Ordinary Seaman James Young

Ordinary Seaman Signaller James Tait Young, Royal Navy.  He was killed in action at sea on the 8th June 1940, aged 18. He had been born in Eyemouth possibly the son of Christopher Young of Eyemouth. He was a signaller aboard the aircraft carrier H.M.S.” Glorious”. The ship was returning to Scapa Flow from the Norwegian Campaign with two escorting destroyers, “Ardent” and ” Acasta”, when they were sunk by the German battlecruisers ” Gneisenau” and ” Scharnhorst” with a total loss of 1,519 crew.  The two destroyers valiantly attempted to screen the ” Glorious” but were no match for the enemy vessels. The German ships were also damaged and believing heavy R.N. units were in the area withdrew rapidly without attempting to pick up survivors. Most of the men perished in the icy water. There were only 40 survivors. He is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial. The ” Glorious was originally constructed as a battle cruiser but after the Great War was rebuilt as an aircraft carrier of 25,000 tons during the 1920s.