Date of birth: 17th September 1880
Place of birth: Kensington, London
Service No.: 302885. (Po)
Rank: Stoker, Petty Officer
Regiment / Division: Royal Navy
Battalion/Ship: H.M.S. “Britannia”
Died: 9th November 1918 aged 38 years
Death Location: At Sea
Life before the War
Charles was born in 1880 in Kensington London. In the census of 1911 he was registered as serving with the Royal Navy at “miscellaneous locations”. It states he was single.
War Service
| Name: | Charles Markham |
| Rank: | Sto PO |
| Birth Date: | 17 Sep 1880 |
| Birth Place: | Kensington, London, England |
| Branch of Service: | Royal Navy |
| Cause of Death: | Killed or died as a direct result of enemy action |
| Official Number Port Division: | 302885. (Po) |
| Death Date: | 9 Nov 1918 |
| Ship or Unit: | HMS Britannia |
| Location of Grave: | Not recorded |
| Name and Address of Cemetery: | Body Not Recovered For Burial |
| Relatives Notified and Address: | Wife: Margaret 102, Bevois Valley, Portswood, Southampton |
Charles is Remembered with Honour on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Southsea Common, Hampshire.
Portsmouth Naval Memorial
“Markham, Sto. P.O. Charles, 302885. R.N. H.M.S. “Britannia”. Killed in action with submarine in Straits
of Gibraltar 9th Nov., 1918. Age 36. Son of late Mr. and Mrs. Markham, of London; husband of Margaret
M. H. E. Markham, of 102, Bevois Valley, Portswood, Southampton. Reference 29”
Historical Information – H.M.S. “Britannia”
The old battleship “Britannia” had the melancholy distinction of being the last British warship to be lost in the First World War.
She was steaming toward Gibraltar from westward in c
ompany with two destroyers when, on the morning of November 9th, 1918, at about a quarter-past seven she was attacked by a submarine. two torpedoes were fired, both of which missed the target, but a third struck her amidships and exploded a quantity of cordite within the ship. She sank some three hours later, with a loss of 40 of her complement.
The submarine which sank the “Britannia”, the UB-50, Cdr. Kukat,
was escaping from the Mediterranean with other submarines which had been
operating there since the Dardanelles campaign.
Researched by Becky Lonergan October 2013
