World War One British naval officer Wenman ‘Kit’ Wykeham- Musgrave has a unique place in British naval history. Why was this?
Answer: He was the only man to be sunk on three ships – Aboukir, Hogue, Cressy – which were torpedoed in the space of one hour off the Dutch coast. On September 22 1914, he was serving on the HMS Aboukir, which was sunk by the German U-Boat U-9. As a relative of his later described after his death: “He went overboard when the Aboukir was going down and he swam like mad to get away from the suction. He was then just getting on board the Hogue and she was torpedoed. He then swam to the Cressy and she was also torpedoed. He found a bit of driftwood, became unconscious and was eventually picked up by a Dutch trawler.”
Source: World War One by A J P Taylor; The First World War – A Complete History by Martin Gilbert; General Historical Texts
