Stoker 1st Class John William James Russell
HMS. Monmouth, Royal Navy
Killed in Action
Date of Birth: 1892
Place of Birth: Teignmouth, Devon
Date of Death: 1st November 1914 aged 23
Buried: Remembered on Plymouth Naval Memorial; Seafront Memorial and St. Michael's Church Memorial, Teignmouth, Devon.
Awarded the 1914 Star (RN), the British War Medal and the Victory Medal
Stoker 1st Class John William James Russell, age 22.
Born on 12 February 1892 and baptised on 8 July 1896 at S. James' Church, Teignmouth, the only son of William, a mariner, and Ellen Russell, 26 Coombe Road. In the 1901 census he was living with them and his sister Ruth at 9 Parson Place, Parson Street, West Teignmouth.
John signed up with the Royal Navy on 12 September 1910 as a Stoker 2nd Class service number Dev/K8872.
In the 1911 census his address is listed as "Edgar, Royal Navy at Sea and in ports abroad, England".
He spent five months training at HMS Vivid, Devonport, before going to sea in February 1911. He was promoted to Stoker 1st Class later that year.
After serving on three more ships, John joined HMS Monmouth on 30 July 1914 in Plymouth. John lost his life when the ship was fired on and exploded off the coast in Chile on 1 November 1914.
Remembered on Plymouth Naval Memorial; Seafront Memorial and St. Michael's Church Memorial, Teignmouth, Devon.
HMS Monmouth in the First World War
HMS Monmouth
HMS Monmouth was built for the Royal Navy in the early 1900s. By the start of the First World War, the Monmouth was 12 years old and already considered outdated as warship design had developed so quickly.
The Monmouth class cruisers had also been designed for commerce protection, not as ships of war, so they were outmatched by the German vessels that they had to fight.
A few months after the begining of the First World War the Monmouth was ordered to the South Atlantic to join the squadron under Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock in their search for the German East Asia Squadron that was led by Vice-Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee.
The British Squadron found and engaged the German Squadron on the 1st November 1914 off the coast of Chile, the battle was called the Battle of Coronel.
Vice-Admiral von Spee's squadron, in line ahead off the Chilean coast. © IWM (Q 50992)
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Craddock's squadron were outnumbered and the Monmouth and all 678 of her crew were amongst those lost.
Ordinary Seaman Robert Kent aged 18, Stoker 1st Class Alfred Parker, age 30 and Stoker 1st Class John William James Russell age 23, (all from Teignmouth) were killed in action when the HMS Monmouth sank.
1450 of Craddock's men died in the Battle of Coronel. Damage to German ships was insignificant.
John William Russell of Teignmouth was one of those who died, he was 23 years old.
