Maurice John Bethell
Lieutenant Maurice John Bethell, R.N. (9 March, 1894 – 31 May, 1916) served in the Royal Navy.
Life & Career
The son of Royal Navy Captain A. E. Bethell entered the service with the January 1907 intake term at the Training Establishment.[1]
On 15 September 1911, he passed out and was appointed to the pre-dreadnought battleship H.M.S. Britannia. After a mere three months, he was appointed to the armoured cruiser Drake on the Australia Station. On 8 March, 1913, he was appointed to H.M.S. Dreadnought. He left her in April 1914 to undertake course work.[2]
At the outbreak of war, he was appointed to the light cruiser Aurora.[3]
Bethell was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 15 August, 1915. On 14 September, he was appointed to the destroyer Hornet.[4]
On 29 March 1916, he was appointed to the destroyer Nestor of the Thirteenth Destroyer Flotilla.[5] At the Battle of Jutland, the destroyer was disabled while trying to press a torpedo attack on the advancing German battle fleet. In the pregnant moments before she was to receive an inevitable barrage from the enemy, Bethell offered his captain, Commander Edward Barry Stewart Bingham the inspired, if materially fruitless, suggestion that the crew should prepare cables on the foredeck in anticipation of a tow which no friendly unit could really be expected to provide. This kept the crew busy and distracted them from their most likely fate. Bingham asked aloud where they should go, and Bethell, soon to be killed by a developing fusillade, offered an inspiring answer, "To heaven, I trust, Sir!".[6]
See Also
Bibliography
Footnotes
- ↑ Bethell Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/56/62. f. 64.
- ↑ Bethell Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/56/62. f. 64.
- ↑ Bethell Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/56/62. f. 64.
- ↑ Bethell Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/56/62. f. 64.
- ↑ Bethell Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/56/62. f. 64.
- ↑ NavalHistory.au website.
