Admiralty, March 6.

The King has been graciously pleased to approve of the posthumous grant of the Victoria Cross to the following officer in recognition of his most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty in the course of the Battle of Jutland. The full facts have only now been ascertained :-

On the afternoon of May 31, 1915, during the action. Commander Jones in HMS Shark. torpedo-boot destroyer - led a division of destroyers to attack the enemy battle cruiser squadron. In the course of this attack a shell hit the Shark's bridge, putting the steering gear out of order, and very shortly afterwards another shell disabled the main engines, leaving the vessel helpless.

The commanding officer of another destroyer, seeing the Shark's plight, came between her and the enemy and offered assistance, but was warned by Commander Jones not to run the risk of being almost certainly sunk in trying to help him. Commander Jones, though wounded in the leg, went aft to help connect and man the after wheel. Meanwhile the forecastle gun with its crew had been blown away, and the same fate soon afterwards befell the after gun and crew Commander Jones then went to the midship and only remaining gun, and personally assisted in keeping it in action. .

All this time the Shark was subjected to very heavy fire from enemy light cruisers and destroyers at short range. The gun's crew of the midship gun was reduced to three, of whom an able seaman was soon badly wounded in the leg. A few minutes later Commander Jones was hit by a shell, which took off his leg above the knee, but he continued to give orders to his gun's crew. while a chief stoker improvised a tourniquet round his thigh. Noticing that the ensign was not properly hoisted he gave orders for another to be hoisted. Soon afterwards, seeing that the ship could not survive much longer, and as a German destroyer was closing, he gave orders for the surviving members of the crew to put on lifebelts. Almost immediately after this order had been given the Shark was struck by a torpedo and sank. Commander Jones was unfortunately not amongst the few survivors from the Shark who were picked up by a neutral vessel in the night.

The following awards have also been made to the survivors of H.M.S. Shark for their services during the action:

Sto. P.O. Charles Filleul, O.N. 292779 (Po.) ;

A.B. Charles Cleeberg Hope, O.N. 238376 (Po.);

A.B. Charles Herbert Smith, O.N J.13416 (Po.)

A.B. Joseph Owen Glendower Howell, O.N. 230192 (Po.) ;

Sto. 1st Cl. Thomas Wilton Swan, O.N. K 26567 (Po.) ;

P.O. William Charles Richard Griffin, O.N. 201404 (Po.)

The award to Petty Officer Grin has already been gazetted.

^ back to top ^