Second Electrician Pownall Gillespie

Male

Birth date: 2.3.1882 y.

Cabin: Stokers

Biography:

By the time of the First World War, Gillespie was serving as Second Electrician aboard His Majesty’s Hospital Ship (HMHS) Britannic, the sister ship to the RMS Titanic and RMS Olympic. The Britannic had been requisitioned by the Admiralty and converted into a hospital ship, tasked with transporting wounded soldiers from the Mediterranean to Britain.

On 21 November 1916, while sailing through the Kea Channel in the Aegean Sea, the Britannic struck a German mine and sank within 55 minutes. Although most of the 1,065 people on board were rescued, 30 lives were lost that day, including Pownall Gillespie. He was 34 years old.

As Second Electrician, Gillespie’s duties would have involved maintaining the ship’s electrical power systems, ensuring that vital hospital equipment and lighting remained operational even under wartime conditions.

Pownall Gillespie has no known grave, his body never recovered from the Aegean Sea. His name is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial in London, which honors members of the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets who lost their lives in both World Wars and have no grave but the sea.

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