On the 13th of October 1939 in Orkney, Scotland,
the German submarine U-47 surfaced in Scapa Flow and sank HMS Royal Oak -
this becoming the first great tragedy of World War II.
Today, the sinking remains one of the country's biggest wartime disasters.
A member of the crew of HMS Royal Oak, Able Seaman ERNEST JOHN SEELEY, was born in Penzance, Cornwall - later moving to Lowestoft, Suffolk.
Remembered with honour on PORTSMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL.
