Memorial in Kirkwall Cathedral, Orkney
HMS Royal Oak was a Revenge-class battleship of the British Royal Navy, torpedoed at anchor by the German submarine U-47 on 14 October 1939. The Royal Oak was anchored at Scapa Flow in Orkney, Scotland when she became the first of the five Royal Navy battleships and battlecruisers sunk in the Second World War. The loss of life was heavy: of Royal Oak's complement of 1,234 men and boys, 833 were killed that night or died later of their wounds. Now lying upside-down in 30 m of water with her hull 5 m beneath the surface, Royal Oak is a designated war grave. In an annual ceremony to mark the loss of the ship, Royal Navy divers place a White Ensign underwater at her stern. Unauthorised divers are prohibited from approaching the wreck at any time.
One of the sailors who lost his life on board was Archibald Theodore Murray, born 1898 in Norwich, England, great grandson of William Murray, Rhemusaig, Rogart, and his wife Catherine Grant. He is shown on the memorial as A T Murray.
For anyone researching ancestors in Orkney I have included the above photograph taken inside the Cathedral of their 1914 -1918 Memorial Ross.
Photographs taken by Christine Stokes. Archibald Murray is on my own family tree.
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