Charles William Hebbards

HMS Formidable HMS Formidable was the lead ship of her class of pre-dreadnought battleships. Commissioned in 1904, she served initially with the Mediterranean Fleet, transferring to the Channel Fleet in 1908. In 1912, she was assigned to the 5th Battle Squadron, which was stationed at Nore. Following the outbreak of World War I, the squadron conducted operations in the English Channel, and was based at Sheerness to guard against a possible German invasion. Early in the morning of 1 January 1915, whilst on exercise in the English Channel, Formidable sank after being hit by two torpedoes fired by U24 commanded by Kapitänleutnant Rudolf Schnieder. 547 men of Formidable’s 780 strong crew were lost, including her captain Arthur Noel Loxley. The survivors included 2 warrant officers and 71 men who were rescued from her sinking launch in a gale by the Brixham trawler Provident, which carried only four hands: Captain William Pillar, First Hand William Carter, Second Hand John Clarke and Apprentice Daniel Taylor, né Ferguson. All four were awarded the Sea Gallantry Medal. (Ship history courtesy of Wikipedia & warandsecurity.com)

Thanks to Julian Putkowski for this identification.