Class on HMS Nottingham and was at Jutland in Vice Admiral Sir David Beatty’s forces.
The ship escaped major damage during the battle but a couple of months later the Light Cruiser was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea by German submarine U-52 on August 19th 2016 with the loss of 40 sailors. It was the German fleet’s first sortie after Jutland during which, again, Scheer managed to get his fleet away before a main battle action could take place. HMS Nottingham, and earlier HMS Falmouth, were both torpedoed. Nottingham was hit by three torpedoes at 18:00, Falmouth by two from the U-63 at 16:52.
HMS Penn and Oracle came to Nottingham‘s aid rescuing twenty-one officers and 357 men. Hanley eventually left the RN in 1919 but remained on reserve until 1930. He passed away at the age of 66 in May 1956.
(Courtesy of Michael Hanley, Clearwater, Florida USA)