Leading Telegraphist
Frederick
WALKER
Royal Navy
19
Frederick was born on 6 February 1898 in Shardlow, Derbyshire, the eldest of eight children to Robert and Agnes (née Millington) Walker, with 3 brothers and 4 sisters Stanley (1901), Beatrice (1903), Herbert (1906), Alexander (1909), Stella (1914), Ina (1917) and Annie (1919) completing the family unit.
Frederick joined the Royal Navy on 2 July 1913 when he walked through the gates of HMS GANGES the “Boy Training Establishment” in Shotley, Suffolk, and became a Boy Second Class. On the application to join the RN he made himself 1 year older by giving his birth year as 1897 when birth records show it to be 1898. On 14 April he was advanced to Boy First Class and the very next day drafted to HMS HAWKE for 4 months sea training, then HMS VIVID 1 on 6 August 1914, HMS DEFIANCE on 7 September 1914, and HMS DONEGAL on 8 October 1914 where he was rated Boy Telegraphist on 23 June 1915.
Still onboard DONEGAL he was rated Ordinary Telegraphist on 10 August 1915 and to Telegraphist on 10 February 1916. On 16 August 1916 he was drafted to HMS RELIANT where while on board he volunteered for the submarine service. Unusally he did not complete any courses in HMS DOLPHIN and 19 April 1917 joined HMS FEARLESS (for HMS K4) the depot ship for the “12th Submarine Flotilla” based at this time in Rosyth, Scotland.
On the evening of 31 January 1918 HMS K4 departed Rosyth Naval yard with many other vessels bound for a North Sea exercise and became involved in what became known as the “Battle of May Island” when a number of submarines were either lost or damaged. Several separate collisions occurred, in one HMS K6 collided with K4, so great being the collision that K4 was almost cut in two and sank immediately with the loss of all her crew. In a few catastrophic hours 105 submariners died from submarines K4, K14 and K17.
Leading Telegraphist Frederick Walker, Svc No. J25725 “Crossed The Bar” with the other 54 of his shipmates. He is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial on Panel 27.