Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada The Sinking of the HMS Goliath - the Battle of Gallipoli

With my father's passing, the relatives have been writing and phoning each other. One of the interesting things was a story about my great grandfather on my mother's side. His name was William Bennetts, who served aboard the HMS Goliath in WWI.



I had no idea that my family was connected to the Dardanelles campaign (aka the Battle of Gallipoli).



The Goliath was torpedoed and sank by an Ottoman Empire ship, the torpedo boat Muâvenet-i Millîyeon, on 13 May 1915. Of the 750 aboard, 570 died, including my great grandfather.

What I found fascinating was reading several general accounts of the sinking, scattered around the web. I also saw some pictures. Briefly, this is what happened.

At 01:00, on the line astern of Muâvenet-i-Millîye (the Ottoman torpedo boat), two destroyers were seen, on the forehead was Goliath. Goliath asked the password and Muâvenet-i-Millîye, without losing time, responded with three torpedoes. The first torpedo hit the bridge, the second hit the funnel and the third the stern. The battleship capsized almost immediately taking 570 of the over 700 crew to the bottom, including her captain.

The sinking of Goliath led to direct and drastic upheaval for the British Navy top command and strategy. Two days after the loss of the Goliath, on 15 May 1915, the First Sea Lord Admiral Fisher resigned amidst bitter arguments with the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, causing, on 17 May, Churchill's resignation too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Goliath_(1898)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_destroyer_Muavenet-i_Milliye

But hearing and reading the story only generated more questions. W.H. Bennetts was 45 years old when he died. He would have been at his battle station when the ship was attacked. What rank and trade was he? They never found his body, so I can only guess what happened, but since I did not know what his job and rank were, why not ask the UK archives people? At the very least, they could answer some basic questions. His years of service. The ships he served on. etc.

So that brings me to here. I am waiting for a response from the UK govt. According to the archive website, it will be about two weeks.