Source: Michael Doyle Their Name Liveth For Evermore: The Great War Roll of Honour for Leicestershire and Rutland.
He was the son of John Owen Phillips, a bricklayer’s labourer, born 1855 in Holbeach, Lincolnshire and was baptised on the 23rd September 1855 in the Parish Church, Holbeach and his wife Mary Phillips (nee Woolley, married on the 23rd December 1875 in Emmanuel Church, Loughborough, Leicestershire), born 1853 in Smalley, Belper, Derbyshire. Owen, a schoolboy, was born 5th November 1882 in Loughborough, Leicestershire, his siblings were, Elizabeth, a hosiery trade hose turner, born 1876, James Bullimore, a schoolboy, born 1878, Hannah, a schoolgirl, born 1880, Edward, a schoolboy, born 1884, Sarah Ellen, a schoolgirl, born 1886, Mary Ann, born 1888 and John, born 1891, all his siblings were born in Loughborough, in April 1891 the family home was at 32, Sparrow Hill, Loughborough. In March 1901Owen was employed as a foundry worker and was residing in the family home at Court C, 11, Wards End, Loughborough, together with his widowed mother, a hosiery trade seamer and his siblings, James, a brick maker, Edward, a brickyard labourer, Sarah, a hosiery trade hose turner, Mary, John, Joseph, born 1st March 1893 and Florrie, born 1895, the latter two siblings were both born in Loughborough. Owens father died in April 1898 in Leicestershire aged 43 and his mother died on the 23rd December 1905 in Lincolnshire aged 50. On the 3rd September 1910, Owen, who was serving as a Royal Navy Able Bodied Seaman aboard HMS Prince of Wales married Alice Louisa Stevens, a spinster in the Parish Church of St. Bartholomew’s, Charlton by Dover, Kent, Alice was born on the 31st August 1892. On the 16th March 1914 they had a daughter, Lilian Alice, born in Dover. On the 5th April 1920 Owens widow, of 33, Wyndham Road, Dover married Joseph Edward Gregory in the Parish Church of St. Bartholomew’s, Charlton by Dover, Kent, Joseph was at the time serving as a Royal Navy Leading Seaman, aboard HMS Commonwealth. Owen also had an older brother, Harley, born in 1877 in Loughborough and who died on the 12th April 1921 in Leicester, aged 44. Owens older brother James Bullimore fell in action on the 17th December 1915, his father died in April 1898 in Leicestershire aged 43 and his mother died on the 23rd December 1905 in Lincolnshire aged 50.
Owen gave his date and place of birth on enlisting in the Royal Navy as the 5th November 1884 in Loughborough, however his birth was officially registered in the 1st quarter of 1882 in the Loughborough, Leicestershire, Birth’s Registration District.
Owen enlisted into the Royal Navy to serve a 12 year engagement on the 19th September 1901, his reckonable service to commence on the 5th November, 1902, he was allocated the service number 217302 in Portsmouth, Hants. His medical examination recorded that he was 5 foot 2¾ inches in height, his hair colour was auburn, and his eyes were brown, his complexion was described as fresh, it was noted that he had cross flags, a sailors bust and V.R.R. tattooed on his left forearm, he gave his trade or calling as labourer. On attaining the age of 18 his re-examination recorded his height as 5 foot 4¼ inches. His record of service began when he joined HMS Northampton as a Boy 2nd Class on the 19/9/01 – 18/12/01, when he was promoted to Boy 1st Class. HMS Northampton, 19/12/01 – 19/12/01. HMS Cleopatra, 20/12/01 – 24/2/02. HMS Victory, 25/2/02 - 31/3/02. HMS Research, 1/4/02 – 4/11/02, when he was promoted to Ordinary Seaman. HMS Research, 5/11/02 – 8/11/02. HMS Duke of Wellington, 9/11/02 – 12/1/03. HMS Drake, 13/1/03 – 24/5/04, when he was promoted to Able Bodied Seaman. HMS Drake, 25/5/04 – 5/9/04. Sentenced to 4 days in cells, 6/9/04 – 9/9/04. HMS Drake, 10/9/04 – 15/11/04. HMS Excellent, 16/11/04 – 24/1/05. HMS Firequeen I, 25/1/05 – 5/2/05. HMS King Edward VII, 6/2/05 – 4/3/07. HMS Excellent, 5/3/07 – 19/6/07. HMS Victory I, 20/6/07 – 22/6/07. HMS Hecla, 23/6/07 – 14/7/07. HMS Victory, 15/7/07 – 19/8/07. HMS Prince George, 20/8/07 – 21/12/08. HMS Prince of Wales, 22/12/08 – 14/12/10. HMS Excellent, 15/12/10 – 8/4/11. HMS Victory I, 9/4/11 – 26/4/11. HMS Revenge, 27/4/11 – 30/7/11. HMS Hercules, 31/7/11 – 1/9/13. HMS Good Hope, 2/9/13 – 17/12/13. HMS Bulwark, 18/12/13 – 26/11/14, when he was lost in the sinking of his vessel.
