The Story of David Collins and the Live Bait Squadron

Early Life and Family

David Harry Collins was born at Kingsnorth, near Ashford in Kent, on 25 January 1883. He was the son of David Collins and Susannah Charlotte Foord, and was baptised on 4 March 1883 at St Michael and All Angels, Kingsnorth. His earliest years were spent in the Kentish countryside, although the family later moved towards the growing communities around Ashford. [1]

In the 1891 census David was living at 146 Cudworth Road, Willesborough, aged eight and described as a scholar. The household record places him within a working family environment at a time when compulsory schooling and the expansion of local industries were reshaping the lives of children in Kent. By the age of seventeen he had entered maritime employment, beginning a career that would take him away from the county and into the Royal Navy. [1]

The 1901 census recorded David aboard a vessel at Portland, Dorset, where he was listed among the crew as a Boy 1st Class. This entry provides an important glimpse of his transition from childhood to naval service. It shows a young Kentish man already living within the disciplined, mobile world of the merchant and naval ports, learning the practical routines of life at sea. [1]

No spouse or children are identified in the surviving family report. David’s story is therefore preserved chiefly through his parents, his naval records and the official memorials that commemorate the men lost with HMS Cressy. [1]

From a scholar in Willesborough to a senior sailor aboard an armoured cruiser, David Collins’s life followed the sea at a time of rapid naval change.

Royal Navy Service

David entered military service on 5 January 1900, aged sixteen. His later records identify him as Petty Officer 1st Class, service number 208619, serving in the Royal Navy aboard HMS Cressy. The rank indicates that he had progressed considerably beyond his early status as a Boy 1st Class and had acquired experience and responsibility within the ship’s company. [1]

A petty officer was a senior rating who helped supervise the work, discipline and training of junior sailors. In a large warship, petty officers were essential to the daily functioning of the vessel. They stood between the commissioned officers and the wider company, ensuring that orders were understood and carried out while also maintaining standards in technical, domestic and seamanship duties.

HMS Cressy was a Cressy-class armoured cruiser, constructed at the end of the nineteenth century. The class had been designed for overseas naval service and carried substantial armour, heavy guns and a large crew. By 1914 the ships were no longer at the forefront of naval design, but their size, endurance and weaponry made them suitable for patrol and blockade duties in waters where the Royal Navy needed a visible and persistent presence. [2][3]

David’s medals and service records place him among the professional sailors who formed the working core of the Royal Navy during the transition from peace to total war. The report records him as entitled to the relevant naval war-service recognition, while his service history shows that he had already spent many years at sea before the outbreak of the First World War. [1]

Unit Context at the Time of Death

At the outbreak of war, HMS Cressy was assigned to the 7th Cruiser Squadron, also known as Cruiser Force C. The squadron’s task was to patrol the southern North Sea, particularly the area known as the Broad Fourteens, and to support the wider naval forces guarding the eastern approaches to the English Channel. Its work helped protect the sea routes carrying the British Expeditionary Force and supplies between Britain and France. [4][5]

The squadron consisted largely of older armoured cruisers, many crewed partly by reservists. Their patrol area was comparatively shallow, and the vessels were expected to maintain a steady presence while watching for German warships attempting to reach the Channel or interfere with British shipping. The ships’ age and vulnerability led some naval observers to refer to the squadron as the “Live Bait Squadron”, a nickname that became tragically prophetic after September 1914. [6][2]

HMS Cressy was not operating in isolation by design. The patrol was intended to be supported by destroyers and submarines associated with the Harwich Force. However, poor weather, mechanical difficulties and operational circumstances meant that the three cruisers—Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy—were alone on the morning of 22 September. Their mission was defensive and protective rather than an attack on a particular enemy port: they were maintaining a patrol intended to deter, observe and intercept. [7]

That role placed David and his shipmates at the meeting point between traditional surface warfare and the emerging submarine age. The cruisers were heavily armed and armoured, but their patrol procedures had not yet fully adapted to the speed, concealment and striking power of modern submarines.

