Petty Officer Stoker Matthew Rosevere Davey Burnard
HMS E47, Royal Navy, K1894
Date of Birth: 22 December 1880
Place of Birth: Wadebridge, Cornwall
Date of Death: 20 August 1917
Buried: Remembered on the Plymouth Naval Memorial
Awarded the 1914 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal
Mr & Mrs Burnard of Tregoodwell, Camelford have received the sad news of the death of their eldest son, Stoker Petty Officer Matthew R.D. Burnard, killed in action on one of H.M. ships last month.
As a youth he was employed at the North Cornwall China Clay works which he left nearly nine years since, on attaining the age of 18 years, to join the navy.
For some weeks he fought through the Jutland Battle. Mr Burnard was 26 years of age and was only married in March last to the daughter of Mr. W. Stott of Boscastle.
The young widow resides at Teignmouth. Mr & Mrs Burnard had also one nephew killed in action at Salonika and another died of wounds in France. They have one son-in-law and six nephews still serving with the colours. Much sympathy has been expressed with the family in the death of Stoker Matt Burnard, a typical sailor, who possessed many excellent qualities.
Cornish and Devon Post, 8th September 1917
Submarine HMS E47
HMS E47 was a steam-powered E-class submarine.
She was armed with a gun mounted forward of the conning tower, five torpedo tubes, and carried 10 torpedoes. The maximum intended depth for the E-class was 100 feet (30 m).
E-class submarine. 1914. HMAS AE 2. AWM. A.N. H11559. Copyright Expired
The E47 was based at Harwich with the 9th Flotilla depot ships Maidstone and Forth.
She was engaged in North Sea patrols off the German and Dutch coasts.
During the First World War, Britain used its navy to starve Germany of supplies, by blockading the entrance to the English Channel and the North Sea.
Inside a steam-driven WW1 Submarine (Public Domain)
Germany's civilians began to starve from the winter of 1916 onwards, so in 1917 the German Navy launched a campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare and German coastal shipping between Heligoland Bight and Rotterdam resumed in 1917.
The E47 with three other E-class submarines were sent to intercept.
HM Submarine E47 was sunk off the Dutch coast on 20th August 1917 with the loss of all of her crew of 32.
In 2002, the wreck of HMS E47 was discovered by a team of divers from Diving team Noordkaap from Vlieland about 11 km from the island of Texel.