The background relating to the circumstances in which Owen lost his life are as follows. HMS Bulwark, a battleship of 15,000 tons, was moored to No.17 buoy in Kethole Reach on the River Medway, almost opposite the town of Sheerness, Isle of Sheppey, Kent. It was one of the ships forming the 5th Battle Squadron. She had been moored there for some days, and many of her crew had been given leave the previous day. They had returned to the Bulwark at 7 o'clock that morning and the full complement was onboard. The usual ship's routine was taking place. Officers and men were having breakfast in the mess below deck, others were going about their normal duties. A band was practising while some men were engaged in drill. Then disaster struck. A roaring and rumbling sound was heard and a huge sheet of flame and debris shot upwards. The ship lifted out of the water and fell back. There was a thick cloud of grey smoke and further explosions. When the smoke eventually cleared, the Bulwark had sunk without trace, with the loss of 736 men. Two of the 14 survivors died later in hospital. The explosion was likely to have been caused by the overheating of cordite charges that had been placed adjacent to a boiler room bulkhead. The scene was described by an eye witness, who was on board a ship nearby, to a local newspaper: “I was at breakfast when I heard an explosion, and I went on deck. My first impression was that the report was produced by the firing of a salute by one of the ships, but the noise was quite exceptional. When I got on deck I soon saw that something awful had happened. The water and sky were obscured by dense volumes of smoke. We were at once ordered to the scene of the disaster to render what assistance we could. At first we could see nothing, but when the smoke cleared a bit we were horrified to find the battleship Bulwark had gone. She seemed to have entirely vanished from sight, but a little later we detected a portion of the huge vessel showing about 4ft above water. We kept a vigilant look-out for the unfortunate crew, but only saw two men.” The explosion was heard in Whitstable, 20 miles away, and in Southend where the pier was shaken by the explosion but not damaged. Ships anchored off Southend holding German civilian prisoners also reported hearing the explosion. Residents in Westcliffe-on-Sea claimed they saw “a dense volume of greenish smoke which lasted for about ten minutes”. The nearby areas of Sheerness and Rainham took the brunt of the blast with reports of damage to property being made. Rumour began to run wild amongst the residents. Some claimed it was the expected and feared Zeppelin raids commencing, others said that a periscope had been sighted and the Bulwark had been sunk by a submarine. Others thought that espionage had taken place and were on the look-out for suspicious people in town. All these rumours were later discounted. Boats of all kinds were launched from the nearby ships and shore to pick up survivors and the dead. Work was hampered by the amount of debris which included hammocks, furniture, boxes and hundreds of mutilated bodies. Fragments of personal items showered down in the streets of Sheerness. Initially 14 men survived the disaster, but some died later from their injuries. One of the survivors, an able seaman, had a miraculous escape. He said he was on the deck of the Bulwark when the explosion occurred. He was blown into the air, fell clear of the debris and managed to swim to wreckage and keep himself afloat until he was rescued. His injuries were slight. None of the Bulwark's officers survived, although 11 of them were recovered for eventual burial.
On Friday December 11th 1914 The Leicester Journal published the following article under the heading. “LOCAL CASUALTIES.” ROLL OF HONOUR. – Able Seaman Owen Phillips, a Loughborough native, was one of those who were drowned in the sinking of H.M.S. Bulwark.

Source: Leicestershire War Memorials Project.
By the time of Owen Phillips his death, his younger brothers Joseph and Edward were also serving in the navy.
At the time when war broke out in 1914, Owen and Joseph both served in the 5th Battle Squadron, placing Owen on HMS Bulwark and Joseph on the flagship HMS Prince of Wales.
Joseph was probably onboard HMS Prince of Wales when HMS Bulwark blew up killing his brother.
I do not know the bouy nr. where HMS Prince of Wales was moored, but with the blast being so imense Joseph must have heard and felt the Bulwark exploding.
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Information and photograph of the wedding of Owen Phillips to Alice Louisa Stevens submitted by Dre Wielink, 2015