James Frederick Crisp

A Seaman with H.M.S. Aboukir. James died on 22nd of September 1914 at the age of 30. 

James was born at Lowestoft on 14 February 1884, a son of James Harris Crisp and Jemima Crisp. He was baptised at Saint Margaret's Church, Lowestoft, on 6 April 1884. In 1891 his family lived at 8 Clemence Street. By 1901 they were living at 4 Beckham Road and James was a deck hand on a smack. Later they lived at 28 Norwich Road, Lowestoft.

James enrolled in the Royal Naval Reserve on 1 April 1904.

In 1911 James was the Third Hand on the trawler Hesperus at Padstow.  

James was called out for service when the First World War began and on 3 August 1914 he was drafted to H.M.S. Aboukir. 

On 28 August 1914 H.M.S. Aboukir was part of the British naval force at the Battle of Heligoland Bight, but took no active part in the battle. On 22 September H.M.S. Aboukir, sailing with sister ships Cressy and Hogue, were in the Broad Fourteens area of the North Sea when each ship was sunk by torpedoes from German submarine U-9. A total of 527 men, including James, were killed in the loss of the Aboukir.