CLAUDE PHILLIPE DELMEGE was serving as a Midshipman, The Royal Navy, aboard HMS Cressy when he died on active service on 22nd September 1914. He was aged 16, his body was not recovered and he is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial. He is also remembered on a plaque in Charlbury Parish Church.

He was youngest son of Alfred Delmege MVO, honourary surgeon to His Majesty King George V, and Deputy-Inspector of hospitals and fleets, Royal Navy, and his wife Mary. Born in Southsea he entered the  Royal Naval College at Osborne House, Isle of Wight in 1911, aged 13. He was appointed Midshipman in August 1911 aboard the armoured cruiser HMS Cressy.The 7th Cruiser Squadron was as a blockading force of the used to close the English Channel to German traffic. It was employed patrolling an area of the North Sea known as the Broad Fourteens in support of vessels guarding the northern entrance to the Channel. The Squadron was made up of 5 obsolete Cressy class armoured cruisers, Aboukir, Bacchante, Euryalus, Hogue and Cressy, mostly staffed by reserve sailors  At around 0600 on 22 September 1914, the cruisers had to return to harbour to refuel and were steaming at 10 knots in line ahead when they were spotted by the German submarine U-9 commanded by Kapitanleutnant Otto Weddigen, who ordered his submarine to submerge and closed the range to the unsuspecting British ships. At close range, he fired a single torpedo at Aboukir. The torpedo broke her back, and she sank within 20 minutes with the loss of 527 men. The captains of Cressy and Hogue thought Aboukir had struck a floating mine and came forward to assist her. They stood by and began to pick up survivors. At this point, Weddigen fired two torpedoes into Hogue, mortally wounding that ship. As Hogue sank, the captain of Cressy realised that the squadron was being attacked by a submarine, and tried to flee. However, Weddigen fired two more torpedoes into Cressy, and sank her as well. The entire battle had lasted less than two hours, and cost the British three warships, 62 officers and 1,397 ratings. This incident established the U-boat as a major weapon in the conduct of naval warfare. There was a public outcry at the losses. The incident eroded confidence in the government and damaged the reputation of the Royal Navy, at a time when many countries were still considering which side they might support in the war. 

Steve Kingsford