WILLIAM
HENRY SHEPHERD
Leading
Stoker K/4530
William Shepherd was born on 8 May 1889, one of twelve children of
John and Leah Shepherd.� They lived at
Honeysuckle Cottage, overlooking the slipway in Riverside Road East. He was baptised at Holy Cross Church on 19 July 1889, and attended Newton Ferrers School (Roll No. 318) from 9 May 1892 to 15 February 1902.
After working as a farm labourer (like his father), William
Shepherd joined the Royal Navy on 5 October
1909.� Following initial training, he served in the
battleship HMS NEW ZEALAND from February 1910 to July 1911.� He then spent almost three years in the
cruiser HMS CUMBERLAND before joining the armoured cruiser HMS MONMOUTH on 30 July 1914.
At the outbreak of war, HMS MONMOUTH was part of a
squadron commanded by Rear Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock, tasked with
countering German naval units threatening merchant shipping around the coast of
South
America.� The main threat was the powerful
squadron of Admiral Graf Von Spee operating in the Pacific.� The squadrons met at the Battle of Coronel
off the coast of Chile on 1 November 1914.� With MONMOUTH
were the armoured cruiser GOOD HOPE, the light cruiser GLASGOW and the armed
merchant cruiser OTRANTO.� They were
totally outclassed by their German opponents in every respect � firepower,
speed, training and experience.�
Furthermore, the British ships were silhouetted against the setting sun,
whilst the Germans were hard to spot in the gathering dusk.� The outcome was inevitable.� After an hour of action GOOD HOPE blew up,
having taken 35 direct hits. Half an hour later MONMOUTH limped out of the
line, badly damaged, and was finished off by the cruiser NURNBERG.� GLASGOW and OTRANTO escaped.�
The Royal Navy lost two cruisers and some 1600 men �
there were no survivors.� Three German
sailors were slightly wounded. �However,
the German squadron was destroyed on 8 December
1914
when the Royal Navy took its revenge at the Battle of the Falklands.
Leading Stoker Shepherd is remembered with honour on
Panel 3 of the Plymouth Naval Memorial.
**********
A younger sister, Lilian Kate, married Stoker 1st
Class Reginald Staddon, who died in HMS COURAGEOUS on 14 September 1939.� A younger
brother, Fernley Leslie, married Bertha Penny at Holy Cross Church on 14 May 1924 � Bertha�s father, Chief Petty Officer Thomas Penny, also appears on
the Roll of Honour.
HMS MONMOUTH
An armoured cruiser in which Leading
Stoker William Shepherd was serving when she was sunk at the Battle of Coronel
on 1 November 1914.� Completed in 1903, she displaced 9,800 tons
and had a top speed of 23 knots. Her main armament was 14� 6� guns, but at the battle those in barbettes
(eg below the forward funnel) could not be used because of the high sea state.
There were no survivors from her
crew of 675.