CROWDS gathered to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of a Royal Navy battleship off the Dorset coast in which more than 500 people died.

More than 100 people paid their respects at Lyme Regis town cemetery – marking 100 years after funerals took place in the cemetery following the sinking of HMS Formidable.

The ship was sunk after being torpedoed by a German U-boat on New Year’s Day, 1915.

Rev Jane Skinner led a ceremony in honour of the 35 officers and 512 men who lost their lives in the tragedy – before wreaths of remembrance were laid.

David Manners, vice-chairman of the Lyme Regis Royal British Legion, said: “We remember the sinking of HMS Formidable every year, but it’s great that so many people have turned up for this commemoration.

“The sinking of the Formidable affected so many people and so many different communities. We have even received a letter from those in Liverpool, as a lot of the crew were from that part of the country.”

Commodore Jamie Miller said: “It’s very important for the armed forces that we get the community behind us and this commemoration has brought us all together.

“It’s crucial that everyone, even from younger generations, really care about the loss of life and this brings it all home.”

In was on New Year’s Day, 1915, when a German torpedo sank the Formidable. A total of 547 men perished when the pre-Dreadnought vessel became one of the first British battleships of the First World War to be sunk by an enemy submarine.

The battleship was bringing up the rear of a line of warships from the Fifth Battle Squadron that was taking part in firing and steaming exercises off Portland.

Many of the 747-strong crew had hoped to spend New Year’s Eve in the pubs of Portland but much to their disappointment were ordered to remain on exercise at sea overnight on January 31 and into the early hours of January 1.

No enemy U-boat activity had been reported in the Channel for a month but that was to change at about 2.20am in the morning.

German U-24, operating out of Flanders, had been tracking the squadron all day and picked its moment to send a torpedo straight into the Formidable’s second boiler, just abreast of the foremost funnel, causing the ship to lose all steam and immediately keel over 20 degrees to starboard, its fate sealed.

Bravery of the captain

ONCE hit, the captain, Arthur Noel Loxley, ordered all watertight doors closed and the crew to be piped to collision quarters.

Sailors remained completely calm as they launched lifeboats in the pitch black, while the sea grew rougher.

Two lifeboats were lowered but one violently capsized immediately and hurled its load of sailors overboard.

Meanwhile the submarine commander, Kapitanleutnant Rudolph Schneider, stayed in the area to confirm his kill.

To ensure the Formidable was finished he sent another torpedo whistling into the stricken warship from just 160 metres away, 45 minutes after the first strike.

This torpedo hit the ship’s first boiler, near the port side funnel, and rocked the ship back on to an even keel.

The stricken battleship was unable to lower more boats into the sea because it had lost power.

So the captain ordered anything wooden to be brought up on to deck so men could use it to grab hold of when the ship went down.

She lurched to starboard and began to sink by her bows before suddenly plunging downwards.

Captain Loxley gave the order to abandon ship and told them: “Lads, this is the last. All hands for themselves and may God bless you and guide you to safety.”

According to reports he then ‘walked to the forebridge, lit a final cigarette and with his faithful and beloved terrier Bruce by his side, waited for the inevitable to happen in true Royal Naval tradition’.