Witton Gilbert St. Michael and All Angels
Known to be buried
in this cemetery
T. Davison
SS/116147 Stoker 1st Class
HMS Superb
Royal Navy
19th December 1917
Their Glory shall not be blotted out
HMS Superb was one of three Bellerophon-class dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She spent almost her whole career assigned to the Home and Grand Fleets. Aside from participating in the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 and the inconclusive Action of the 19th August, her service during the First World War generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea.
Superb was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in October 1918 and became its flagship. She supported Allied forces in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea after the war ended in November. The ship was deemed obsolete and was reduced to reserve when she returned home in early 1919 and was then used as a training ship. Superb was used for gunnery experiments in 1920 and then became a target ship in 1922. The ship was sold for scrap late that year and broken up in 1923.
Vivienne Smith has provided the following: Thomas Davison was the brother of Private Siddle's wife, Susannah and served as a stoker on H.M.S. Superb. He died in 1917 on the hospital ship H.M.S. China and was buried in Witton Gilbert churchyard.
Thomas Davison is remembered in Witton Gilbert on W123.01, W123.02 and W123.10 and on our List of Ships’ crews
