Lieutenant Commander Ralph Ireland – died 19/1/1917 Royal Navy - HMS Southampton Ralph was born on the 8th February 1888, the second son of Adam Liddell Ireland, Isabel Ireland (daughter of Rev William McHinch) of 17 Malone Park, Belfast. As well as Inst, he attended Eastman’s Royal Naval Academy, Winchester. He entered the Navy on 15th January 1903, joining HMS Britannia as a cadet. He passed out the following year a Chief Captain and also won the Kings Medal. Ralph served in various ships on the China, Mediterranean, West African and Home Stations, before being promoted to Lieutenant on 15th July 1909 (with 6 “firsts”) and Lieutenant Commander on 15th July 1916. On the outbreak of the war, he was serving in HMS Birmingham, which sunk the first German submarine (U15) on 9th August 1914. Ralph took part in the Battles of the Heligoland Bight (28th August 1914) and Dogger Bank (24th January 1915) before transferring to HMS Southampton (a 1912 Chatham Class, 2nd Class Cruiser) early in 1916. On this ship he took part in the Battle of Jutland on 31st May 1916. Ralph was accidentally drowned in the North Sea on 19th January 1917, at the age of 28. The following, written by Commander Stephen King-Hall, describes his death, in this extract from “A North Sea Diary 1914-1918”: "Last Friday morning, at about 7 a.m., when 100 miles east of May Island, the cover of the navel pipe carried away, and as we were plunging into a very considerable sea, about a hundred tons of water got down into the cable lockers. Our first lieutenant and navigator, Ralph Ireland, who was temporarily doing executive officer of the ship, went down to put a mat over the hole. The mate, the gunnery lieutenant, and three men were already on the forecastle. The ship dipped her nose into the sea, and scooped up a big sea which carried every one off their feet. When it passed, 'guns' and the mate were lying in the breakwater only bruised, but of the others nothing more was ever seen. Clad as they were in sweaters, sea-boots, and oilskins, they must have sunk at once in the sea that was running. An hour later we read the burial service in the waist, when at about the spot where they were lost. A driving snowstorm added to the almost unbearable melancholy of the service. Ralph Ireland, our Number 2, was a great friend of mine, with whom only a few hours before I had been yarning on the bridge, and but twelve hours before we had been rehearsing our parts together in a home-made revue we intended to produce. He had come to us from the Birmingham when that ship paid off. His death under such tragic circumstances together with the three sailors caused a deep gloom in the ship, where he was immensely popular. Ireland was a very lovable personality-brilliantly clever, a King's medallist, an athlete, he was marked out for certain advancement in the Service. It was not to be, and within a few days of his twenty-eighth birthday the North Sea claimed him as part of the price of Admiralty." The Times reported his death as follows: “Lt Com Ralph Ireland, whose death on active service is reported, has endeared himself to all who knew him, not only by his brilliant attainments, which gave promise of a career of great usefulness, but by his modesty and charm. No work came amiss to him, either of danger or steady application. His spontaneous gaiety and genuine unselfishness were a great asset in any community and his clean-minded, healthy outlook on life made it impossible to be long with him without feeling refreshed and thankful.” The April 1917 edition of School News said this about Ralph: "Ralph, who was only in his 28th year, was the finest type of British naval officer, a sportsman and a gentleman. He was a man of wonderful bodily and mental elasticity. His career in the navy was one of exceptional brilliancy, and his progress, which was notably rapid, was due as much to his sterling character as to his first-rate ability. The gallant officer had really lived through this great testing time, and had faced the verities of life with resolution and undaunted courage. All Instonians regret that his short career, so full of promise and so full of achievement, has been ended." Ralph is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial (panel 24)
