Individual Details
Cunningham Prior
(26 Nov 1881 - Abt Sep 1965)
Born 26th November 1881 at Harrow
Educated at Harrow
Gymnastics eight
Entered the Navy in Paymasters Department – July 1899
North American Station till 1903
In admirals Office – China Station 1904 – 1906
Chatham 1906- 1908
East Indian Station
HMS Hyacinth 1909
HMS Leander, House Station 1912
HMS Nautouse (or Nautown or Freetown?) Australia 1913
Paymaster 1914
His account of Horn Reef Battle (Battle of Jutland) – 31st May 1916
About 3pm some light cruisers a good way ahead of us reported “Enemy in Sight”. Asignal was made that we would go into action stations at 3.50 which we accordingly did, having had tea in the interval. On these occasions I go up to the fore super structure under the fore bridge & cipher and decipher telegrams, the arrangement being that when we actually get into action, I retire with two others into the lower conning tower and carry on as before. We remained up above getting reports at intervals that our battle cruisers were engaging the enemy battle cruisers and later that the enemy battle fleet had been sighted, until eventually, I forget quite what time but something after 5, we ban to heard the guns. Very shortly after that we began to see the flashes and I suppose about 5.45 we got into sight of our ships. I was watching them from one of the lower bridges and as we got it was rather a remarkable sight, but extraordinary difficult to make out what was going on. There appeared to be ships all around us, all firing for all that they were worth and in the distance we could see the flash of the enemy’s guns. We altered course several times as we cam e up, which didn’t make it easier to follow but as we got closer we could make out the shadowy outlines of the German ships with our own battle cruisers and cruisers in between us and them, but it was still frightfully hard to make out whose were our ships and whose were the enemy, except for those which were fairly near us. Our cruisers (Defence and Warrior) and were evidently then getting a bad time of it salvos falling all around them and a good many appearing to hit. (HMS Defence, Warrior and Black Prince belonged to the 1st Cruiser Squadron (Rear Admiral Arbuthnot). HMS Defence, the flagship, was blown up by German battleships at around 18.14 hours.) I did not actually see the Defence go up but someone called attention to an enormous column of smoke and that was no doubt the last of her. Overs from the salvos fired at the ships beyond us were beginning to come our way tho’ a good deal short and it was soon after I noticed that ‘commence fire’ was sounded on board us. It was actually 6.25 I think we fired our first salvos and after 2 or 3 salvos I went down below and that was really all I saw of what was going on tho’ I came up at intervals to see if there was anything to be seen. Shortly after 7 we passed the 'Invincible’. She had broken right in half and the two ends were sticking up out of the water, tho’ whether she was resting on the bottom or floating we could not tell. (HMS Invincible was blown in half by SMS Luetzow and Derfflinger at around 18.30 when a shell hit the P and Q magazines.) We were firing intermittently whenever a target could be seen and we were attacked by destroyers which were fired on and disappeared. It got dark about 9pm and we lost touch with the German fleet and that turned out to be the end of the action so far as we were concerned as we were not attacked by destroyers in the night and in the morning had gone home. As regards the details of the action generally roughly the facts were that our battle cruisers met the enemy battle cruisers and engaged them on a southerly course and our battle cruisers were joined by five battle ships (Warspite) Soon afterwards the German fleet appeared: where upon our ships turned to the northward, the enemy doing likewise and continuing the engagement, the next to arrive were the three battle cruisers who had been with us and who had been sent on ahead and so continued till we lost touch in the mist and darkness. During the night some of our flotillas came across enemy squadrons and there is no doubt that some torpedoes got home (SMS Frauenlob was sunk by a torpedo from HMS Southampton during the night fights). In the morning we swept a good way south and back again and finding nothing went home.
A modern ship can stand a good deal, failing a shot in the magazine, so it is largely a matter of luck whether she goes sky high or is little damaged. This applies more to the lightly armoured or unarmoured ships.
One thing I noticed seemed to be a total lack of noise. I have often thought that the noise would be most noticeable thing judging from experience of target practice but in spite of the fact that sometimes the whole fleet must have been firing together, I have no recollection whatever of the noise.
It was extraordinarily bad luck about Lord Kitchener. If it hadnt been for the ???? bad weather for this time of year, he would have been almost certain to have been saved.
