On this day in 1916, David Stephen Penny (1897-1916) was killed in the Battle of Jutland – the largest naval confrontation of the Great War.
David Stephen, an 18-year-old ordinary seaman, was one of more than 1,000 officers and men who died in the British battlecruiser HMS Invincible when she was blown up on May 31, 1916.
A shell fired by a German warship caused an explosion which blew Invincible in half and sank her in seconds. There were only six survivors.
David Stephen, who joined Invincible on March 28, 1915, is remembered on Portsmouth Naval Memorial and on Gussage All Saints War Memorial in Dorset.
Paul Roberts
NOTES
David Stephen’s sister – Hilda Daisy Penny (1892-1981) – married Francis ‘Frank’ George Arscott (1896-1953) on June 19, 1923 in Gussage-all-Saints, Dorset. Frank was the son of Henry Arscott (1855-1928) and Mary Chick (1861-1951). Henry was the son of Charlotte Arscott (1836-1906) and George Martin (1841-1912). Charlotte was the daughter of Hugh Arscott (1809-1878). Hugh’s brother, John Arscott (1807-1879), was my great-great grandfather.
David Stephen was born on September 7, 1897 in Brockington. Dorset. He was the son of Walter Penny (1867-1952) and Emma Manston (1869-1958).
See more on:
https://www.robertsandarscottfamilyhistory.co.uk/the-explosion-that-rocked-the-world/
Picture below
The wreckage of HMS Invincible. Public Domain image (via Wikimedia Commons) taken by an official Royal Navy photographer. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:InvincibleWrecksp2470.jpg
