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204498
Lt Cdr. Ernest Kirkbank Irving DSC, MID.
Royal Navy HMS Bittern
from:Carlisle
I have the medals of Lt Cmdr Irving. He was the Captain of the HMS Bittern, a destroyer. He had an injury a few hours before the Bittern sailed and he went ashore for medical care, his second in command took the ship out and the ship was hit and sank by the SS Kenilworth Castle 12,700 tons. All lives where lost as it was a very heavy sea that night. The Captain was a very lucky man.
He was was an Captain in the Merchant Navy with an Extra Masters Certificate
before also getting a commission in the RNR in 1909. He regularly sailed from Liverpool to Sydney on the White Star Line ships Runic and Celtic.