THE LOSS OF HMS FORMIDABLE BY G W WILSON (WIRELESS OPERATOR) ON BOARD THE LOSS OF THE BATTLESHIP OCCURED ABOUT 1.30am on New Years day; I had just come off watch and was in my hammock when the first explosionhappened. I turned out of my hammock and went to see what was the matter. The ship gave a sudden list to starboard and the first thing that came into my head was that a torpedo had struck us, it hit us on the starboard board bow. It was marvellous how quick the watertight doors were closed. The men then commenced to get out the launch and the sailing pinnaance was the first boat. There was great difficulty in getting these out owing to the angle of the deck. She first went out, swung out again and then crashed back into the bridge. The next time they were ready for it, she swung out again then safely dropped into the water. we pulled the boat round to the port side and were going alongside to get a few more men when the second explosion happened very close to us. Volumes of water and coal were blown high into the air and came down on the top of us in the boat. At last we managed to get alongside and take as many men as possible. We then came away from the ship and waited for about an hour and a half. There were no signes of us being picked up and the tide drifted us away. The last I saw of the ship was the men smoking on the quarter deck and singing while the captain and commander were on the bridge, also the captains dog. There was no panic whatsoever. There were about 70 of us in this small open boat and there were only a couple of them who had their clothes on and remainder of us only had our underclothing on. We also had no food or water in the boat and no rudder. The coxwain,"Micky Carrol" who deserves great praise stood up and guided the boat all the time we were out on these heavy seas for 22 hours also petty officer Bing who kept on cheering us up. As there were no signes of ship or land the coxswain thought it best to keep the boat head on to the waves to save her from swanping . The waves were breaking over us and every minute I thought was going to be our last. We had only a couple of searboots to baleout the water. Then P. O. Bing put over a sea anchor and rigged up a sail right forwared with a lady jellicoe blanket which helped us a great deal. I think it would be about four hours after we left the ship that five dead bodies were put over the side. We had to do this to save our ownlives as the boat had plenty of water in her and it was no good having to much weight in the boat. Altogether I think there were about 15 men buried at sea. We were bailing out the water as quickly as we could with the boots. I was just about done and was giving us hope when we saw a light and put new life into our hearts. We all manned the oars and pulled with a will. We tried to get ashore in a couple of places but the tide and wind would not allow us. At last we saw the beach which we managed to get on to and ran the boat up it. We had been shouting for about and hour and the people heard us. After twenty two and a half hour we got ashore. I managed to get out of the boat but as soon as my feet touched the ground I fell exhausted. When I came round I was in a room with the others being given brandy and hot soup and being rubbed with towels by young ladies. The first thing we asked for was a fag. Nine men were dead when brought ashore, another one who was given up as dead was brought round by a dog which licked his hands and face. I then taken in a motor car with another survivor to the house of Mr Loud who put us in a nice warm bed. In the morning when I woke I felt rather stiff. The mayor, vicar doctor and a few ladies and gentlemen came to see me and Mr loud sent a telegram home informing them I was safe. A millionaire could not have been treated better than we were, everything that the mayor and the people of Lyme Regis could do was done for us. On Sunday night all the survivors went to church. It was rather a strange coincidence as that day was the day of intercession all over the Empire. On Tuesday January the 5th Mr loud took me on a motor ride which I enjoyed very much. All the survivors were made honarary member of the liberal club where we passed many an enjoyable hour in the skittle alley, billiards, etc., On Wednesday January 6th the funeral of six of the men was held. Three of the bodies were sent home for burial, two of these were twin brothers, who when picked out of the water were clasped in each others arms. A firing party and gun carriage from the Royal Naval barracks, Devonport, was there. All the shops in the town were closed and the blinds were all drawn. There were over a hundred wreaths at the funeral. The bishop of Salisbury performed the ceremony. He gave a most interesting sermon on "What the Navy is doing. He said there was a great deal of sarcastic commenting in the papers on what our navy was doing. It would not do for the interests of the empire that the movements of the silent navy should be public. England should be thankful that their homes are safe and not in ruins like Belgium. After a most enjoyable week at Lyme Regis, we left by the 9.20 train. The band played us to the station where the mayor and lady mayoress, the vicar and his wife and other ladies and gentlemen shook hands with us all. The station was packed with people. We left the station with the bank playing, cheering, whistles blowing and the explosion of fog signals which were placed on the lines. We were all very sorry to leave and we cannot express our thanks to much for all their kindness to us especially the ladies. It has now been officially stated by the admiralty that the ship was sunk by two torpedos from a submarine, also that the captain made a signal to other ships to keep off. I was also lying near to HMS Bulwark when she was blown up.