More about George Murray

George has no known grave but is remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.

He was serving aboard H.M.S. Hawke which was a light Cruiser when she was attacked on 15.10.1914 and torpedoed by German Submarine U-9 off the coast of Aberdeen. The torpedo struck amidships and she capsized within 10 minutes. The Destroyer  “Swift” and the Steamer “Modesta” went to her aid and picked up 71 survivors but 524 crew were lost.

Family Background:

George`s father, also George, was a millwright and the family lived at 10 Roslin Terrace, Dundee

Service History:

George joined the RNVR in 1909 and was a bandsman with the RNVR Unicorn Band. He joined HMS Hawke on 5^th August 1914 in Queenstown, Ireland. On the night of 14^th October the Hawke was torpedoed by submarine U-9 whilst patrolling off Aberdeen in the North Sea.79 seamen survived but 524 died, of whom George was one.

One of HMS Unicorn’s pre-war Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve men who received a seagoing draft on mobilisation was Leading Carpenters Crew George Murray whose parents, Mr George Lunan Murray and Mrs Helen Watson McLaren Murray, lived at 10 Roslin Terrace, Dundee. He joined the RNVR in 1909 and his given occupation was as a Joiner. He travelled to Queenstown, Ireland on 4 August 1914 to join HMS Hawke, an elderly cruiser taken out of reserve which then sailed to patrol the northern parts of the North Sea as part of the blockade of German ports. About 10.39 on 14 October the Hawke crossed the path of the German submarine U-9 which fired a single torpedo. The ship sank quickly leaving men struggling in the sea. 70 men were picked up later by a Norwegian steamer and a British destroyer sent to search for survivors when the Hawke failed to respond to signals. Unfortunately, George Murray’s name appeared in the list of over 500 sailors who perished in the sinking. His parents had received a postcard dated 12th October in which George predicted he would not be home in 1914 and that the war would last much longer than everyone expected it to. George Murray is named on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial on Southsea Common in Hampshire, on the Fairmuir Church Memorial and the HMS Unicorn Memorial. The Dundee City Roll of Honour (2982) lists George Murray AB RNVR.