Source: Michael Doyle Their Name Liveth For Evermore: The Great War Roll of Honour for Leicestershire and Rutland.
He was the son of George Lindsey Hull a coal merchant and carter, born 1845 in Barrow upon Soar, Leics., and his wife Emma, born 1849 in Barrow upon Soar, Leics. Percy was born in 1894 in Kentish Town, Middx., his siblings were, Grace, a hosiery machinist, born 1879, Beatrice, a hosiery machinist, born 1883, Blanche, a hosiery machinist, born 1885, Robert, born 1890 and Rose, born 1893, the latter five siblings were all born in London, Lavinia, born 1897 and John, born 1898, the latter two siblings were both born in Barrow upon Soar, Leics., in March 1901 the family home was at The Nook, Barrow upon Soar, Leics. In April 1911 Percy was employed as a cement works labourer and was residing in the family home at Freestone Square, Barrow upon Soar, Leics., together with his parents and siblings, Lavinia, a hosiery trade worker and John an elastic trade worker. Percy enlisted into the Royal Marine Artillery on the 31st December 1912 in Nottingham and was allocated the service number 13233. His medical examination recorded that he was 5 foot 8¼ in height, his complexion was described as fresh, he had brown hair and blue eyes, it was noted that he had a scar on the upper part of his right palm and a mole on the left shoulder blade. He gave his date of birth as the 23rd April 1894 and place as Kentish Town, London. He gave his trade or calling as a shoe hand and his religion as Church of England. He gave his mother, Emma Hull of Bridge Street, Barrow upon Soar, Leics., as his next of kin. His record of service began when he was posted to the Royal Marine Artillery as a Private on the 31/12/12 – 17/9/13. Promoted to Gunner 2nd Class, 18/9/13/- 12/11/13. Promoted to Gunner, 13/11/13 – 11/12/13, when he embarked. HMS Vanguard, 12/12/13 – 9/7/17, when he died in the loss of his vessel due to an internal explosion. The background relating to the circumstances in which Percy lost his life are as follows; At the outbreak of World War I, HMS Vanguard joined the First Battle Squadron at Scapa Flow, and fought in the Battle of Jutland as part of the Fourth Battle Squadron. As one of twenty-four dreadnoughts in Jellicoe’s Battle Fleet, she did not suffer any damage or casualties. On 9th July 1917, HMS Vanguard was anchored in Scapa Flow. Nothing seemed amiss. At 11.20 pm the entire ship was destroyed in an instant by an internal explosion. Neighbouring ships were showered with wreckage and human remains. A total of 845 men were on board. Only three survived the explosion, Lieutenant Commander A.C.H. Duke, Marine J. Williams and Stoker 1st Class F.W. Cox. Lieutenant Commander Duke later died of his injuries. In what could be described as a small blessing amongst such a grievous loss of life, a number of officers were attending a concert on another ship at the time and thus survived. The Court of Inquiry attributed the tragedy to the internal explosion of faulty cordite thought to be in either P or Q magazine (ammunition storage area). On 12th September 1975 a detailed investigation carried out by the Royal Navy's Command Clearance Diving Team confirmed that the original explosion destroyed virtually all the explosive ordnance on board and blew the wreck apart. The bodies that could be recovered now lie in Lyness Royal Naval Cemetery, Hoy, where there is also a memorial.
On Friday July 20th 1917 The Melton Mowbray Times & Vale of Belvoir Gazette published the following article under the heading. “LOCAL AND DISTRICT NEWS” – BARROW ON SOAR. MAN KILLED ON H.M.S. VANGUARD.- Among the men who were killed in the blowing up of H.M.S. Vanguard, on July 9th was Gunner Percy Hull, Royal Marine Artillery, whose widowed mother resides at Barrow upon Soar. Gunner Hull, who was 22 years of age, enlisted when he was 19. Just before midnight on Monday 9th July 1917 at Scapa Flow HMS Vanguard suffered an explosion, probably caused by an unnoticed stokehold fire heating cordite stored against an adjacent bulkhead in one of the two magazines which served the amidships turrets “P” and “Q”. She sank almost instantly, killing an estimated 843 men; there were only two survivors. The site is now designated as a controlled site under the Protection of The Military Remains Act. In terms of loss of life, the destruction of the Vanguard remains one of the most catastrophic accidental explosions in the history of the United Kingdom, and one of the worst accidental losses of the Royal Navy.