From a private letter of Cunningham Prior on board HMS Iron Duke, Jellicoe’s ship
Written: 7th June 1916
Educated at Harrow
Gymnastics eight
Entered the Navy in Paymasters Department – July 1899
North American Station till 1903
In admirals Office – China Station 1904 – 1906
Chatham 1906- 1908
East Indian Station
HMS Hyacinth 1909
HMS Leander, House Station 1912
HMS Nautouse (or Nautown or Freetown?) Australia 1913
Paymaster 1914
His account of Horn Reef Battle (Battle of Jutland) – 31st May 1916
About 3pm some light cruisers a good way ahead of us reported “Enemy in Sight”. Asignal was made that we would go into action stations at 3.50 which we accordingly did, having had tea in the interval. On these occasions I go up to the fore super structure under the fore bridge & cipher and decipher telegrams, the arrangement being that when we actually get into action, I retire with two others into the lower conning tower and carry on as before. We remained up above getting reports at intervals that our battle cruisers were engaging the enemy battle cruisers and later that the enemy battle fleet had been sighted, until eventually, I forget quite what time but something after 5, we ban to heard the guns. Very shortly after that we began to see the flashes and I suppose about 5.45 we got into sight of our ships. I was watching them from one of the lower bridges and as we got it was rather a remarkable sight, but extraordinary difficult to make out what was going on. There appeared to be ships all around us, all firing for all that they were worth and in the distance we could see the flash of the enemy’s guns. We altered course several times as we cam e up, which didn’t make it easier to follow but as we got closer we could make out the shadowy outlines of the German ships with our own battle cruisers and cruisers in between us and them, but it was still frightfully hard to make out whose were our ships and whose were the enemy, except for those which were fairly near us. Our cruisers (Defence and Warrior) and were evidently then getting a bad time of it salvos falling all around them and a good many appearing to hit. (HMS Defence, Warrior and Black Prince belonged to the 1st Cruiser Squadron (Rear Admiral Arbuthnot). HMS Defence, the flagship, was blown up by German battleships at around 18.14 hours.) I did not actually see the Defence go up but someone called attention to an enormous column of smoke and that was no doubt the last of her. Overs from the salvos fired at the ships beyond us were beginning to come our way tho’ a good deal short and it was soon after I noticed that ‘commence fire’ was sounded on board us. It was actually 6.25 I think we fired our first salvos and after 2 or 3 salvos I went down below and that was really all I saw of what was going on tho’ I came up at intervals to see if there was anything to be seen. Shortly after 7 we passed the 'Invincible’. She had broken right in half and the two ends were sticking up out of the water, tho’ whether she was resting on the bottom or floating we could not tell. (HMS Invincible was blown in half by SMS Luetzow and Derfflinger at around 18.30 when a shell hit the P and Q magazines.) We were firing intermittently whenever a target could be seen and we were attacked by destroyers which were fired on and disappeared. It got dark about 9pm and we lost touch with the German fleet and that turned out to be the end of the action so far as we were concerned as we were not attacked by destroyers in the night and in the morning had gone home. As regards the details of the action generally roughly the facts were that our battle cruisers met the enemy battle cruisers and engaged them on a southerly course and our battle cruisers were joined by five battle ships (Warspite) Soon afterwards the German fleet appeared: where upon our ships turned to the northward, the enemy doing likewise and continuing the engagement, the next to arrive were the three battle cruisers who had been with us and who had been sent on ahead and so continued till we lost touch in the mist and darkness. During the night some of our flotillas came across enemy squadrons and there is no doubt that some torpedoes got home (SMS Frauenlob was sunk by a torpedo from HMS Southampton during the night fights). In the morning we swept a good way south and back again and finding nothing went home.
A modern ship can stand a good deal, failing a shot in the magazine, so it is largely a matter of luck whether she goes sky high or is little damaged. This applies more to the lightly armoured or unarmoured ships.
One thing I noticed seemed to be a total lack of noise. I have often thought that the noise would be most noticeable thing judging from experience of target practice but in spite of the fact that sometimes the whole fleet must have been firing together, I have no recollection whatever of the noise.
It was extraordinarily bad luck about Lord Kitchener. If it hadnt been for the ???? bad weather for this time of year, he would have been almost certain to have been saved.
From a private letter of Cunningham Prior on board HMS Iron Duke, Jellicoe’s ship
Written: 7th June 1916
Events
| Birth | 26 Nov 1881 | Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom | |||
| Marriage | 11 Feb 1917 | Harrow, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom - Maud M. Jones | |||
| Death | Abt Sep 1965 | Worcester, Worcestershire, England, United Kingdom |
Families
| Spouse | Maud M. Jones (1888 - ) |
| Child | Betty L. Prior |
| Child | Arthur C. Prior (1919 - ) |
| Father | John Templer Prior (1841 - 1922) |
| Mother | Louisa Lang (1845 - 1906) |
| Sibling | John Herman Carlos Prior (1871 - 1957) |
| Sibling | Alice Catherine Prior (1873 - 1881) |
| Sibling | Edith Prior (1875 - 1875) |
| Sibling | Arthur Venn Prior (1876 - 1950) |
| Sibling | Mary Schroder Prior (1878 - 1919) |
| Sibling | Carlos Edward Prior (1880 - 1969) |
| Sibling | Hebe Templer Prior (1883 - 1964) |
| Sibling | Lucy Kathleen Prior (1885 - 1982) |