I got ashore this afternoon much to my astonishment. Apparently the Commander has either forgotten that my leave is stopped or else he has compassion on me in my loneliness; anyhow he let me go. We did not go very far (of course one is not allowed up to the trenches unless in khaki) but stayed with the beachmaster at C beach who is an RNR Lieutenant who used to be in the Canopus. He gave us tea and we gave him newspapers, he took us to his various dug-outs which are very sumptuous as he is in command of the whole peninsular on the southern side of Suvla Bay and therefore a great personage. We yarned the time away, and he sent us back in his own picket boat together with several pieces of shells etc. in the way of curios. We had intended to search in the area of the Great Salt Lake for old shells or bayonets and also climb Chocolate Hill, but as we did not do so today we will have to leave it for some other time. I am going to appease the Commander with the cartridge-case of an 18 pounder field gun which I brought off today - it may work wonders in the leave line.

The night before last was a fearfully rough night - of course it was my turn for the patrol. It was much too rough for patrol, so we simply tied up to one of the buoys of the gate and showed a light whenever a ship wanted to get in or out. Only the Glory, a destroyer and a trawler wished to go either in or out, so we spent all the night in a miserable condition, rolling and pitching like anything, with the seas breaking green over us incessantly. Of course it was impossible to get any sleep even in the stern cabin as the water came in over there and soaked us through. At 5 am it became so bad that the senior officer ordered us back to the ship as we were in danger of being swamped.

Winter has begun to set in properly here and we have got fires lit both in the Wardroom and the Gunroom. I always pity the military in winter-time - they must have a thin time of it in the trenches what with the cold and wet while we live in comparative comfort in the ships.

The other day I was in a picket boat about a half mile off W beach when the Turks, realizing I suppose what a chance they had of wiping out one of the most promising young officers in the British Navy, slung a shell across which pitched in the water about 20 yards from us. Whether it was meant for the beach or for the trawlers, it would have been a pretty bad shot for either, anyhow it was quite close enough to us for my liking. Last night at 11.15 pm a stoker expired in his hammock quite suddenly. They had a post-mortem examination this morning and came to the conclusion it was from heart-failure that he died. Anyhow he was buried at sea from a trawler at 10.30 this morning.

Love to all from Philip.

3rd November	At Mudros
26th November	Lord Kitchener visits
7th December to 8th February	To At Meteline - Port Iero
7th March	HMMG Mary Rose, a gunboat off Long Island
17th May	Appointed to HMS Queen Mary

Last Letter Home to Reginald dated 27th May 1916 while on HMS Queen Mary at Rosyth

My Dear Dad

The Queen Mary is the most up to date ship. Among the many luxuries are a bath-room with hot water constantly laid on and two long baths. Also a cinema show to which I went last Thursday and it was quite decent. The Gunroom is well above the waterline (in the Canopus you could scarcely have the scuttles open at sea for fear of the water coming in) and contains a gramophone and a pianola.

There are 23 of us in the Gunroom including 2 subs, an engineering sub and 2 clerks. All the rest of us are snotties, some junior and some senior to us.

My chest and trunk arrived quite happily on the same day as I did. Are you able to get plenty of tennis? How are the gooseberries and the other fruit getting on? I suppose Jack has left to join his ship again.

Hoping you are all quite well,
With much love from your affectionate son
Philip.

_______

30th May	Queen Mary sails for Horn Reef
31st May	Sinking of Queen Mary at 4.27p.m. by Derflinger and Seydlitz. Both these battle-cruisers were seriously damaged by the 1st Battle Squadron. Philip was in A turret.

The Queen Mary Sinking

Extract from a letter dated 5th June 1916 from Midshipman JL Storey - one of the 20 survivors of the Queen Mary from a complement of 1,266

Poor Malet de Carteret who was with me in the Canopus all this time is also gone. I feel it dreadfully. We had been together 6 years all told.

