On Portsmouth Naval Memorial is the name of Engineer Sub-Lieutenant Eric Treeve Champness, serving on H.M.S. Queen Mary with the Royal Navy who died 31/05/1916.

Eric Treeves Champness was born on Friday, 22nd August 1890 at Liverpool, the son of Edward (a Surveyor at Lloyds Bank) and Ada Evelyn. He had two brothers, Edward Leslie, [Student of Naval Architecture and Apprentice at Swan Hunters, Wallsend], and Norman Creswick, and the family kept a servant, Phyllis Brading.

in 1891 he was living at 1 Marine Terrace, Portsmouth. Before attending the North Eastern County School (now Barnard Castle School), he was educated at Hartlepool Grammar School, Glasgow High School and Newcastle Modern School. He went on to study at Armstrong College (1908-1911), gaining a BSc. in Engineering in June 1911, before working for Wallsend Slipway Engineering Company.

Eric began his appointment on 1st October 1915 and was posted to HMS Queen Mary on 29th October 1915.

Eric was killed on 31st May 1916 aged 26 years old in the Battle of Jutland aboard HMS Queen Mary. At 4.25 p.m., HMS Queen Mary was hit by a combined salvo from two German battlecruisers, sinking her with the loss of 1266 men.

Eric Treeve Champness is remembered at Barnard Castle School on B135.04 and B135.20,  at Durham in D47.151, at Hartlepool on H115.08, in the N.E. Coast Institute notes, at Newcastle on NUT063 and NUT 263, at Wallsend on W7.23 and in our List of Ships’ Crews.