Source: Michael Doyle Their Name Liveth For Evermore: The Great War Roll of Honour for Leicestershire and Rutland.
He was the son of Thomas Lane, a cellarman, born 1865 in Leicester and his wife Sarah Lane, a hosiery trade worker, born 1868 in Leicester. Frank Everett was born on the 26th October 1895 in Leicester, his siblings were, Evelyn, a glove trade worker, born 1892, Sydney, a general engineer, born 1893, Stanley, a newspaper boy, born 1898, Roy, an errand boy, born 1899 and Doris, born 1902, all his siblings were born in Leicester, in April 1911 the family home was at 81, Asylum Street, Leicester. His parents later resided at 31, New Park Street, Leicester. Frank enlisted into the Royal Navy to serve a 12 year engagement on the 14th April 1912, his reckonable service to commence on the 26th October 1913, he was allocated the service number J/16811 in Chatham, Kent. His medical examination recorded that he was 5 foot and ¾ inches in height and he had a chest measurement of 32¾ inches, his hair colour was light brown and his eyes were blue, his complexion was described as fair, it was noted that he had large patches of yellow pigmentation on his back, he had a mole below his right nipple and he had tattoos of of a lady’s heart with clasped hands with the words true love on his right arm, and of a lady’s head and shoulders on his left arm, he gave his trade or calling as bar bottler. When he attained the age of 18 years he was re-examined and recorded as 5 foot 4 inches in height with a chest measurement of 35 inches, and his complexion was described as fresh. His record of service began when he joined HMS Ganges as a Boy 2nd Class on the 14/4/12 – 10/8/12. HMS Ganges, 11/8/12 – 1/10/12, when he was promoted to Boy 1st Class. HMS Ganges, 2/10/12 – 2/10/12. HMS Berwick, 3/10/12 – 9/1/13. HMS Pembroke I, 10/1/13 – 25/1/13. HMS Berwick, 26/1/13 – 14/2/13. HMS Juno, 15/2/13 – 9/4/13. HMS Lord Nelson, 10/4/13 – 25/10/13, when he was promoted to Ordinary Seaman. HMS Lord Nelson, 26/10/13 – 8/4/14. HMS Pembroke I, 9/4/14 – 14/5/14. HMS Pathfinder, 15/5/14 – 5/9/14, when he was killed during an action with a submarine off the Firth of Forth. The background leading to the circumstances in which Frank lost his life is as follows. At the beginning of September 1914 Otto Hersing of U-21 ventured to the Firth of Forth, home to the major British naval base at Rosyth. Hersing is known to have penetrated the Firth of Forth as far as the Carlingnose Battery beneath the Forth Bridge. At one point the periscope was spotted and the battery opened fire but without success. Overnight Hersing withdrew from the Forth, patrolling the coast from the Isle of May southwards. From a distance, on the morning of 5th September he observed the SSE course of HMS Pathfinder followed by elements of the 8th Destroyer Flotilla. The destroyers altered course back towards the Isle of May at midday while HMS Pathfinder continued her patrol. Hersing spotted HMS Pathfinder on her return journey from periscope depth at 3.30 pm. This time he resolved to make an attack. At 3.43 pm Otto Hersing fired a single 20 inch Type G torpedo. 5th September was a sunny afternoon. At 3.45 pm lookouts spotted a torpedo wake heading towards the starboard bow at a range of 2,000 yards. The officer of the watch, Lieutenant Commander Favell gave orders for the starboard engine to be put astern and the port engine to be set at full ahead while the wheel was fully turned in an attempt to take avoiding action. At 3.50 pm the torpedo detonated beneath the bridge. The cordite charges may have then been ignited, leading to a flash causing a second, massive explosion within the fore section of the ship as the magazine blew up. The fore mast and No.1 funnel collapsed and then toppled over the side. The forensic evidence of the wreck is that everything before the first funnel disintegrated. The majority of the crew below decks in the forward section had neither the time nor the opportunity to escape. Although the explosion was well within sight of land, Captain Martin-Peake knew it was essential to attract attention. He ordered the stern gun to be fired. The king-pin must have been fatally damaged by the explosion, because after firing a single round, the gun toppled off its mounting, rolled around the quarter deck, struck the after screen then careered over the stern, taking the gun crew with it. There was no list but there was insufficient time to lower boats. Indeed the remains of a lifeboat davit and rope can still be seen on the wreck. The propeller belonging to the ship’s boat lies on the deck nearby. Lt. Edward Oliver Sonnenschein (he changed his name to Stallybrass on 8th January 1918) recalled that the bulkheads held firm until five minutes after the big explosion. “The ship gave a heavy lurch forward and took an angle of about forty degrees down by the bow. Water came swirling up to the searchlight platform. The Captain said, “jump you devils jump !”. The Captain and his secretary remained with the ship until the very end but somehow both survived.” The bow section sheared off under the strain as the stern heaved up to a sixty degree angle. Then it quietly slipped below the surface. Eyemouth fishing boats were first on the scene and encountered a field of debris, fuel oil, clothing and body parts. Destroyers HMS Stag and HMS Express had spotted the smoke and headed for the pall of smoke. One of the destroyers had an engine problem when a water inlet was blocked by a leg in a sea boot. There is significant confusion regarding the numbers of survivors. On 6th September The Times declared that 58 men had been rescued but that four had died of injuries. The fact that it is impossible to determine how many were on board that day, adds to difficulties but research indicates that 268 personnel were on board plus two civilian canteen assistants. There were just eighteen known survivors. The St. Abbs’ lifeboat came in with the most appalling accounts of the scene. There was not a piece of wood, they said, big enough to float a man—and over acres the sea was covered with fragments—human and otherwise. They brought back a sailor’s cap with half a man’s head inside it. The explosion must have been frightful. It is thought to be a German submarine that did it, or, possibly, a torpedo fired from one of the refitted German trawlers, which cruise all round painted with British port letters and flying the British flag. Despite the events of 5th September having been easily visible from shore, the authorities attempted to cover up the sinking, and HMS Pathfinder was reported to have been mined. Admiralty came to an agreement with the Press Bureau which allowed for the censoring of all reports. The Scotsman however published an eye-witness account by an Eyemouth fisherman who had assisted in the rescue. The account confirmed rumours that a submarine had been responsible, rather than a mine. However The Scotsman also reported that HMS Pathfinder had been attacked by two U-boats and had accounted for the second one in her death throes. Admiralty intelligence later claimed that cruisers had cornered the U-boat responsible and shelled it to oblivion. The sinking of HMS Pathfinder by a submarine made both sides aware of the potential vulnerability of large ships to attack by submarines.
On Saturday September 12th 1914 The Leicester Chronicle and Leicestershire Mercury published the following article under the heading. “LEICESTER MAN INCLUDED IN THE MISSING.” – The parents of Frank Everett Lane, who reside at 31, New Park Street, Leicester, have received a notice from the Admiralty stating that their son, an ordinary seaman on H.M.S. Pathfinder, is missing. Lane was only 18 years of age, and was drafted to H.M.S. Pathfinder in May last. He was a powerful swimmer. Mr. and Mrs. Colley, of St. James Street, are anxious about one of their sons, who, it is believed, was on the same ship.