Source: Michael Doyle Their Name Liveth For Evermore: The Great War Roll of Honour for Leicestershire and Rutland.
He was the son of John Phipps, a common carrier, born in the October quarter of 1872 in Leicester (son of Samuel Phipps, 1846-1941 and Elizabeth Ball, 1851) and his wife Mary Bryan Phipps (nee Cliff, married on the 3rd August 1895 in St. Andrew’s Church, Leicester), born in the July quarter of 1871 in Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire (daughter of George Cliff). John William was born in the January quarter of 1899 in Wigston Magna, Leicestershire, he had one sibling, a sister, Elsie, born in the October quarter of 1897 in Wigston Magna, in March 1901 the family home was at 38, Newgate End, St. Wolstan’s, Wigston Magna. In April 1911 John was a schoolboy and was residing as a lodger at 3, Berkley Street Cottages, Leicester, together with his father, an iron foundry cone maker.
His Royal Naval Service Record, records.
Name in full. John William Phipps. Date of birth. 30th December 1898. Place of Birth. Leicester, Leicestershire. Occupation. Hosiery hand.
Allotted Service Number J/39942. in Portsmouth. Date. 15th April 1915.
Date and Period of Engagements. 30th December 1916. 12 years. Hostilities only.
His medical examination recorded. Height. 5-foot 3⅝ inches. Chest measurement. 33½ inches. Hair. Brown. Eyes. Blue. Complexion. Fresh. Wounds, Scars, or Marks. Tattoo spot back of right forearm. Scar right hip and outside right thigh.
His record of service began when he joined HMS Ganges as a Boy 2nd Class. 15/4/15.
Qualified. As Bugler. 19/6/15.
Promoted. To Boy 1st Class. 16/7/15.
Posted. To HMS Victory I. 25/7/15.
Posted. To HMS Black Prince. 26/7/15.
Killed in action. 31/5/16.
The circumstances in which John lost his life are as follows: HMS Black Prince was modified in March 1916 as a result of lessons learned at the Battle of Coronel, with the 6-inch guns removed from their casemates and replaced by six 6-inch guns mounted individually behind shields between the beam 9.2-inch turrets. The ship participated in the Battle of Jutland, where she was sunk with heavy loss of life. The circumstances under which she sank were mysterious for some years after. As the British had lost contact and did not see the ship destroyed, they were unsure as to whether a submarine or surface ship was responsible for sinking the HMS Black Prince. During the battle, the First Cruiser Squadron was deployed as part of a screening force several miles ahead of the main force of the Grand Fleet, but HMS Black Prince lost contact with the rest of the Squadron as it came into contact with German forces, at about 5.42pm. Soon after, two other members of the First Cruiser Squadron, HMS Defence and HMS Warrior were heavily engaged by German battleships and battle cruisers, with HMS Defence blowing up and HMS Warrior receiving heavy damage, which later caused her to sink. There were no positive sightings of HMS Black Prince by the British fleet after that, although a wireless signal from her was received at 8.45pm, reporting a submarine sighting. During the night of the 31st May–1st June, the British destroyer HMS Spitfire, badly damaged after colliding with the German battleship Nassau, sighted what appeared to be a German battle cruiser, with two widely spaced funnels, described as being “a mass of fire from foremast to mainmast, on deck and between decks. Flames were issuing out of her from every corner.” The mystery ship exploded at about midnight. It was later thought that the burning ship may have been HMS Black Prince, with the two midship’s funnels having collapsed or been shot away. Recent historians, however, hold to the German account of the ship's sinking. HMS Black Prince briefly engaged the German battleship Rheinland at about 11.35pm GMT, scoring two hits with 6-inch shells. Separated from the rest of the British fleet, HMS Black Prince approached the German lines at approximately midnight. She turned away from the German battleships, but it was too late. The German battleship Thuringen fixed the HMS Black Prince in her searchlights and opened fire. Up to five other German ships, including battleships Nassau, Ostfriesland and Friedrich der Grosse, joined in the bombardment, with return fire from HMS Black Prince being ineffective. Most of the German ships were between 750 and 1500 yards of the HMS Black Prince, effectively point-blank range for contemporary naval gunnery. HMS Black Prince was hit by at least twelve heavy shells and several smaller ones, sinking within 15 minutes. There were no survivors from HMS Black Prince’s crew, all 857 being killed.
On Friday June 9th, 1916, The Leicester Daily Mercury published the following article on page 4, under the heading. – LEICESTER MEN IN THE NAVAL BATTLE. – J. W. S. PHIPPS, who went down with the Black Prince, was 17 years of age, and joined the navy 18 months ago. He formerly resided with his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. S. Phipps, of Wigston Magna.
On Tuesday June 27th, 1916, The Leicester Daily Mercury published the following article on page 5, under the heading. – LEICESTER’S ROLL OF HONOUR. (A photograph accompanied the article). – J. W. S. PHIPPS, lost on Black Prince. He joined the Navy 18 months ago, and formerly lived with his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. S. Phipps, of Wigston Magna.
[recognitum IV-VI-MMXXIII]