….The actual fight was something like this. We left Rosyth on Tuesday evening and steamed towards the Danish coast. At about 3.50 we sounded off "Exercise action", and all went to our turrets and tested through everything. We were then told that A & Q turret crews could go and get their tea. Q was my turret, the one amidships in the waist between the funnels. At 4.24 "Action" was sounded and we all went to our stations, and at twenty minutes to five the order was given "Load all Guns" we all then realised that the real thing had come at last. At 7 minutes to 5 we opened fire at 8 ¾ miles range at the third ship in the enemy's line, and everything went beautifully until 5.21 when Q turret was hit by a big shell, and the right gun put out of action. We continued firing with the left gun for two or three minutes, and then a most awful explosion took place which broke the ship in two by the foremast, it was I believe a torpedo into one of the fore-turret magazines. When the explosion took place, our left gun broke off outside the turret at the rear and fell into the working chamber: the right gun also slid down. The turret was filled with flying metal, and several men were killed. A lot of cordite caught fire below me and blazed up, and several people were gassed. The men left and myself got to the ladder leading out of the turret and climbed quickly out. There was no panic or shouting at all, the men were splendid heroes. Just as I got out of the turret and climbed over the funnels and masts which were lying behind the turret, and had got off my coat and our shoes, another awful explosion occurred, blowing me into the water, - and the remaining part of the ship, - the after-part blew up. X turret magazine going off.

However eventually we got to Rosyth at 8pm on Thursday.

It is interesting to note that either his memory or watch was wrong by 1 hour.

Extract from "The Times" June 9th, 1916 regarding the Battle of Jutland

TIGER IN THE FIGHT - HOW THE QUEEN MARY WENT DOWN

"One of the gunners of HMS Tiger, the latest vessel of the British Battle Cruiser Squadron, has given the following account of the battle of Horn Reef:

The Lion which was leading the line, followed by the Tiger, Princess Royal, and the Queen Mary, was the first to open fire, the range being about 18,000 yards, and common shell being used. Range-finding continued for a few minutes, neither squadron doing what might be called really good shooting till then.

Then it could be seen that each of the British battle-cruisers had begun business in earnest. Control firing was adopted, the speed of each salvo being remarkable. The Germans, too began to get the range as the vessels drew towards each other, and a particularly lucky shot cut away part of the Indefatigable's fire control.

About 4 o'clock every man in the British battle-cruiser squadron, each vessel of which had been singling out an opposing vessel, realised that the Germans not only had a preponderance of guns, but more than double the number of vessels. They were clever in realising their superiority. They began concentrating their fire, and every gun of the German Squadron was first turned on the Lion, but hardly a shell hit her. Two asphyxiating projectiles fell on her upper deck behind the bridge, but the majority fell short, sending up terrific volumes of water.

GUNS CONCENTRATED ON THE QUEEN MARY

The two squadrons approached each other for about 20 minutes, and then the enemy suddenly bore away to port, soon turning completely as if they were breaking off action. We turned as well, and manoeuvring continued for 15 minutes, when the German squadron again came ahead, their guns being concentrated on the Queen Mary. They had been poking about for range for some minutes without effect, when suddenly a most remarkable thing happened. Every shell that the Germans threw seemed suddenly to strike the battle-cruiser at once. It was as if a whirlwind was smashing a forest down, and reminded me very much of the rending that is heard when a big vessel is launched and the stays are being smashed.

Vice Admiral Sir David Beatty, Commander 5th Battle-cruiser Squadron

The Queen Mary seemed to roll, slowly to starboard, her mast and funnels gone, and with a huge hole in her side. She listed again, the hole disappeared beneath the water, which rushed into her, and turned her completely over. A minute and a half and all that could be seen of the Queen Mary was her keel, and then that disappeared.   Standing beside Admiral Beatty on the Lion during this awful spectacle of the destruction was his Flag Captain EM Chatfield. "We both turned around in time to see the unpleasant spectacle…. Beatty turned to me and said, "There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today" whether the destruction was caused by inadequate armour or poor flash protection in the magazine will never be established.""