Circumstances of Death

On the morning of 22 September 1914, the three cruisers were patrolling off the Dutch coast when they were sighted by the German submarine U-9, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Otto Weddigen. U-9 first attacked HMS Aboukir. When Hogue and Cressy stopped or slowed to assist survivors, they presented the submarine with further targets. [2][1]

After the loss of the first two ships, Cressy attempted to engage the submarine and also tried to ram it. U-9 manoeuvred into position and fired torpedoes at close range. A torpedo struck Cressy at approximately 7.25 a.m., followed by a second hit several minutes later. The cruiser capsized and sank in less than half an hour. [8][9][1]

David Harry Collins was killed or died as a direct result of enemy action in the sinking. He was thirty-one years old. The loss of Cressy formed part of a catastrophe in which three British cruisers were sunk by one submarine in roughly ninety minutes. Approximately 560 men were lost aboard Cressy, while 1,459 sailors died across the three vessels; 837 men were rescued by British and neutral vessels. [8]

David Collins died not in a distant ocean battle, but on a routine North Sea patrol that became one of the Royal Navy’s earliest submarine disasters.

Burial and Commemoration

David’s body was not recovered for burial. He is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial, which honours Royal Navy personnel who died at sea and have no known grave. The memorial is especially appropriate for a sailor from Kent: it connects his service with the naval establishments and communities of the Medway and preserves his name within the county’s maritime history. [7][1]

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records him as Petty Officer 1st Class David Harry Collins, service number 208619, Royal Navy, who died on 22 September 1914 aboard HMS Cressy. His commemoration records ensure that his identity is not absorbed into the much larger casualty total. He was one particular man: the son of David Collins and Susannah Charlotte Foord, born in Kingsnorth and raised in the Willesborough area. [1]

The Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust continues to interpret the loss of Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy as part of the dockyard’s wartime history. The three ships were associated with Chatham before being sent to Harwich as part of the 7th Cruiser Squadron, giving the disaster a direct connection with Kent’s naval heritage. [7]

Legacy

The sinking of HMS Cressy had consequences far beyond the loss of one ship. It demonstrated that a single submarine could destroy several large surface vessels in a short period and forced the Admiralty to reconsider the risks of unsupported cruiser patrols. The attack also influenced later anti-submarine practice, including the importance of escorting vulnerable ships, maintaining movement and treating submerged submarines as a major strategic threat. [4][2]

For David Collins, the historical significance of the action should not obscure the individual story. He had entered naval service as a teenager, progressed to the responsible rank of Petty Officer 1st Class and spent his adult life within the Royal Navy. His career joined the local world of Kent with the global reach of Britain’s maritime forces.

His name on the Chatham Naval Memorial represents the enduring cost of that service. There is no known grave to visit and no surviving account in the report describing his final moments. Yet the combination of census entries, naval records, casualty registers and memorial inscription allows his life to be reconstructed with care. David Harry Collins remains part of both the Collins family history and the story of the Royal Navy’s painful encounter with submarine warfare in the first weeks of the Great War.

Sources and Further Reading

• Commonwealth War Graves Commission: Petty Officer 1st Class David Harry Collins.
• Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust: Three Cruisers.
• MaSS: HMS Cressy, 1914.
• FirstWorldWar.com: Sinking of Aboukir, Cressy and Hogue by U-9.
• Action of 22 September 1914.
• HMS Cressy (1899).
• The Live Bait Squadron: The North Sea disaster of 22 September 1914.
• A Street Near You: Royal Navy casualties aboard HMS Cressy.
• Find a Grave: Petty Officer 1st Class David Harry Collins, Memorial 14368810.
• Ancestry: census, naval service, casualty and war-grave records cited in the individual report.

