Loftus William Jones VC (1879 - 1916)

Born 13 Nov 1879 in Southsea, Portsea Island, Hampshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret Annie (Dampney) Jones — married Mar 1910 in St Thomas, Devon, England

Died 31 May 1916 at age 36 in At Sea

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Biography

Loftus Jones VC was awarded the Victoria Cross.

Cmdr Loftus Jones VC was Killed in Action 31 May 1916 Battle of Jutland during World War I.

Commander Loftus William Jones VC RN

Loftus William Jones was born on 13 November 1879 Southsea, Portsea Island, Hampshire, England.^[1] He was the second son of Admiral Loftus Jones and Gertrude Gray. Loftus's mother was born 1854 in Bombay India, her father was an East India Company merchant, William H. Gray who was born 1816 in Virginia, United States.

He attended the Eastman's Royal Naval Academy at Fareham^[2] and in 1894 went to the training ship HMS Britannia. His first appointment as Midshipman was in HMS Flora, an Astraea-class Cruiser, in 1897. He joined HMS Spiteful a Spiteful class Torpedo Boat Destroyer, as Sub-Lieutenant in 1901.^[3]

He was promoted to Lieutenant in April 1902 and took his first command in HMS Sparrowhawk, a Quail Class Torpedo Boat Destroyer in 1903. After a short service in HMS Sandpiper, a Heron class river gunboat on the China Station, he held a succession of torpedo boat destroyer commands: HMS Success (1905-08), HMS Chelmer a River class Destroyer (1908-10) and HMS Ghurka a Tribal class Destroyer (1910-13),^[4] during which he was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander on 1 April 1910. Between 1894 and his last appointment to HMS Shark in 1914, he had twenty eight appointments. He married Margaret Dampney at St. Thomas, Devon in 1910^[5] and took command of a new destroyer HMS Linnet a Laforey class Destroyer in 1913. Commander Loftus Jones's only daughter was named Linnette after the ship.

HMS Shark

On 30 June 1914, he was promoted to Commander and appointed to HMS Shark. On December 16, 1914, HMS Shark led a small flotilla of four ships, the others being HMS Lynx, HMS Ambuscade, HMS Hardy against a superior force of 3 Battlecruisers, 4 German light cruisers which included SMS Strasbourg whose Radio Officer was Johannes Lohs and 18 destroyers.
This was the bombardment of Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, HMS Lynx, Ambuscade, and Hardy all suffering damage inflicted by the German group. HMS Shark engaged five enemy destroyers on her own saving at least two British Destroyers from annihilation. His actions were commended by Admiral Beatty.

Burial

He was interred at Kviberg Cemetery (Kvibergs kyrkogård.^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008 database, FamilySearch, Loftus William Jones, 1879; citing Birth Registration, Portsea Island, Hampshire, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England.
2. ↑ The Mariner's Mirror volume 77, 1991 - issue 4 Author: Hugh Owen.
3. ↑ England and Wales Census, 1901 database, FamilySearch, Loftus William Jones, Birkenhead, Cheshire, England; citing Birkenhead subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
4. ↑ England and Wales Census, 1911 database, FamilySearch, Loftus William Jones, , Essex, England; citing PRO RG 14, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
5. ↑ England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005 database, FamilySearch, Loftus William Jones, 1910; citing 1910, quarter 1, vol. 5B, p. 81, St. Thomas, Devon, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
6. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8016393/loftus-william-jones: accessed 18 March 2023), memorial page for CDR Loftus William Jones (13 Nov 1879–31 May 1916), Find a Grave Memorial ID 8016393, citing Kviberg Cemetery, Kviberg, Göteborgs kommun, Västra Götalands län, Sweden; Maintained by Find a Grave.

• England and Wales Census, 1881 database with images, FamilySearch, Loftus W Jones in household of Mary Osborn, Fareham, Hampshire, England; citing p. 4, Piece/Folio 1167/5, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,538.

• England and Wales Census, 1891 database with images, FamilySearch, Loftus W Jones in household of Gertrude Jones, Broadwater, Sussex, England; citing PRO RG 12, Sussex county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.

• The Grand Fleet 1914 - 1916 Its Creation Development And Work. By Admiral Viscount Jellicoe of Scapa GCB OM GCVO. Publisher; George H Doran Company, New York. Pages; #332 to 333.

• Wikipedia Commander Loftus William Jones VC RN. 1879 - 1916

• You Tube Audio Account HMS Shark. Battle of Jutland.

• victoriacross.org Medals of Commander Loftus William Jones VC RN. Aquired by the Lord Ashcroft VC Collection

• german-navy.de Königin Louise

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Eric Daly for creating Jones-20324 on 8 Oct 13. Click the Changes tab for the details on contributions by Eric and others.