Leading Seaman D/JX 153460 Eric Burrell

Family details:
Son of Thomas and S. E. Burrell, of St. Helens, Lancashire.

Census details:
1939 Register. Unfortunately Eric Burnell is redacted but father Thomas Burrell born 24/03/1890 a Petrol Motor Driver. mother Sarah E Burrell born 08/08/1892 an Unpaid Domestic. relative Albert Burrell 04/01/1885 a Stable Man and relative Vera Norman (Burrell) born 23/09/1907 a Domestic Servant are living at 27 Tamworth Street , St Helens

Notes:
[ww2cas=291]Victor Martlew[/ww2cas] was also a casualty in this incident. [url=lmem.php?lmem=28]Remembered on St Lukes War Memorial, Knowsley Road.[/url]

[pic]imgs/sppics/HMS_Prince-of-Wales.jpg[/pic][caption][b]HMS [i]Prince of Wales[/i] (53) [/b]- King George V Class Battleship.[/caption] HMS Prince of Wales was a 43,786 Ton, Modern Battleship armed with 10 powerful 14 Inch Guns. She was one of the most powerful and famous ships of the Royal Navy. The Prince of Wales entered service with HMS Hood to intercept Bismarck and Prinz Eugen On May 24th 1941, she and the Hood fought the two German warships at the Battle of the Denmark Strait. Following the sinking of Hood, Prince of Wales, received seven large-caliber hits, and disengaged under a smokescreen. During the brief battle, she struck Bismarck three times. Prince of Wales joined HMS Suffolk and Norfolk. Gunfire was exchanged with the Bismarck briefly at 0131 hours on May 25. Twelve hours later, Prince Of Wales broke off pursuit due to her fuel running low. She then returned for six weeks of repair. [b]Sinking.[/b] Assigned to 'Force Z' with HMS Repulse and HMS Electra and HMS Express. On October 25, 1941 she departed for Singapore, to deter Japanese aggression in the Far East, the flagship of the Eastern Fleet. When Japan commenced hostilities on December 8, 1941 in Malaya, the force steamed northwards to intercept the invasion force, along with HMS Repulse and four destroyers: HMS Electra, HMS Express, HMS Tenedos and HMAS Vampire. Unable to find the force, they were spotted by Japanese submarine I-65 returning to Singapore and shadowed. On December the 10th 1941 while returning to Singapore HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales were attacked by G3M2 'Nell' and G4M1 'Betty' bombers. Early in the attack, the Prince of Wales was disabled by a lucky torpedo hit where the propeller shaft entered the hull, which caused severe flooding, rendered the rudder useless, and cut the power to her 5.25" guns and many pumps. Further electrical failures left parts of the ship in total darkness and added to the difficulties of Prince of Wales damage repair parties as they attempted to counter the flooding. In total, the ship sustained four torpedo hits. Finally, a 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) bomb hit the catapult deck, penetrated through to the main deck and exploded there, causing many casualties in the makeshift aid centre in the Cinema Flat. Several other bombs from this attack were very 'near misses', indenting the hull, popping rivets and causing hull plates to 'split' along the seams and intensifying the flooding. At 13:15 the order to abandon ship was given and at 13:20 [i]Prince of Wales[/i] capsized and sank; Vice-Admiral Phillips and Captain Leach were among the 327 fatalities, as was Leading Seaman Eric Burrell. The Battle Cruiser HMS Repulse was also sunk by four or five torpedoes from the Japanese dive bombers. From her crew of 967 men, 508 were lost. Winston Churchill later said that the loss of these two ships had and continued to haunted him. Both wreck sites are designated as protected. Prince of Wales lies upside down in 68m of water.