The only British dreadnought hit by a torpedo at Jutland
Two men died on HMS Marlborough when she was struck by a torpedo. But there were others injured, some for whom Marlborough the records seem to have been lost. One such man was a stoker, Lawrence Lonsdale. He’d been on board when Marlborough went to Odessa to rescue the Russian Royal Family and was frequently in hospital in Portsmouth, a result of the physical damage from the pressure wave of the explosion. In 1948 he died of a blood clot on the brain. If someone can help with some research I will pass it on to his grandson.
Marlborough’s after action report read:
“6:54 p.m. Marlborough was hit by a torped in Diesel engine room, shock was sufficient to shake off switches on lower power board some fuzes in telephone circuits…these were very quickly replaced and all control instruments were found to be in step, two men in Diesel room were killed”
Marlborough started to list quite seriously but not so badly that she could not keep on firing. Later in the night, however, she was holding the fleet back and was escorted back. Her crew was take off in the early hours as it was, at one point, feared that she might capsize.
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Imperial War Museum HMS Marlborough community :
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.org/community/2916