Petty Officer Stoker William Pope
HMS Colossus, Royal Navy
Died in Military Service
Date of Birth: 21 September 1884
Place of Birth: Crediton, Devon
Date of Death: 27 March 1917 aged 32
Buried: Remembered on Plymouth Naval Memorial; Seaside Memorial and St. James' Church Memorial Window, Teignmouth
Petty Officer Stoker William Pope age 32. Born 21 September 1884 at Crediton, he was baptised at Countess Wear on 19 October, son of William and Martha Emma Pope.
On 1891 census he is living with his parents and sister at Morchard Bishop, Crediton. By 1901 the family are living at Topsham and William is working as a plumber/tinman. He married Ellen Trace in October 1910 and in 1911 he is at sea and they are living at 3 Third Ave, Teignmouth
William enlisted with the Royal Navy on 5 May 1903, service number 303926. During the war he took part in the Battle of Jutland and he was serving on board HMS Colossus, when he was accidentally drowned on 27 March 1917.
Remembered on Plymouth Naval Memorial; Seaside Memorial and St. James' Church Memorial Window, Teignmouth.
The HMS Colossus
The Colossus was the first of two dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the 1900s.
HMS COLOSSUS as completed in 1911 © IWM (Q 38500)
During the First World War she was assigned to the Home and Grand Fleets (often as a flagship).
HMS Colossus served for most of the war in the North sea running routine patrols and training in the North Sea.
She fought in the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 and was hit, taking only minor damage.
Battleships Neptune, HMS King George V, HMS Hercules, HMS Colossus, HMS Marlborough and HMS Iron Duke underway.© IWM (Q 75196)
