Died 31/05/1916 Lost at Sea Next of kin address Hampshire England Nellie Portsmouth 43 Walden Rd Stamshaw England More info Midshipman Taylor was posted to HMS Queen Mary on 29 March 1916. She was a battle cruiser of 27,200 tons, based on the Lion class but with a number of modifications. She was part of Admiral Sir David Beatty’s 1st Battle Cruiser Squadron which engaged Admiral Hipper’s battlecruisers at about 3.50 p.m. on 31st May. Queen Mary scored at least two hits on the German Battlecruiser SMS Seydlitz before being hit forward by a heavy shell from SMS Derflinger at 4.21p.m. which caused an explosion in the forward magazine sufficient to break the ship in half. She sank in minutes. There were only 20 survivors from a crew of 1275. MidshipmanTaylor was not among them.