Sources
[1] Individual-Report-for-David-Harry-Collins.pdf https://ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws.com/web/direct-files/attachments/141549598/1deb49f5-f4f4-459d-97e5-f42813f25e3a/Individual-Report-for-David-Harry-Collins.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=ASIA2F3EMEYE2HR37775&Signature=dHa6Xl%2BHnshfojQPi5eyyANR1cE%3D&x-amz-security-token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjENv%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJHMEUCIFynzI0O7oF7ezzdEwVjHiGtP6c%2Fwn55JcPeBZCpLR11AiEAk3bEo4zl7HtJ2a4T1AgpNWEUBDylGrCzBzoW%2F3tcTRkq%2FAQIpP%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FARABGgw2OTk3NTMzMDk3MDUiDA%2BFlqdcWHQdKTo6UirQBEp32NKrh4cIc%2FXfB9PkNC9JKwkVf8mHcb9Xe54f79NH%2FnmkPfQay7xVtqFr3m6bdZf1c8cqEj28YemPjlv05GEyj8TEMqmkXR%2FdWWlL2MAA5vaZN%2Fd0LSR2fBUj2R8PsLmuLZEUYiI6KCHDXWSDk36N15mJphnIWlRX1WHDvBM8%2B6nGNdLdPB5otmf71b2ggtpKh6tojMXlqMJ2Ru%2F51gNVIXIdfNIauQDR7%2BV0pnv55wXSorMEPXgY%2FsfnZdxafRNGja9nkYA9Z6yOZgtQzJtS%2BZbtIJcJpd3XWl%2BCypzZ1PS85znrZC%2BuyM8%2B%2BS1GKzgcDKyx6CvqkGF6UyBXuEZkP3pH4HDR7AWD9ugFzmoFIvIhNh1zVmdf7nMdG5FXgEjtWdpK4gvTdyRI%2B7soOVWkndKbgozzqLkhSqjjRmEPqraYrpd9o5H1yLG23mUjUcYCSRFb1As0X3d376wEthNE15DdJxmAn99R6Z%2FSJWo3yp0qPnJq9j8gDyBvvxoUnxW7XEuGI2apDoQWhehrZ62f3Vp%2Bb6Awi5xevE4tpLd9uSNFJb2%2FVKmL8UlHmonwXGGuSZjlsJtStYUpnjY8969YE%2BUNz21CoCUUstVojv%2BOMUTYY3jKHblgqVV2WGpQVrWfOhms2lZrNZQDMqsHKcCQxp1eVaInWns3xO%2F8v0tA1b0vuO09a1xhYL9YazOYVcAwLXN69t%2FA1OjQ9m4LmzREL97N1InrG252ZQyp6KG9FPFKbfpB2aml5H7HuH8nGn%2BidQ5KNh3JOGar7tEAK6kwoLPJ1QY6mAGgXswDx5UFXY4SjCmWQUzIBBQSd0hoYQqxV9UW0ZQdfj8N9N%2BU7muk3CVRG7ds5Ef6A10kj%2FUOCETw%2FYbOQnEG3FsoPZjhSSp2XG8i%2B0IXspjQxw3N8hsdIdkeZNDYP6z1xeaCKRS5mxgERLCn3UR74Q533%2F%2F3iN3oBXVuJkpL%2BbeV%2FbaTQWxvnAA%2Bjxcc1WpOgUEZrPPQGw%3D%3D&Expires=1790075731
[2] HMS Cressy (+1914) | MaSS https://mass.cultureelerfgoed.nl/hms-cressy
[3] Cressy class armoured cruisers (1899) https://naval-encyclopedia.com/ww1/uk/cressy-class-armoured-cruisers.php
[4] HMS Cressy (1899) – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Cressy_(1899)
[5] 7th Cruiser Squadron – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7th_Cruiser_Squadron
[6] The Live Bait Squadron – Live Bait Squadron https://www.livebaitsqn-soc.info/the-live-bait-squadron/
[7] Three Cruisers – Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust https://thedockyard.co.uk/the-collections/digital-exhibitions/three-cruisers/
[8] 22 September 1914: Remembering HM Coastguard’s … https://hmcoastguard.uk/news/22-september-1914-remembering-hm-coastguards-greatest-loss
[9] Remembering the War at Sea – Part 1 – Wessex Archaeology https://www.wessexarch.co.uk/news/remembering-war-sea-part-1
[10] Search Results | CWGC https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/search-results/
[11] Find War Dead | CWGC https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/
[12] Royal Navy, HMS Cressy – First World War Casualties – A Street Near You https://astreetnearyou.org/regiment/10218/Royal-Navy,-HMS-Cressy
[13] Cressy-class cruiser – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cressy-class_cruiser
[14] HMS Cressy Archives – History Hub Ulster https://historyhubulster.co.uk/tag/hms-cressy/
[15] World War One https://fortingall-graveyard.org.uk/world-war-one/
[16] The Historic Dockyard, Chatham, Kent: Ship models https://wargamingmiscellanybackup.wordpress.com/2015/09/25/the-historic-dockyard-chatham-kent-ship-models/