HMS Viknor

New light on Viknor loss 

Two years ago (12^thJanuary, 2012) I noted the loss of HMS Viknor near Tory Island off the coast of Northern Ireland. Four local men were among the 295 casualties as all contact with the ship was lost. There were no survivors.

Now two years on and as a result of research by the Project the story of one of those lost can be told. Frederick Shaw Monks had an eventful life being born across the world in Australia in Maryborough, Queensland in November, 1887. However by the time of the Census of 1891 the family is back in England living at Monkton near Jarrow; and in 1901 we find them living in Wallsend at 85 Vine Street. Young Frederick is not with them then having been committed to the Training Ship Wellesley moored off the Fish Quay in North Shields. He had been ordered to be detained for 3 years and 9 months charged with ‘frequenting the company of thieves’. He was discharged from the Wellesley on 6th November, 1903; probably around his 14^th birthday.

His period of schooling and nautical training had obviously been taken to heart for by the time of the 1911 census he is recorded as living at the family home in Vine Street and his occupation is given as ‘Second Mate Merchant service’. As was common at that time members of the merchant navy were often listed as Royal Naval Reserves for employment in times of emergency. He was called for sea service in the Royal Navy on the outbreak of war and was commissioned on 20^th November, 1914 as a Sub-Lieutenant (Temporary). He was serving on HMS Viknor when she was lost with all 

hands .He is remembered on the Portsmouth Naval memorial.

The Navy records tell us that when commissioned his address was 126 Park Road in Wallsend.

That property still stands today and we will if possible place a plaque on the building noting his service and death – one of the almost 600 homes we hope will bear witness to the losses of the war from those listed in the Tynemouth Roll of Honour. Despite his troubled start in life he had obviously made something of himself and the fine photograph shows a confident man who had earned the respect and confidence of his employers and latterly the Royal Navy which called upon his abilities to serve his country in its hour of need.

The naval records show that the ship was lost off Tory island in severe weather, all those on board being drowned. No firm evidence of enemy action was found but a considerable number of bodies were washed ashore. An enemy submarine had sown a minefield nearby recently.

The loss of Frederick came soon after his uncle Frederick Richard Monks (aged 43) had been lost in the tragedy of the sinking of three cruisers on 22^nd September, 1914 (News Guardian-

22^nd September 2011). He had spent four hours in the water after his ship HMS Cressy was sunk – the last of the three victims of U9 off the coast of Holland - and died only minutes after being rescued.