Charles was born on 29 March 1880 in Barton Regis, Gloucestershire, although he gave Winterbourne, Exeter, as place of birth on his RN aplication form. He was the second child of three children to John William and Mary Jane (née Moore) King, with older sister Mildred M E (1878) and younger brother James L (1884) all living in Barton Regis, Gloucestershire. In the Spring of 1891 Mary Jane the mother sadly passed away and in the Spring of 1895 the Father John Williams died. A few months later when Charles joined the RN it seems Stroud was the new family home for his brother and sister. In the Spring of 1903 he married local girl Alice Winter, but sadly there are no known children registered from this union.

Charles entered the Royal Navy on 3 July 1895 aged 15 years and 3 months and must have had his father’s blessing and permission. He walked over the gangway of HMS IMPREGNABLE (ex HMS HOWE from 1885 to 1911) the “Boy Training Ship” moored in Devonport dockyard and signed on as a Boy Second Class. On 24 September he was transferred to HMS CALEDONIA (ex HMS IMPREGNABLE) moored now in Rosyth dockyard, Fife, Scotland, for further training and while on board he was advanced to Boy First Class. On 19 November 1896 he was drafted to HMS BENBOW, and 16 March 1897 had his first visit to the Naval Barracks in Devonport, HMS VIVID l. On 14 April he was drafted to HMS COLOSSUS, on 4 May returned to VIVID 1, on 8 May was off to HMS CRESCENT and on 16 October back to VIVID 1.

Then on 27 October 1897 he was drafted to HMS PEACOCK where on board he was advanced to Ordinary Seaman on 29 March 1898, and on 6 November was rated up to Able Seaman with a return to VIVID l on 29 June 1901. On 6 October he had a draft to HMS EXCELLENT, on 24 January 1902 he was drafted to HMS DEFIANCE, and on 25 May he returned to VIVID l. On 15 June he moved to HMS HAZARD and on 1 January 1903 to HMS LATONA where it would seem he “volunteered for service in submarines” and was drafted to the submarine depot ship HMS THAMES for duties on HMS A1.

On 18 March 1904, A1 was in the Solent practising torpedo attacks using the cruiser HMS JUNO as the target. The SS BERWICK CASTLE, a mail ship, was on route from Southampton to Hamburg, Germany, and still had the Solent Pilot on board, when the two vessels collided in the Eastern Solent. This was catastrophic for the submarine which never surfaced from periscope depth. The merchant vessel never even stopped as they thought they had hit a dummy torpedo. All 11 crew members onboard the submarine died with no chance of escape, even in the shallow waters of around 35 feet.

Able Seaman Charles William King, Svc No. 184404, aged 24, had “Crossed The Bar” with 10 of his fellow shipmates.