Soldier Record

Son of Maurice and Kate Phillips, Ealing. London. Native of Llanrwst, Denbeighshire. Francis served on the battleship HMS Russell. The ship was laid down at Jarrow on 11th March 1899 and launched in Feb 1901. Her length was 429 ft, beam 75.5 ft, draught 26.5 ft. With a displacement of 14,000 tons, she had a speed of over 19 knots, making her one of the fastest warships afloat of her time.

Rear-Admiral R.S.Fremantle was flying his flag in HMS Russell, Captain W.Bowden-Smith, when she arrived off Malta on the night of 26th April 1916. Due to her late arrival entry to the harbour was refused and the ship was forced to circle around offshore. Next morning, when about 5 miles from Grand Harbour, she hit 2 mines which had recently been laid by the German submarine U-73. The ship remained afloat for about 20 minutes before turning turtle, and her hull was visible for a short time before she sank beneath the waves. The survivors numbered 24 officers and 676 men, but 124 men lost their lives in the tragedy. The rescued men were taken to Bighi Royal Naval Hospital for medical examination, and some later died there.

It is not known if Francis died during the sinking or later.

The wreck of HMS Russell off Malta is now used by scuba divers for exploration dives. We trust they respect the site as a grave. There are 2 known memorials to FW Phillips: on the Naval Memorial, Great Lines, Chatham; the other is a plaque to the Russell on the wall of the St.George's Centre (formerly church), Gillingham/Chatham Maritime. There may be a memorial in Malta.